Browsing by Subject "Taking Stock - Historical"
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Item Duluth Parks and Recreation Master Plan: Principles and Objectives(2010) Duluth, Minnesota Parks and Recreation12 slide Powerpoint presentation. Principles, listed below, in addition to specific objectives for each are included. Principle 1: Provide Safe, Clean, Fun and Beautiful Parks Principle 2: Ensure Adequate and Stable Funding Principle 3. Build Partnerships Principle 4: Ensure equitable access Principle 5: Connect the community Principle 6: Connect with Nature Principle 7: Continue to meet evolving natural resource needs Principle 8: Be sustainable Not much reference is made about water resources in the master plan files available on the city website; most of the survey pertains to non-water recreational park use.Item Evaluating Minnesota's Historic Dams: A Framework for Management(Archaeo-Physics, LLC, 2013) Arnott, Sigrid; Birk, Douglas A; Maki, DavidThis study assessed 31 historic mill dam sites in Minnesota. Of these, one was located in the Sea Grant coastal area. The study discusses broader impacts of dams on tribal, cultural and environmental resources generally, which are relevant to the SG study area.Item The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier(1900) Flandrau, Charles EThis is a historical document with some anecdotal historical information about the early history of the mining industry and about Native communities in the St. Louis River watershed, told from the perspective of a non-Native historical figure. Much of the narrative has been embellished. This book has little value in describing water resources and people in an accurate, historical manner.Item Late Prehistoric Cultural Affiliation Study, Grand Portage National Monument, Minnesota(1999) Clark, CavenThis is a desk study of indigenous history of the Grand Portage tribal lands over the past 10,000 years. Notes that fisheries were a major resource until the Terminal Woodland sub stage (approx. 700 AD) when subsistence practices became highly specialized and centered on wild rice and pottery making. Discussion centers primarily on previous literature documenting pottery types and burial practices, although there is some mention of use of water and water routes (e.g. cultural exchange through pottery traded along water routes). "Other factors influencing the formation of the archeological record include issues of settlement and seasonality that undoubtedly conditioned the best time of year to visit a site, and the number of people that could reasonably camp there. In a "good place to camp," such as a logistically important river mouth or sheltered bay, at a place of resource abundance, or at a place of spiritual significance, the likelihood of many visits over a long period of time is high...In this regard, Grand Portage, which lacks any significant evidence of a terminal Woodland occupation, was likely not the primary point of departure for groups traveling to and from Isle Royale, nor the destination of groups coming from the east or west. Although Grand Portage is one of the best sheltered bays south of the Canadian border, the mouth of the Pigeon River/Pigeon Bay, Pigeon Point and Waswagoning Bay probably were the focus of occupation prior to the advent of the fur trade as the only nearby locations for spawning whitefish and lake sturgeon. Unfortunately we have no archeological evidence to support this. Mobility and food security depended on large part to water resources. The basic pattern of subsistence followed the seasonal round of resource availability. Spring was a time of coming together for the spawning runs of suckers and sturgeon at river mouths on Lake Superior and the larger inland lakes. It was also a time for harvesting the incoming flight of passenger pigeons arriving from the south. Summer was a period of resource abundance with many options, including beaver, moose, caribou and deer hunting. Group size could vary widely and mobility was at its peak as canoe travel made all the islands, rivers, and lakes the highway of the people. Another major fish run occurred in fall as trout and whitefish sought out their spawning groups and large numbers of people gathered at the river mouths on Lake Superior for the last time of the year for this harvest. Fall brought the harvest of wild rice for those with access to this important crop. The western portion of the Grand Portage Band territory touches upon the "rice district" and provided a storable resource that would, along with preserved fish, meat and berries, provide a savings account for winter survival when the availability of food was least secure. As game fattened and coats thickened in anticipation of winter, attention returned to hunting, and the hunters and their families dispersed to their interior camps. Winter was a period of relative isolation and limited mobility, occasionally ending in a lean period..." Provides an interesting narrative of the fur trade and interactions between French traders and Native communities, noting that Grand Portage was the deport where the great cargo canoes and bateau of the Great Lakes exchanged their westbound loads of trade goods for eastbound bales of castor gras, arriving in the lighter and smaller canoes of the inland waterways of the west. A substantial post was built on the shores of Grand