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"Superior, Lake History."
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Sustaining Lake Superior : an extraordinary lake in a changing world
A compelling exploration of Lake Superior's conservation recovery and what it can teach us in the face of climate change.
Book
Lake Effect
In Lake Effect, writer Erika Alin explores both the natural and the human landscapes of Lake Superior, meditating on the rich geological, historical, and cultural events that have shaped the region. Alin’s engaging essays reveal a profound sensitivity to the natural world and a penetrating historical imagination.
eBook
Chickadee
In 1866, Omakayas's son Chickadee is kidnapped by two ne'er-do-well brothers from his own tribe and must make a daring escape, forge unlikely friendships, and set out on an exciting and dangerous journey to get back home.
Book
Iron and Water
A memoir of family, mining pioneers and unscrupulous magnates, and the fight for Minnesota's natural resourcesIn 1855 the Merritt family arrived in Minnesota, where a descendant, Alfred, would one day become one of the \"Seven Iron Men\"-builders of the first mines to tap the state's great mineral wealth in the Mesabi Range. Another Merritt, more than half a century later, would lead the efforts to protect Lake Superior from damage caused by mining.Iron and Wateris Grant J. Merritt's memoir of his life's work on behalf of Minnesota's people and environment and also the story of a significant family in state history.
Merritt's family played a key role in the struggle over natural resources in Minnesota-for the enrichment of mining pioneers, the prosperity of the state and its people, and the prospect of a secure and healthy future. This complex tale begins with the adventure of discovering iron ore and building the mines, railroads, and docks to move it, then devolves into the intrigues of business partnerships gone bad and attempts by John D. Rockefeller to defraud the Merritts. What follows is an engrossing account of Grant Merritt's years in the halls of state politics and the trenches of environmental activism in defense of Minnesota's North Shore and Lake Superior's waters. The author's tenure as head of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency under Governor Wendell Anderson and his service on the first board of the Minnesota Environmental Quality Council take us behind the scenes of landmark legal cases and crucial moments in Minnesota history-particularly the notable Reserve Mining case, in which the company was found liable for serious environmental and health threats on the shores of Lake Superior and ordered to be shut down.
In these pages we encounter the people who were critical to this history, from robber baron Rockefeller to judges, activists, and politicians, including Walter Mondale and Jim Oberstar. In chronicling both the discovery of vast iron deposits on the Mesabi Range and the fight to save Lake Superior and Minnesota's natural riches,Iron and Waterreveals how, whether alone or together, individuals wield the power to change the world.
eBook
Opposite of Cold
As many in the north country can attest, one of life's great pleasures resides in the tradition of sauna-sitting in 180-plus-degree heat and throwing cool water on oven-hot stones to create a blast of steam (called löyly ), followed by a jump in the lake, standing naked in subzero temperatures (or even a roll in the snow), or just relaxing on the cooling porch. To the uninitiated, there is a strange, alluring mystique to the art of Finnish sauna. But to an ever-increasing number of people-from their small urban saunas to backwoods and lakeside retreats-the culture and practice of Finnish sauna are as much a part of northwoods life as campfires and canoe trips. Beginning with the origins of Finnish sauna and how the practice was first brought to North America, and continuing all the way to contemporary design, The Opposite of Cold is an exquisite commemoration of the history, culture, and practice of Finnish sauna in the northwoods. With stunning photographs of unique and historic saunas of the region-including the oldest sauna in North America, incredible surviving saunas from immigrant farmsteads, and the gorgeous contemporary saunas from noted architects-Michael Nordskog and Aaron Hautala unveil the importance and beauty of sauna culture in modern Midwestern life. Richly illuminated by Aaron Hautala's photographs of distinctive saunas from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ontario, and Finland, The Opposite of Cold is for people who grew up with Wednesday and Saturday evening saunas (or watched their steaming neighbors running toward the lake) and for those who dream of one day having their own. And through this book we see why Finnish sauna tradition is vital and enduring, from the warmest summer evenings to the coldest winter nights.
eBook
The Cadottes
The Great Lakes fur trade spanned two centuries and thousands of miles, but the story of one particular family, the Cadottes, illuminates the history of trade and trapping while exploring under-researched stories of French-Ojibwe political, social, and economic relations.
eBook
Climate forcing of regional fire years in the upper Great Lakes Region, USA
Background: Drivers of fire regimes vary among spatial scales, and fire history reconstructions are often limited to stand scales, making it difficult to partition effects of regional climate forcing versus individual site histories.Aims: To evaluate regional-scale historical fire regimes over 350 years, we analysed an extensive fire-scar network, spanning 240 km across the upper Great Lakes Region in North America.Methods: We estimated fire frequency, identified regionally widespread fire years (based on the fraction of fire-scarred tree samples, fire extent index (FEI), and synchronicity of fire years), and evaluated fire seasonality and climate–fire relationships.Key results: Historically, fire frequency and seasonality were variable within and among Great Lakes’ ecoregions. Climate forcing at regional scales resulted in synchronised fires, primarily during the late growing season, which were ubiquitous across the upper Great Lakes Region. Regionally significant fire years included 1689, 1752, 1754, 1791, and 1891.Conclusions: We found significant climate forcing of region-wide fire regimes in the upper Great Lakes Region.Implications: Historically, reoccurring fires in the upper Great Lakes Region were instrumental for shaping and maintaining forest resilience. The climate conditions that helped promote widespread fire years historically may be consistent with anticipated climate–fire interactions due to climate change.
Journal Article
fire history derived from Pinus resinosa Ait. for the Islands of Eastern Lac La Croix, Minnesota, USA
We reconstructed fire occurrence near a furâtrade era canoe travel corridor (used ca. 1780â1802) in the QueticoâSuperior region west of Lake Superior to explore the possibility of human influence on preâfire suppression rates of fire occurrence. Our research objectives were to (1) examine the spatial and temporal patterns of fire in the study area, (2) test firesâ strength of association with regional drought, and (3) assess whether reconstructed fire frequencies could be explained by observed rates of lightning fire ignition over the modern period of record. We developed a 420âyear fire history for the eastern portion of Lac La Croix in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). Seventyâone fireâscarred samples were collected from remnant Pinus resinosa Ait. (red pine) stumps and logs from thirteen distinct island and three mainland forest stands. Collectively these samples contained records of 255 individual fire scars representing 79 fire events from 1636 to 1933 (study area mean fire intervals [MFI]Â =Â 3.8Â yr). Reconstructed fires were spatially and temporally asynchronous and not strongly associated with regional drought (PÂ >Â 0.05). When compared to the conservative, treeâring reconstructed estimate of historical fire occurrence and modern lightningâcaused fires (1929â2012), a noticeable change in the distribution and frequency of fires within the study area was evident with only two lightningâignited island fires since 1934 in the study area. Our results suggest a high likelihood that indigenous land use contributed to surface fire ignitions within our study area and highlights the importance of examining the potential effects of past indigenous land use when determining modern approaches to fire and wilderness management in fireâadapted ecosystems.
Journal Article