The release comes almost three years after it was announced that a supplemental EIS would be prepared to address problems identified by the EPA, conservation groups, and others in the original Draft EIS.

Kathryn Hoffman, a staff attorney at the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, told Minnesota Public Radio News, “We’ll be looking not only at how they design the site, and the mitigation measures they want to propose, and the environmental measures they want to implement, such as water treatment and water collection. But we’ll also be looking at how do they deal with potential failures at the site.”

One of the biggest problems with the mine proposal identified in the original Draft EIS was the issue of perpetual water treatment. Because contaminated runoff is anticipated at the site for centuries or longer, the company has suggested it might need to operate wastewater treatment facilities for many years after mine closure.

In a statement about the news, the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness said the group will closely examine the new Draft EIS when it’s available, and pay particular attention to the water treatment issue. Executive Director Paul Danicic said, “Minnesota should insist PolyMet meet existing environmental standards, including requiring that the mine is maintenance free at closure. This means not having to treat the water – forever.”

After the review by cooperating agencies, the document is expected to be released to the public later this summer.

For an in-depth look at the issue of new mine proposals in Minnesota, see the recent Wilderness News article. 

Isle Royale wolves (photo courtesy John Vucetich & Rolf Peterson, via isleroyalewolf.org)

Three scientists have published an op-ed in the New York Times calling for the National Park Service to not let Isle Royale’s wolf population disappear.

There are now so few wolves on the remote Lake Superior island that there are questions about whether or not there is enough genetic diversity, and even enough females, to naturally survive.

Wild vs. natural

Because the National Park is managed as wilderness, whether or not the National Park Service should do something to prevent Isle Royale’s wolves from disappearing is a challenging decision.

The challenge is that wilderness was defined in the 1964 Wilderness Act as an area “untrammeled” by humans. Non-intervention has been a guiding principle of wilderness management ever since.

In their op-ed, John A. Vucetich, a population biologist, Rolf O. Peterson, a wildlife ecologist, and Michael P. Nelson, an environmental ethicist, say humans have altered the ecosystem so much already that the Park Service should intervene to save the wolves. In the face of climate change and other massive human-caused changes to Earth’s ecology, the biologists offer an evolved definition of wilderness, as “a place where concern for ecosystem health is paramount, even if human action is required to maintain it.”

Reinforcement or replacement

There are two options that would keep wolves on the island. The Park Service could either bring new wolves to the park now, or wait until the wolves that are currently there go extinct, and then bring in new animals.

The wolves play an important role in the island’s ecosystem, where they are the only predators for its moose, and moose are almost the wolves’ only food source. This unique relationship has been studied since 1958 in what is called “longest continuous study of any predator-prey system in the world.”

Concerns over the health of the Isle Royale ecosystem are not just limited to the presence of wolves, but also what effects their absence might cause. Moose could become overabundant, decimating vegetation which are essential to other wildlife, including birds, insects and mammals.

Decision point

The National Park Service is currently trying to decide what to do about the wolves. A decision is expected by this fall.

More information is available at the Wolves & Moose of Isle Royale website.

You can watch the clip HERE: Lynx Video on YouTube

Canada Lynx courtesy of Wikipedia

The moose population in Voyageurs National Park remains steady, according to a Park Service study released Tuesday. Aerial surveys conducted in late February indicate a population of 46 animals, compared to 51 in 2009.

Over the same time period, the population of northeastern Minnesota moose is believed to have declined at least 65 percent. Voyageurs is located just outside the region considered in those studies.

The Voyageurs study indicates a relatively low annual mortality rate for moose in the park. Researchers stated that about 10 percent of the moose they have collared since 2010 have died each year. While that is similar to mortality rates in other parts of the continent, it is significantly lower than the 19 percent mortality rate observed recently in northeastern Minnesota.

The study didn’t answer why Voyageurs’ moose are doing better than elsewhere in the region. The researchers did state that it’s possible other isolated populations are remaining steady throughout northeastern Minnesota, while overall numbers are declining. They also note that wolves and black bear are numerous in the park – both are known to prey on moose calves – but so are whitetail deer, which might make easier prey.

Potato Island, Lake Vermilion, photo courtesy of Timberjay.