Portage Bay. In the 1790s the depot consisted of 16 buildings surrounded by a log stockade. The waterfront included wharves and a dock capable of accommodating the 75 ton schooner Otter. In 1834 the American Fur Company hired about twenty Grand Portage resident to fish between Grand Portage and Grand Marais, but the fishery closed in 1842 due to lack of markets. In 1836 the American Fur Company expanded its operations to include commercial fishing. Grand Portage Ojibwe were sought after for their knowledge and expertise in the local fishery. Ojibwe men and women were employed by the company at Grand Portage and on Isle Royale. The men were engaged in fishing and the women in processing the catch. Noted is an important spirit associated with water by The Grand Portage and other regional Ojibwe, 'variously called the Underwater Manitou, Underwater Panther, Long-Tailed Underwater Panther, Mishebeshu, or Michi-Pichoux, the Great Lynx. This spirit reflected the abundance and availability of land and sea animals. With its numerous underwater allies it controlled all game, withholding animals and fish from its enemies. The early Lake Superior Ojibwe offered it sacrifices to obtain good fishing, and in the Creation Myth Nanbezho fought it to secure the right to hunt for future Indians. The Underwater Manitou possessed great and dangerous powers. It could cause rapids and stormy waters, and often sank canoes and drowned Indians, especially children. The Ojibwe associated it with the sudden squall waters of the Great Lakes which prevented fishing...' "Item Minnesota’s County Land Management A Unique Ownership Providing Diverse Benefits(2004) Fernholz, Kathryn; Bowyer, Jim; Howe, Jeff; Bratkovich, Steve; Frank, MattThis report concerns public and private forests in northeastern Minnesota. It does not specifically deal with water resources except to note the following: “Ideally, forest management for restoration, forest health, wildlife habitat, and biodiversity benefits should be continued even when market prices are low. Delaying management because of poor market conditions may result in declines in forest health due to insect or disease issues being left untreated or other changes that can diminish water quality protections and important wildlife habitats. Delayed harvests and associated silvicultural treatments can also negatively impact recreation and other social benefits benefits.” Also, under the topic of water quality, the report advocates utilizing improved inventory data (forest cover types, species, age, native plant communities, soils, etc.) to evaluate current conditions in known impaired watersheds and develop long-term plans. Other key points are extracted and summarized below. “Minnesota is among a small number of states that have county managed forest land. This report explores the history and current contribution of Minnesota’s county-managed forest lands, including the diverse social, economic and environmental benefits they provide. "Minnesota’s “county forests” originated during the 1930s. During the era of the Great Depression, the state was challenged with the consequences of unsustainable farming practices, cut-and-run logging, bankrupt homesteads and devastating wildfires. Thousands of acres of land became tax delinquent as owners could not, or for a variety of reasons would not, pay their taxes. These lands were labeled "worthless” and became the "lands nobody wanted." In 1935, in an attempt to return the tax delinquent acres to private ownership, the Minnesota Legislature provided for forfeiture of these lands to local counties, thereby enabling their resale to others. By this time, about eight million acres of tax-forfeited land had accumulated. Delinquency and subsequent forfeiture continued at a high level into the 1960s. As the demand for land remained low and many of the acres were not re-sold, the land continued to be the responsibility of the local county governments. Over time, the counties began to recognize opportunities to care for these lands in ways that could rebuild the soils, restore forest habitats, enhance local communities and create long-term economic returns. Counties found they could manage the lands to grow trees on a sustained-yield basis and the returns from this management could improve the environment and also provide jobs, revenues to meet public needs, and other benefits. In 1979, the Minnesota Legislature enacted "Payment In Lieu of Tax (PILT) Legislation" that encouraged retention of the tax-forfeited land by the local public land managers. The law provided compensation to local taxing districts (i.e., counties) for retaining land that represented a loss of tax base. These payments remain important for sustaining the needs of local communities and ensuring continual stewardship of natural resources. Counties do not share a uniform plan or prescription for management of forests. Each county manages its woodlands independently. Local interests, including the common use of citizen advisory committees, inform management decisions and county staff and boards administer the lands. In recent years, county land departments have provided leadership in several areas linked to responsible forest management. These include third-party forest certification, forest-based carbon offset opportunities, motorized recreation management, and forest inventory needs. Most of the benefits and services of county lands are not easily quantified and many are provided at no direct cost, which makes estimating their value difficult. However, related research has explored the potential value of these types of benefits. 