Browsing by Subject "Grand Portage Reservation"

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    Activities of the Grand Portage Reservation (Minnesota) to Protect and Restore the Aquatic Habitat in Lake Superior
    (2006) Frazier, Brad; Watkins, Margaret; Nelson, Ryan
    This is a 30-slide Powerpoint presentation summarizing the Grand Portage natural resources, wetlands, air quality, energy, solid waste and water quality program details; the cooperative agreement between the Grand Portage tribal authority and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency; the no discharge zone; and nonpoint source pollution efforts. Also briefly summarizes activities of the 1854 Treaty Authority.
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    Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa: Creative Solutions for a Changing Environment
    (2012) Grand Portage Bank of Lake Superior Chippewa
    This report summarizes several environmental initiatives and climate change adaptation strategies including wind, community gardens, moose collaring, introduction of bison, etc. Some points are relevant to water resources and are extracted below: Summary: "The Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians resides in the northeast corner of Minnesota along Lake Superior. The dynamic environs of the region host a wide array of birds, fish, mammals, amphibians and reptiles. Unprecedented warming of Lake Superior in recent years suggests that climate change is taking effect around Grand Portage and is threatening local wildlife species. One of the Grand Portage Band’s major concerns is that climate change may lead to the loss of culturally significant subsistence species including moose and brook trout in the Lake Superior region. The tribe hopes that by investing in mitigation projects it can accomplish environmental and natural resources goals, achieve energy and food independence, contribute to carbon solutions, and reduce expenses to community members. In addition to existing mitigation projects and initiatives, the tribe is currently developing a comprehensive climate change adaptation and mitigation plan for tribal lands and resources. The plan addresses water quality, air quality, sustainable forestry, adaptation to shifts in fisheries and wildlife, sustainable food ventures, alternative energy development, and energy conservation programs. "Fisheries: To adapt to climate change, the tribe has shifted management of a 61-acre inland lake from a cold water (brook trout) fishery to a cool water fishery (yellow perch and walleye) through fish propagation and stocking. This occurred because warming temperatures in the lake reached critical lethal levels for brook trout causing complete collapse of the population. The Grand Portage Natural Resources Department adapted to the fishery collapse by choosing to develop a cool water fishery using yellow perch and walleye. The Grand Portage Native Fish Hatchery is now using re-circulating water systems to achieve the water temperatures needed for rearing cool water native fish species like walleye and lake sturgeon, in addition to rearing cold water brook trout for Lake Superior. This allows for better utilization and flexibility of the hatchery and stocking operations, while also providing higher growth rates for fish. The Grand Portage Band is also revising legacy contaminant (mercury) concentrations in fish tissue for consumption advisories for the Grand Portage Community. "Invasive Species Management: Aquatic invasive species (AIS) assessments for plants, fish, and invertebrates have been planned for water bodies in Grand Portage. The additional AIS surveys have stemmed from the climate change adaptation plan which noted that warmer water temperatures may increase or aid dispersal of AIS."
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    Grand Portage National Monument/Minnesota: Final General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement
    (2003) National Park Service, Department of the Interior
    This is a planning document presenting four development alternatives to enhancing visitor experience at the Grand Portage National Monument. The alternatives range from doing nothing, to different degrees of reconstructed historic buildings and major interpretive programs, to a hybrid model. A brief history and background of the site is provided. The report summarizes potential environmental impacts to land and water resources for each alternative option.
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    Grand Portage Nonpoint Source Management Program: A Successful Program/Case Study
    (2007) Frazier, Brad
    This is a 15-slide Powerpoint presentation summarizing the steps needed for tribal communities to apply for and implement a federally-funded NPS project. Gives practical steps and examples from Red Rock Creek and stabilization of a beaver dam. The presentation emphasizes the steps needed to obtain eligibility, secure cooperators and partners, apply for base funding and to apply for competitive funding. It notes the need to justify the importance of water resources, and to gain tribal support and endorsement for the project.
