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Wonders of the Near North

Wonders of the near north.
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Trump cuts jeopardize work of key Minnesota research lab

By Stephanie Hemphill | April 17, 2025 |

EPA lab in Duluth, MN

EPA facility in Duluth has helped protect human health.

Filed Under: An Agate Original, Freshwater lakes, History, Homepage Bottom Features, Homepage Top Feature, Issues, Lake Superior, Nature, Policy, Research, Science, Water quality Tagged With: Lake Superior, Nature, resource management

Measuring the woods

By Stephanie Hemphill | March 14, 2025 |

A special tape measure allows Chandler Johnson to measure diameter at breast height without having to do calculations in the field.

Foresters use technology and site visits to better understand Minnesota woodlands.

Filed Under: An Agate Original, Conservation practices, Forestry, Homepage Bottom Features, Homepage Top Feature, Nature, Resource Management, Science Tagged With: conservation, Nature, Northern Minnesota, resource management

Comprehensive and beautiful bird atlas published

By Stephanie Hemphill | May 17, 2024 |

A long-awaited atlas of Minnesota’s breeding birds is here, and what a treat it is!

Filed Under: Agate Book Review, An Agate Original, Birds, Commentary, Homepage Bottom Features, Homepage Top Feature, Nature, Science, wildlife Tagged With: conservation, minnesota, Nature

“We got jellyfish!”

By Ellie Katz | January 12, 2024 |

Freshwater jellyfish with water glider

Student scientists in Michigan add to the sparse scientific record about Craspedacusta sowerbii, a freshwater jellyfish found in inland lakes and rivers throughout the Great Lakes.

Filed Under: Freshwater lakes, Homepage Bottom Features, Homepage Top Feature, Nature, Science, Water quality, wildlife Tagged With: Nature

Environmental Review: how are we doing?

By Stephanie Hemphill | October 13, 2023 |

Blackhawk Lake

How well is Minnesota’s environmental review program working?

Filed Under: An Agate Original, History, Homepage Bottom Features, Homepage Top Feature, Issues, Resource Management, Science Tagged With: policy, resource management

Protecting wild rice: will site-specific standards work?

By Stephanie Hemphill | September 15, 2023 |

Rice on lake. Photo courtesy Fond du Lac Resource Management

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has been trying for years to figure out how to get taconite mines to reduce the sulfate in their effluent because it damages wild rice. The current effort involves something called Site Specific Standards, and it looks likely that it will have no more success than previous attempts.

Filed Under: Freshwater lakes, Homepage Bottom Features, Homepage Top Feature, Issues, Policy, Research, Science, Taconite mining, Water quality Tagged With: mining, Northern Minnesota, resource management

Ice

By John Pastor | March 16, 2023 |

ice floes

The mysteries of ice formation and melting are revealed.

Filed Under: Freshwater lakes, Homepage Bottom Features, Homepage Top Feature, Nature, Science Tagged With: Nature

Trying (again) to tackle mercury in the St. Louis River

By Stephanie Hemphill | February 28, 2023 |

Taking steps to put the St. Louis River on a mercury diet.

Filed Under: An Agate Original, Homepage Bottom Features, Homepage Top Feature, Issues, Lake Superior, Nature, Peatlands, Policy, Research, Resource Management, Science, Taconite mining, Water quality Tagged With: Lake Superior, mining, minnesota, Nature, Northern Minnesota, policy, resource management

Interest grows in native “rough fish”

By Stephanie Hemphill | November 11, 2022 |

Recent research on some of Minnesota’s native fishes pinpoints astonishing longevity and an important role in ecosystems.

Filed Under: An Agate Original, Conservation practices, Fish, Freshwater lakes, Homepage Bottom Features, Homepage Top Feature, Nature, Research, Resource Management, Science, wildlife Tagged With: conservation, Nature, resource management

Collaborating with nature

By Stephanie Hemphill | September 17, 2022 |

Members of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa share their generations-old farming practices.

Filed Under: Agriculture, An Agate Original, Freshwater lakes, Homepage Bottom Features, Homepage Top Feature, Science, Water quality Tagged With: Northern Minnesota, resource management, Tribal concerns

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