98% of the lands each year are providing undisturbed habitat, water quality and recreation benefits. Minnesota’s county forest lands, unwanted in the 1930s, now provide unique opportunities to address local community needs, contribute to resolution of emerging issues, and demonstrate responsible forestry. County land managers are currently challenged by a number of significant threats, including invasive species, forest health concerns, and reduced markets. At the same time, the management of county forests is subjected to political pressures, shrinking local and state budgets, and competing interests. Minnesota is one of a few states that has county-managed lands within the public land category. These county lands can be described as Minnesota’s “community-forests” due to the important social, economic and ecological services they provide as public lands under local control. The county-managed lands provide a unique type of land ownership within the context of public forest lands in the state. To ensure the delivery of the services and benefits of these lands for future generations continued investment and statewide commitment to their responsible care and management is required.”Item The North West Voyageurs Brigade Historic Trails Award(2003) Boy Scouts of AmericaThis short but interesting pdf describes an award given by the Boy Scouts of America to scouts accomplishing a route in the Voyageur's National Park. It contains a brief history and images of Native American and early European canoe routes. The pdf notes the importance of historic water routes to transportation and commerce.Item Points and Pits: Archaeological Investigations in Minnesota’s Region 9, the Lake Superior Shore, Carlton, Cook, Lake, and St. Louis Counties, Minnesota(2011) Mulholland, Susan C; Mulholland, Stephen L; Hamilton, Jennifer R; Stark, StaceyThis report is essentially an archeological survey of northeastern Minnesota’s coastal region, for which little is known about prehistoric human occupation. The authors first conducted a literature review, then carried out field investigations at 34 sites in 2010. Most of the sites were already known, and only four new sites suggesting historic use or habitation were found, all in Jay Cooke State Park. The study focused on sites that were not far from water. The report describes archeological and GIS methods used to select and explore the sites. The authors conclude that some progress has been made in contributing to a historical database for the region, but that much more remains to be discovered about prehistoric occupation on the Lake Superior shoreline. Key sections of the report are extracted and reproduced below. Summary: "This project was designed to add to our knowledge of Region 9, which was poorly known as a result of relatively few previously recorded. Four objectives were stated for the project to be conducted in three tasks. A summary of what is currently known about the prehistoric occupation of the region was the first task. Both literature and collections review were specifically included as sources. Updating the State Archaeologist site files for known sites and locating new sites was the second task, including both checking on sites reported by private collectors and new survey. The fourth objective was to develop a narrative predictive model of prehistoric site location for agency managers prehistoric archaeological sites (a total of 34). The field survey for new sites, most of which had to be conducted in fall 2010 before the ground froze, focused on a GIS compilation of several environmental factors previously thought to be important predictors of prehistoric site locations: distance to water (50 and 100 m) and slope (5%, 7%, 10%). Where possible, information on shoreline features from glacial lakes was also incorporated. Factors of access and land ownership (public lands preferable) were also compiled. Specific locations were then selected by the field archaeologist, drawing on decades of experience. Survey followed standard procedures, mainly shovel testing but pedestrian walkover where possible. Only four new archaeological sites were located, all in Jay Cooke State Park and all initially found by surface finds in Park trails. “Most of the areas selected for survey (County and City lands in St. Louis County, Split Rock Lighthouse State Park in Lake County, Judge Magney State Park in Cook County) were either negative or untestable. Concurrently with preparation for new survey, informant reports of new sites were recorded and, where possible, field verified in fall 2010. The response from members of the local archaeological society was overwhelming; over three dozen leads were given, about half for prehistoric sites and half for historic sites that might have prehistoric components. Additional site leads were supplied from members of the general public who heard of the project from media releases or by word of mouth. Although some site leads were either natural items or outside the Region 9 boundary, several prehistoric sites were recorded from this source. The data from both sources suggest that sites in Region 9 