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    Ground Water/Surface Water Interaction in Nearshore Areas of Three Lakes on the Grand Portage Reservation, Northeastern Minnesota, 2003–04
    (2006) Jones, Perry M
    This is a geologic and hydrological study of three lakes on the Grand Portage Reservation and is largely technical in scope. These three lakes have higher conductivity levels than other lakes in the Reservation. Public water comes from surficial water supplies, while ground water is used for private water sources such as wells, mainly within two miles from Lake Superior. Ground water is too saline to use for public water use. Results of the study show that water movement and quality in this geologically-fractured area are complex, and that lake sediment temperature monitoring may be the most reliable method for natural resources managers. Key findings from the report are extracted and reproduced below. “The availability of good quality water from lakes and wetlands on the Grand Portage Reservation in northeastern Minnesota is an important concern of the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa Indians. Development and changing land-use practices may affect the quality and quantity of water resources on the reservation. To effectively protect the water quality and quantity of the lakes and wetlands, an understand¬ing of exchanges between ground water and surface water on local and regional scales is needed. Numerous hydrologic studies have been done on the reservation, but none of these studies has focused on determining ground-water/surface-water interactions of lakes and wetlands. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa Indians, conducted a study to assess ground-water/surface-water interactions in nearshore areas of three lakes, North, Teal, and Taylor Lakes on the Grand Portage Reservation in 2003 and 2004. These three lakes were selected on the basis of the rela¬tively high specific conductance values of water from these lakes compared to other lakes on the reservation. The high specific conductance values of the lake water may indicate that ground-water inflow is an important component of the water balance of the lakes. The objective of the study was to identify areas of ground-water inflow to the three lakes and surface-water outseepage to local aquifers through the assess¬ment of existing aerial photographs and water-quality data. Results from this study indicate that ground-water and surface-water interactions at the study lakes are complex, and the ability of the applied techniques to identify ground-water inflow and surface-water outseepage locations varied among the lakes. Measurement of lake-sediment temperatures proved to be a reliable and relatively inexpensive reconnaissance technique that lake managers may apply in complex settings to identify general areas of ground-water inflow and surface-water outseepage.”
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    Hydrology and Water Quality of the Grand Portage Reservation, Northeastern Minnesota, 1991-2000
    (2002) Winterstein, Thomas A
    This is a technical geo-hydrologic study of water resources on the Grand Portage Reservation. There are few references to human uses of water resources, or to anthropogenic factors. The abstract with key points are extracted and reproduced below. Abstract: “The Grand Portage Reservation is located in northeastern Cook County, Minnesota at the boundary between Minnesota, USA, and Ontario, Canada. Between 1991 and 2000 the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a series of studies, with the cooperation with Grand Portage Band of Chippewa, to describe the water resources of the Grand Portage Reservation. Ground water moves primarily through fractures in the bedrock, probably in three ground-water systems: local, regional, and deep. Lake Superior is thought to be the discharge point for brines in the deep ground-water flow system. The watersheds in the Grand Portage Reservation are small and steep; consequently streams in the Grand Portage Reservation tend to be flashy. Lake stages rise and fall with rainfall. The pH of water in the Reservation is generally alkaline (pH greater than 7.0). The alkalinity of water in the Reservation is low. Concentrations of major ions are much greater in ground water than in spring water and surface water. The ionic composition of water in the Reservation differs depending upon the source of the water. Water from 11 of the 20 wells sampled are a calcium-sodium-chloride type. Water from wells GW-2, GW-7, and GW-11 had much greater specific conductance concentrations of major ions compared to the other wells. Some spring water (SP-1, SP-3, SP-4, SP-6, and SP-8) is calcium-bicarbonate type like surface water, whereas other spring water (SP-5 and SP-7) is similar to the calcium-sodium-chloride type occurring in samples from about one-half the wells. The major chemical constituents in surface water are bicarbonate, calcium, and magnesium. Measured tritium and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) concentrations in water samples from springs and wells were used to determine the recharge age of the sampled water. The recharge ages of two of the wells sampled for tritium are before 1953. The recharge ages of the remaining 10 samples for tritium are probably after 1970. The recharge ages of seven SF6 samples were between 1973 and 1998.”
