WTIP Outdoor News Podcast

Fishing Opener is here. There was great angst among many who fish in and around the Boundary Waters in the weeks leading up to the Minnesota Fishing Opener. The opener is Saturday, May 13. Some of the larger lakes, including Clearwater, Duncan, Seagull, and Brule, could be holding some ice on the opener. Other lakes, including Round, Caribou, and Deer Yard Lake, will be open by Saturday morning. O...

The Cook County Board of Commissioners took action that will ban any deer, elk, or other cervid farms to operate locally. In doing so, Cook County becomes the first county in Minnesota to have an outright ban on deer and elk farms. Learn more in this week's episode. Also, check out the deer and wolf video Kalli and Joe discuss by following this link: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VqAZYApYEXE

The steelhead are moving. Reports from late April at rivers near Duluth and Two Harbors that flow into Lake Superior were promising for steelhead anglers along the North Shore. Steelhead are rainbow trout that migrate from North Shore rivers to Lake Superior and back to spawn in their natal streams. However, a weekend of rain, snow, and melting snow to close out April is bringing rivers to a swoll...

Earth Day is Saturday, April 22. In this episode we hear from Kat Meyo, the executive director of the Cook County Local Energy Project, about the Earth Day Fair taking place in Grand Marais this weekend. We also get an update on the massive environment and natural resources finance bill that advanced in the Minnesota House of Representatives this week. Sharing perspective on the legislation are Re...

International Dark Sky Week is a celebration that occurs once a year with the goal to raise awareness around the harms and realities of light pollution and promote the preservation of dark skies whenever and wherever possible. The celebration kicks off on April 15. In this week's episode of the Outdoor News Podcast, host Kalli Hawkins learns more about the newly formed Cook County chapter of the I...

The spring migration season is in full swing, despite the elongated winter conditions in northern Minnesota. Bald Eagles are the first raptors to return to the northern regions of the state, followed shortly after by Rough-Legged Hawks, Red-Tailed Hawks, Ospreys, and many more. In this week's episode of the Outdoor News Podcast, podcast host Kalli Hawkins speaks with Margie Menzies, the education...

Lake trout fishing on lakes in and around the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness comes to an end for the ice-fishing season on Friday, March 31. Ice fishing for stream trout ends March 31 as well. This includes brook, brown, and rainbow trout, as well as splake. In this week's episode of the Outdoor News Podcast, hosts Kalli Hawkins and Joe Friedrichs reflect on the trout season and chat with a...

Kate Tender and Allison Opheim spent the winter working as sled dog tour guides at Points Unknown, a Cook County business near the Arrowhead Trail. Kate and Allison recently went ice fishing for the first time. WTIP's Joe Friedrichs tagged along to chase lake trout during a recent adventure to the BWCA with the duo from Points Unknown. Learn more about Kate and Allison's experiences working as loc...

Following habitat loss and over harvesting of wild turkeys in the late 1800s and early 1900s, wild turkeys ceased to exist in Minnesota. In the early 1970s, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) along with the National Wildlife Turkey Federation partnered to reintroduce the large bird species on the landscape. Between 1971 and 1973, 29 adult wild turkeys were trapped in Missouri and...

Wildfires are a real and present threat nationally, but also in Minnesota’s northern dense landscape, like the Superior National Forest. There is one tree species in the forest that particularly adds to the problem – balsam fir. The young fir trees are considered ‘ladder fuel’ by the U.S. Forest Service due to the dense understory & the vulnerability to spruce budworm. The Natural Resources Re...

Trappers across the Boundary Waters and Cook County will no longer be allowed to use certain types of snares following a federal ruling that directs the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to increase trapping restrictions in this part of the state. The changes are focused specifically on protecting Canada lynx, according to the conditions of a settlement between the Center for Biological Di...

Two Minnesota DNR conservation officers were recognized this month for helping to save a man's life in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness last March. Conservation Officers Anthony Bermel and Mitch Lawler were off-duty in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness near Ely when they helped evacuate someone who was having an apparent heart attack. Officer Anthony Bermel works as a CO for the D...