According to the Ely Timberjay newspaper the DNR recently announced their decision to kill up to 10% of the Double Crested Cormorants on Lake Vermilion, in Minnesota, this summer. In addition, cormorant eggs will be spread with vegetable oil to prevent them from hatching and at the same time not stimulate the birds to renest. Cormorant populations are skyrocketing in the Midwest. The Timberjay cites one example on Lake Vermilion’s Potato Island where there were 32 nests in 2004 and 424 nests in 2012. Anglers and Lake Vermilion lodge owners believe the increasing numbers of fish-eating cormorants will result in diminished game fish populations in the lake. The DNR has already recorded reduced numbers of perch in the lake which they believe could ultimately affect walleye populations. The Audubon Society of Minnesota believes Double-Crested Cormorants are often unfairly blamed for decreasing game fish populations and adamantly oppose cormorant control programs that have not been supported with data or sufficient study. They also believe that removing the protection of cormorants diminishes the scope of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and sets a harmful precedent.

Spring comes late to Slim Lake, but record late? Photo courtesy of Uncommonseminars.com

The stubborn winter of 2013 seems to be baffling scientists and old-timers alike, but just how late will this year’s Quetico-Superior’s ice-out be? Following an extremely early ice-out in 2012 might make this year just seem late, but no. With paddling forum entries reporting ice still as much as three feet thick on Boundary Waters’ lakes, this year could absolutely challenge some old records.

Historical records (courtesy of Minnesota Climatology Group):

Fall Lake: average ice-out April 27; earliest ice-out March 27, 2012; latest ice-out May 19, 1950; years of data 62

Saganaga Lake: average ice-out May 3; earliest ice-out April 2, 2012; latest ice-out May 16, 1996; years of data 22

Lake Vermilion: average ice-out April 29; earliest ice-out April 2, 2012; latest ice-out May 23, 1950; years of data 93

Main Street Ely, MN

The effort is being spearheaded by Steve Piragis, proprietor of wilderness outfitter Piragis Northwoods Company. Piragis recently told the Duluth News Tribune, “We’re basically stepping up and taking a stand and saying we don’t think this kind of mining is going to work here. That it’s going to be very hard to have this kind of mining and still avoid polluting the Boundary Waters watershed.”

The group hopes to educate up to 25,000 visitors this summer, and also spur about 16,000 of them to take action by contacting Congress and President Obama, urging leaders to prohibit mining near the wilderness.

The center will be located in a house which Piragis purchased and is leasing to Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness. It will be staffed this summer primarily by volunteers and college interns. Read more at the Duluth News Tribune.

Paddling on the South Kawishiwi River (Photo by Greg Seitz)

The South Kawishiwi River, which flows into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, has been named one of “America’s Most Endangered Rivers” as a result of the Twin Metals mine proposal and other mineral exploration nearby.

The annual report by American Rivers, a national organization which works to protect and restore the nation’s rivers, highlights the potential for water pollution and harm to Ely’s tourism-based economy if new mines are permitted.

The history of pollution at similar mines elsewhere, and the mine proposal’s location three miles from the edge of the wilderness, led American Rivers to include the South Kawishiwi on its 2013 list.

“The Boundary Waters is a unique and beloved wilderness of lakes and rivers,” said Betsy Daub, policy director of the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness. “The region should not be a guinea pig for risky new mines, which have never before operated without causing serious water pollution.”

 As part of the announcement, citizens are being asked to sign a letter to elected officials urging them to oppose the Twin Metals mine development, any legislation which would give mining companies access to public land, and state mineral leasing within the watershed. It also asks them to “strengthen and enforce Minnesota and federal water quality regulations” and urges expansion of mining protection zones around the Boundary Waters.

Want to learn more? Read Wilderness News’s recent cover story about the Twin Metals mine proposal.

Carving the border wall's path through Otay Mountain Wilderness Area (Photo by Roy Toft - International League of Conservation Photographers - Lighthawk).

Campers deep in northern wildernesses are being harassed by U.S. Border Patrol helicopters, and the problem could get worse if new policies are implemented. This conflict between solitude and security is outlined in a new report (PDF) from national advocacy group Wilderness Watch, and described in a Star Tribune commentary by Wilderness Watch’s Kevin Proescholdt and George Nickas.

A bill which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 but failed to get through the Senate would have allowed border security agencies to essentially ignore environmental laws along the U.S.-Canada border, making way for activities including roads, walls, security towers, and intensive patrols.

Even though that legislation failed, Proescholdt and Nickas say policies being developed by the Department of Homeland Security would permit much of the same kinds of activity, without regard for the Wilderness Act and other landmark laws.

The proposal would seek to manage the northern border much like America’s southern border, where wilderness and other protected lands are being affected by border security. Along the Otay Mountain Wilderness east of San Diego, the Border Patrol constructed a 3.6-mile stretch of 18-foot border wall. Wilderness Watch reports that wall construction included “building access roads inside the Wilderness, denuding rugged hillsides, and drilling, blasting, and excavating 530,000 cubic yards of rock, some within the Wilderness, to facilitate constructing of the wall.”