After reading the Sunday Strib article, I decided to ask fellow birderss opinions on this series and what we could/should do about what is occurring in our critical NE Minnesota habitat. Yes, over the last several years I too have noticed the booming growth along the North Shore and inland lakes. I think part of me just wanted to ignore it, hope for the best and just continue to happily bird my way up and down along the North Shore. The problem is that the seemingly unregulated development in combination with insatiable demand for a piece of the north country is indeed permanently changing the north woods. Truthfully I get a sinking feeling when I think about how things are currently and feel even worse when pondering the future of our North Woods.
I am originally from the Duluth area and still spend much time there and in NE Minnesota in general. I also have first hand experience of how the essence of the north woods is changing from the vantage point of my family being longtime cabin owners on a Carlton County lake not too far from Duluth. Just on our little lake people seem intent on having large year round homes with lots that seem more appropriate for a new metro area subdivision than for a small inland lake. This obviously doesnt do much for keeping the area/lake hospitable for wildlife. We can talk shoreline management some other time but my focus in my writing today is with the sheer volume of new north country arrivals and the opening up of land formerly off limits, i.e. corporate land now up for sale. So what the heck are we supposed to do about it? The general public obviously wants to build their retreat away from urban areas, and as we all know, thereby inadvertently creating yet another crowded situation from which to get away. The pattern will most likely be the same up north as in urban areas where folks flee from crowded congestion further into heretofore undeveloped lands. Then of course the money to be made is huge from realtors and land speculators up to the corporations cashing in their land piggy banks. There are even people who scout around for land which has potential to become available presently or in the future. A lot of people have a lot of money with which to buy their dream retreat and are indeed doing just that in droves. So what should we do? God forbid NE Minnesota becomes another Brainerd lakes area! Maybe I am off base but I really feel we (by we I mean members of the public who care about the state of the natural environment) should join the party and buy land, lots of it. We could also try a different or concurrent approach by getting involved politically and getting some good regulations in place for the inevitable. I am aware that the MOU took the initiative and bought a small parcel in Aitkin County and this is a move in the right direction. But I question whether or not the MOU is the right vehicle for habitat acquisition primarily because of limited funds and its other mission goals. On the other hand, if the MOU wants to be a land owner then lets ratchet it up a few notches and make it a major initiative. As I said before, maybe I am off base and uninformed of wonderful initiatives already under way to protect habitat, but I feel we are watching our birding/wildlife lands disappearing forever. Once areas are developed we never get them back, or at least I havent heard of it happening lately, and I dont read many headlines about hundreds or thousands of acres being added to land holdings off limits to development. It would be great if environmental organizations would band together and be able to pony up enough cash to be a significant player compared to the developers. I don't know if we have the luxury of time for more passive methods such as education of youth or publicity from birding festivals or eco tourism in general. So next time we are birding our way up and back from Grand Marais take a good look at the ridge line and shoreline development. I hope we like the view, I am not sure the birds do. Peace, Steve Morrison Mpls and Duluth __________________________________ Yahoo! Music Unlimited Access over 1 million songs. Try it free. http://music.yahoo.com/unlimited/