Many WTIP listeners were alarmed when a recent study found that wild caught, freshwater fish in the United States are far more contaminated with the toxic chemicals than commercially caught fish in oceans. The reports said the highest levels of the toxic chemicals known as PFAS were being found in fish from the Great Lakes. However, did the study apply to Lake Superior and Minnesota's North Shore?...

In the late 1980s, Minnesota conservation officers, formerly widely known as game wardens, came together to share their favorite tried and true fish, wild game, soup, bread, and other unique recipes. The recipes were compiled into the Minnesota Game Wardens' Cookbook, published in 1989. In this week's episode, Outdoor News Podcast hosts Kalli Hawkins & Joe Friedrichs recreate the 1980s cookboo...

Recap Of 2023 John Beargrease Sled Dog Race by WTIP Outdoor News Podcast

For nearly 30 years, researchers at the Natural Resources Research Institute have been conducting annual surveys of songbirds in the Superior National Forest and Chippewa National Forest in northeastern Minnesota. The Minnesota National Forest Breeding Bird Monitoring Program started in 1995. The data collected provides insight into the impacts of management policies and conservation initiatives....

The 55th North American Moose Conference is coming to the North Shore of Minnesota. Researchers, biologists, and professionals will gather in Grand Portage this upcoming May for the annual event. The formal conference and workshop events will take place May 23-25, 2023. The conference will include a day and a half of technical presentations, a half-day workshop, and a full-day field trip to Isle R...

Severe winter weather during the recent holiday season, including wind gusts clocked at more than 70 miles per hour in Cook County near Lake Superior, led to many trees snapping or uprooting along the North Shore of Minnesota. Among the areas devastated by the storm is a stand of red pine along the Superior Hiking Trail (SHT) near the Devil Track River, about 5 miles east of Grand Marais. The stan...

The Gunflint Mail Run sled dog race is the hot event this weekend on the Gunflint Trail. Among the mushers competing in the field this year is Mary Manning. A Cook County resident, Manning has been mushing for about 25 years. In addition to mushing, Mary uses her dogs for work as a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources conservation officer patrolling the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness,...

From the “Inland Empire” near the shores of Deer Yard Lake to the end of the Gunflint Trail, fishers area beloved animal of the North Woods. Fisher populations in northern Minnesota have dropped to about 7,000 from a high of 16,000 in the year 2000. The decline of the population led to a recent study to evaluate whether den boxes could be a valuable management tool to improve fisher habitat and ba...

Deer bounding across Highway 61 are an often unwelcome sight for motorists along the North Shore. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety reports around 2,000 deer-vehicle collisions occur each year across the state. State officials, however, think that number is much larger, possibly in the tens of thousands. According to Natural Resources Research Institute Wildlife Biologist Ron Moen, the num...

Leslie George has been named the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource’s northeastern region fisheries manager. George started her career with DNR in 2004. Since then, she’s worked in field offices in Windom and Glenwood for the DNR. She’s been a fisheries supervisor for the Minnesota agency since 2015, most recently at its office in Hinckley. George replaces the recently retired Chris Kavanaug...

After 66 years, Sawbill Canoe Outfitters connects to the grid. The project was made possible by a federal grant from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. The 3rd generation business owners, Clare and Dan Shirley share what it means to their family and business to now have electric and fiber services after six decades. In addition, podcast host Kalli Hawkins speaks with John Twiest, CEO/General Mana...

Ice fishing is here! The first ice fishing reports across the WTIP listening area are shared in this episode of the Outdoor News Podcast. Hosts Joe Friedrichs and Kalli Hawkins were both fishing in late November and early December. Pike were found, as were walleye. Also in the episode, we learn more about the move by the federal government this week to classify the Northern long-eared bat as an en...

Emily Tidwell is a professional ski photographer who grew up in Cook County, but now works primarily in the Mountain West. Tidwell says she learned to ski in Minnesota and remains very connected to the North Shore, Lutsen Mountains and the local community. “I've been so lucky to have seen so many beautiful other places, both in the United States and around the world,” Tidwell said. “I think what d...