Residents planting the seed to restore North Shore forests
May 5, 2012 at 7:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
The forest along Lake Superior’s North Shore has been drastically changed by humans over the past century. Now, people are making a growing effort to change it back.
Continue Reading
Very interesting article. Commendable activism by these conservation-minded people. I hope that climate change and the imbalance in the ecosystem (influx of whitetail deer, decline of moose, extinction of woodland caribou from the NS) can be overcome by the efforts of these dedicated parties to return the boreal forest to the Lk Superior North Shore.
I hope the whitetail deer hunting lobby takes heed and accepts that natural predators are needed to keep the whitetail in check (wolves), that the whitetail deer range needs to be scaled back through DNR intervention, that whitetails carry parasites that kill moose and the whitetail is munching the saplings that will bring the boreal forest back.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
27 
3
Since childhood I recall my dad telling me how sad it is that ‘invasive species’ have taken over with little or no effort put forth to stop them. This includes Starlings, English Sparrows (both imported to eat garbage in big cities in the colonial years) and the whitetail deer have been encourage by the DNR for their economic impact on sport hunting. Often the love of hunting for sport is at odds with a ‘natural’ balance, as evidence all I have to do is point to the 10 whitetail deer that ravage my garden and frequent my yard on a nightly basis. Even Black bears are a huge problem and their numbers seem to go unchecked in the city. 20 years ago I didn’t need an electric fence to keep bears awayt from my bee hives, now it is an absolute necessity.
Like or Dislike:
12 
1
Really??? These private landowners have some of the most expensive property in the state. And we should help them restore it? Give me a break.
Like or Dislike:
2 
9
So, Monten blames climate change as well. If this is true, will planting more “native” trees help? Will they survive? Or should they be planting species that can survive this catastrophic event? Since I image Man will be around destroying the earth for a while, maybe planting something that enjoys the 90 degree breezes off Lake Superior would be a smarter move…
Like or Dislike:
0 
0