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    Long Range Interpretive Plan: Grand Portage National Monument, 2005
    (2005) National Park Service, Department of the Interior
    This report summarizes the Park mission and goals and primary interpretive themes. It provides detail on visitor experiences, visitor experience goals, and existing conditions assessment, information about the Park website, and on-site visitor services and information. It lists interpretive programs, informal programs, facilities and wayside exhibits. A number of private and public partnerships are listed, as well as community events, curatorial and library services, and disability information. There are numerous recommendations to make the Park more amenable to visitors as a tourist destination. The report does not generally focus on water resources except for the introductory and background information at the beginning of the report. Key passages are extracted and reproduced below. Summary: "The Grand Portage or Gitchi Onigaming (Great Carrying Place) is an 8.4-mile trail on the northwestern periphery of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River drainage in the middle of North America. It connected the lakeshore with Pigeon River, an embarkation point for Native peoples, explorers, and voyageurs heading west and a gathering point for furs going east. The portage was the most direct route from the Great Lakes into the Canadian interior. Several falls and cataracts blocked human travelers’ use of the Pigeon River so that a portage was needed, hence the name “Grand Portage.” French and later British traders entered the Great Lakes-Northwest trade by traveling west from Montreal. Having learned to use birch bark canoes, they moved into the mid-continent along an established inland network of Indian canoe routes. Building on entrenched Indian exchange practices and catering to Indian preferences, traders bartered imported European goods and commodities for Indian furs, provisions, and services. This ultimately led to an intercultural exchange of languages, ideas, technologies, diseases, and genes. It also promoted commercial, political, and marital alliances. PLAN “When the North West Company and the XY Company moved their operations north to Kaministikwia (later Fort William, Ontario) at the beginning of the 19th century, Grand Portage became remote to the main channels of trade and communication and less important to the outside world. The boundary between Canada and the United States between Lake Superior and Lake of the Woods was not firmly established until the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842. Under the terms of that treaty, the Grand Portage clearly became United States property; however, the use of the trail was to remain free and open to citizens of both the United States and Great Britain. The historic portage represents the essential resources of Grand Portage National Monument, which is bordered on the north and south by the Grand Portage Indian Reservation, on the east by Lake Superior, and on the west by the Pigeon River and Canada. It lies within both the Grand Portage Indian Reservation and the unincorporated community of Grand Portage. The community is the homeplace and tribal government center of the Grand Portage Band of Minnesota Chippewa (Ojibwe)."
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    Water Quality (2000-08) and Historical Phosphorus Concentrations from Paleolimnological Studies of Swamp and Speckled Trout Lakes, Grand Portage Reservation, Northeastern Minnesota
    (2010) Christensen, Victoria G; Jones, Perry M; Edlund, Mark B; Ramstack, Joy M
    A paleolimnological approach was taken to aid the Grand Portage Reservation, in northeastern Minnesota, in determining reference conditions for lakes on the reservation. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa Indians and the Science Museum of Minnesota, conducted a study to describe water quality (2000–08) and historical total phosphorus concentrations (approximately 1781–2006) for Swamp and Speckled Trout Lakes. Results from this study may be used as a guide in establishing nutrient criteria in these and other lakes on the Grand Portage Reservation. Historical phosphorus concentrations were inferred through paleolimnological reconstruction methods involving diatom analysis and lead-210 dating of lake-sediment cores. Historical diatom-inferred total phosphorus concentrations in Swamp Lake ranged from 0.017 to 0.025 milligrams per liter (mg/L) based on diatom assemblages in sediment samples dated 1781–2005. Historical diatom-inferred total phosphorus concentrations in Speckled Trout Lake ranged from 0.008 to 0.014 mg/L based on diatom assemblages in sediment samples dated 1825–2006. In both lakes, historical changes in diatom-inferred total phosphorus concentrations did not exceed model error estimates, indicating that there has been minimal change in total phosphorus concentrations in the two lakes over about two centuries. The pH and alkalinity values of waters in both lakes indicate that general water-quality conditions likely are not threatening fish or acid-intolerant forms of aquatic life. Lake-sediment cores from Swamp and Speckled Trout Lakes were collected in 2006 and dated back to 1781 for Swamp Lake and 1825 for Speckled Trout Lake. A large increase in sediment accumulation rate after 1960 likely was a result of logging along the northeastern shore of Swamp Lake in 1958. The diatom flora of Swamp Lake is very diverse with more than 280 diatom taxa found in the core samples. These diatoms included many rare or uncommon species and several unknown taxa. Minor increases in sediment accumulation rates in the Speckled Trout Lake core occurred between 1840 and 1880. These increases may have resulted from fires following droughts in northeastern Minnesota. Heinselman (1973) identified five periods of fire in the 1800s for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Minnesota: 1801, 1824, 1863–64, 1875, and 1894. Most of these fire periods followed prolonged droughts of subcontinental extent, including the 1864 drought. Similar to the Swamp Lake core, the diatom flora of the Speckled Trout Lake core was very diverse and dominated by softwater diatoms. More than 215 diatom taxa were found in the core samples including many rare or uncommon species and several unknown taxa. Results of loss-on-ignition analyses indicated that sediment from Swamp Lake historically has been dominated by the inorganic component with a shift to an organic component in modern sedimentation. Median values of recent (2000–08) total phosphorus concentrations in water-quality samples and diatom-inferred phosphorus in recent sedimentation in Swamp and Speckled Trout Lakes were similar. These similarities, coupled with strong analogues for subfossil diatom communities for both lakes within the 89 Minnesota lakes diatom transfer function, indicate that recent and historical diatom-inferred phosphorus reconstructions might be used to help establish reference conditions and nutrient criteria for Grand Portage Reservation lakes when a sampling program is designed to ensure representative phosphorus concentrations in water samples are comparable to diatom-inferred concentrations.