do tend to correlate to water, both past and present; however, specific numerical values for environmental variables are not as productive as viewing topography in the field. Areas of low slope are also high potential but not all flat area near water have site materials. Areas of low to no potential would include areas of steep slope (but not all area greater than 10% slope), water saturation (both permanent and seasonal), and/or areas at far distances from water (although quantitative measures are not firm). Much more research needs to be conducted to understand the pre-Contact occupation of the region, as well as develop a better predictive model of site location."Item 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 MA 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.Item Water Resources in the Vicinity of Municipalities on the Eastern Mesabi Iron Range and the Vermillion Iron Range in Northeastern Minnesota(1962) Cotter, R D; Young, H L; Petri, L R; Prior, C HThis historical document contains assessments of water supply for Aurora, Hoyt Lakes, Babbitt, Tower-Soudan and Ely from fifty years ago. While it does not describe human uses of water resources at the time, it does contain information about aquifers and ground water resources that could potentially be used for industrial, municipal or recreational purposes. "This report describes existing and potential water supplies on the eastern Mesabi and Vermilion Iron Ranges, northeastern Minnesota. Increased supplies of water are needed for expansion and diversification of the economy of the iron ranges. Specifically, supplies are needed for taconite processing, wood and peat processing, and municipal expansion. This investigation made in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation indicates that in some areas large quantities of water are available from both ground and surface sources. The most productive aquifers are the Biwabik Iron-Formation and the stratified glacial drift. East of Colby Lake, the Biwabik is not an important aquifer. On the Vermilion Iron Range, this formation is absent, and the glacial drift is commonly too thin to produce the quantities available on the Mesabi Range. Bodies of stratified drift, believed by the authors to be potential sources for large ground-water supplies, are outlined as numbered areas. Their boundaries are drawn on the basis of topography, geologic mapping, test drilling, and test pumping. The accuracy of the assessment of the ground-water supplies in each numbered area is proportional to the subsurface control. Where adequate pumpage data are available, specific capacities of wells are noted. Multiplying the specific capacity by the maximum allowable drawdown will give the short-term maximum yield of a well. Specific capacities decrease with an increase in time and pumping rate. Specific capacities of wells completed in artesian aquifers should not be compared with those of wells completed in water-table aquifers, because, in otherwise identical aquifers, the value obtained for a well in the artesian aquifer would be much lower. The geologic sections in this report are based on the indicated testhole information and open-pit mine exposures. Identification of glacial deposits from drill cuttings and correlation of deposits between test holes is tenuous. However, the sections show the sequence and general lithology that probably would be penetrated in a drill hole along the line of section. Surface-water supplies in the eastern Mesabi and Vermilion Iron Ranges are good. In the southwestern part of the area of this report, the Embarrass, St. Louis, and Partridge Rivers and Second Creek are good potential supplies. Vermilion Lake is a very large untapped potential supply in the northwest. The eastern part has a network of lakes and river systems available for utilization. Records of flow for eight gauging stations are presented. The quality of ground water and surface water is adequate for many industrial uses. Ground water commonly has a high concentration of iron and manganese and is hard. Surface water commonly has a high concentration of iron and is colored. Analyses of water from many sources are included."Item Water Resources of the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation, East-Central Minnesota(1989) Ruhl, James F; Fond du Lac Indian Reservation Business CommitteeThis interesting report presents the findings of a hydrologic study of the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation. The study is the outcome of a 1978 Federal mandate to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to review Indian water-rights claims in reservations throughout the United States. The Fond du Lac Indian Reservation study, done by the U. S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation Business Committee, is the first of the these studies undertaken in Minnesota under the Federal mandate. The report notes that ground water resources derive from three aquafers, and that surface waters derive from wetlands and surficial waters within the St. Louis River watershed. Except for a small number of well-water samples, water quality was found to be within EPA limits for pollutants and was determined to be safe for human and animal consumption. A few wells had elevated levels of lead and manganese; four principal streams contained E. coli and Streptococcus.