Steven Maier: Study of a Lake Trout strain→

Great Lakes Echo:

“Elk Lake in Northwest Michigan is home to a strain of that fish that researchers believe can contribute uniquely to restoring it. Elk Lake trout have been self-sustaining and reproducing for years. That’s unusual in the Great Lakes Basin...

Researchers have collected data for over seven years from acoustic transmitters inserted into captured adult Elk Lake trout. That data and thermal profiling indicate that the strain likes colder water than trout from both the Great Lakes or the Finger Lakes in New York.”

Dave Orrick: Minnesota Lakehome Owner Demographics→

Pioneer Press:

“Minnesota lake home and cabin owners — that oh-so-MN demographic — are getting older. And not any richer. And their health care costs are rising.

Which might prove troublesome for the cherished natural resources — namely our lakes — that lakefront property owners are at the forefront of protecting.

Those are among the findings of a study released Friday by Minnesota Lakes and Rivers Advocates, an environmental-advocacy group that often focuses on issues relevant to lake property owners associations.

The group called the findings a “disturbing trend” because of the uncertainty it could create over the future of both seasonal property ownership and environmental stewardship.”

Greg Seitz: Earth's Lakes→

MinnPost:

“Minnesota has about five percent of America’s lakewater right here, with a total volume of 66 cubic miles (not counting Lake Superior). That’s about twice as much as a typical state.

Our state’s most famous lake is surely Superior, the biggest freshwater lake in the world by surface area and, as it turns out, the largest volume of lakewater in the United States, and six percent of all the lake water in the world.

It’s so big that if you poured all the inland lakes in America into it, Superior wouldn’t even be half full. Its 2,900 cubic miles of water is more than in the other four Great Lakes combined, which contain another five percent of the world’s total lake water. They are truly great, and superior.”

James J. Krupa: Geronimo’s Pass and Jackrabbits→

Center for Humans and Nature:

“Five miles to the south, a three-strand barbed wire fence marked the United States-Mexico border. Somewhere out there, hidden in clumps of tobosa grass, a white-sided jackrabbit was hunkered down in a depression it had scraped into the hard earth for a scant bit of shade....I sat on my truck’s tailgate in the shade of the general store, waiting for the long shadows of the Peloncillo Mountains to the west to fill the valley, telling the rabbit it was time to forage.”

Adam Frank: Wildness→

NPR:

Chris Winsor/Getty Images

“For [Gary] Snyder, the answer is about inclusiveness:

”So we can say that New York City and Tokyo are ‘natural’ but not ‘wild.’ They do not deviate from the laws of nature, but they are habitat so exclusive in the matter of who and what they give shelter to, and so intolerant of other creatures, as to be truly odd. Wilderness is a place where the wild potential is fully expressed, a diversity of living and nonliving beings flourishing according to their own sorts of order.”

Thus, for Snyder, the wild is not about pristine landscapes. Instead, it’s about landscapes that are rich and diverse enough to be interesting for everybody, human and non-human alike. He writes: “When an ecosystem is fully functioning, all the members are present at the assembly. To speak of wilderness is to speak of wholeness.””

Gary Snyder noted that many folks are alienated from their place and that they "don't even know that they don't know the plants" of their environment. I've asked lakeshore residents and the only plants they know are the ones that the government has blacklisted (Eurasian milfoil, curly-leaf pondweed, etc.). I find it sad that folks only know the ones that the government has labeled 'bad/evil' and they don't appreciate the beauty of those plants and those that are indigenous to their area or lake.

Eleanor Klibanoff: Lead Ammo and Fishing Tackle Poisons→

NPR:

“On the day before President Trump’s inauguration, the outgoing Obama administration passed a last-minute directive, banning the use of lead ammunition and fishing sinkers on federal land.

Recently, the deteriorating health of a bald eagle showed the effects of lead poisoning. Obama’s regulation is intended to protect wildlife from exactly that. But hunters are hoping Trump will soon overturn it.”

In Minnesota, it is estimated that 100 to 200 loons die of ingesting lead-based fishing tackle.

Walker Angell: Bicycles Benefits→

Streets.mn

“Bicycles are arguably the most efficient form of transportation there is. Over 4 times faster than walking and they can carry heavier loads. Bicycling requires much less infrastructure, maintenance, and space than motor vehicles and are massively more affordable for individuals and communities.”

Steven Maier: Mudpuppies→

Great Lakes Echo:

“A joint research team from Southern Illinois University and Shedd Aquarium in Chicago has recently taken on the mystery of the elusive mudpuppy. Their study, published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research in December, provides some answers.

The mudpuppy is a fully-aquatic salamander thought to be on the decline–though the extent of that decline is unknown. The foot-long amphibians are classified a “threatened species” in the state of Illinois and considered a concern throughout the Great Lakes region.

The team was able to assess effective capture techniques for the first time. The discovery that trapping should take place in the winter is especially critical for future researchers.

They were also able to learn about the mudpuppy’s diet–which consisted of pretty much anything that would fit in their mouth...”

Samantha Oliver: What Two Frozen Lakes Taught Me→

Center for Limnology

A. Hinterthuer

“Today, I woke up at my favorite place on earth – Ten Mile Lake, in Hackensack, Minnesota. On the coldest day of the winter thus far, the frozen lake is so bright, so sparkly, it is almost hard to look at. And when you are from a place where 30 below is often the actual temperature (NOT the wind chill), you rely less on the calendar to define the seasons and more on observations of specific events that are tied to the climate.

Summer, to me, never began on the day with the most sunlight, but rather on the day the dock was installed (and ended, of course, when the dock was removed). Winter and spring were always announced by the day the lake froze and thawed.

Then I moved to the relatively tropical city of Madison, where the winter is shorter, but the lakes still provide a checkpoint in our urban phenology. But now my observations are set up as a study of contrasts: my asparagus came up two weeks sooner than my mom’s or simply subtract 10 degrees from Madison’s temperature to guess Hackensack’s temperature. On December 15th this year, I texted my mom: “Is Ten Mile frozen?” “Almost”, she responded. We have this conversation every year, but this year it felt different...”