Low-cost natural weight / wellness classes begin May 27 in Hancock

HANCOCK -- A group of natural wellness experts from Finlandia's Jutila Center for Global Design and Business will launch a series of low-cost community classes called "Perfect Weight and Wellness" at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 27, in Room 324 of the Jutila Center.

Subtitled "Bringing Balance to Your Relationship with Food and your Body," the series will run on Wednesday evenings through the summer and cover topics ranging from mind-body wellness to why popular diets don't always work.

Patty Markham Peterson, RN, of Keweenaw Natural Wellness will introduce the series with her class titled "The Physical Body and the Energy Body," based on her experiences working locally in natural wellness since 1997.

Patty Markham Peterson, RN, of Keweenaw Natural Wellness, is an energy healer. She is pictured here teaching a previous class on wellness at the Jutila Center in Hancock. (Photo courtesy Patty Markham Peterson, Keweenaw Natural Wellness)

"As I work with clients I see how much energy affects their health," Peterson said. "In this class, I'll talk about how that happens and how we can manage our energy to stay healthy."

Peterson has taught previous wellness and intuition classes, which have grown in popularity since beginning about three years ago. As part of the current series, she will also teach the classes "Eating Without FEAR" (June 24) and "Conscious and Unconscious Beliefs and Body Weight" (Aug. 5).

Kim Menzel, LMSW, of Indigo Creek Counseling; Vicki Usitalo, RN, of Preventive Health Maintenance; and Katie Alvord of North Coast Holistics will present additional classes in the Perfect Weight and Wellness series.

Menzel, a clinical psychotherapist who works closely with area health care providers in the prevention and treatment of eating disorders, will present the classes "Mindfulness and Body Image" (June 10), "Overcoming Self-Sabotage" (July 22) and "Food as a Metaphor" (Sept. 9). Menzel has been in practice since 1994 and has operated Indigo Creek Counseling since 2006. She specializes in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.

Usitalo, a registered nurse who has worked locally in natural health since 2002, specializes in field control therapy, a method of internal cleansing which uses homeopathy and herbs. Her June 17 class will focus on ways this method can reduce fatigue, support weight management and improve overall wellness.

Alvord, an award-winning writer and educator with training in holistic health and nutrition, will present the classes "Journaling for Perfect Weight and Wellness" (July 8) and "Popular Diets vs. the Unique You" (Aug. 19). She will also host the class "Tapping for Wellness" (June 3) on neural tapping, a technique related to acupressure and designed to promote self-healing.

Alvord stressed the low-cost aspect of the classes.

"Especially with the economy now, we wanted to offer classes that are both practical and affordable," she said. "We hope the holistic approaches we'll cover will help people save money on medical bills, too."

All classes are $10 at the door, and will be held at Finlandia's Jutila Center for Global Design and Business at 200 Michigan Street in Hancock. All will run from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday evenings, with informal discussion to follow. For more information, call 487-7451 or email NorthCoastHolistics@gmail.com.

For a complete schedule of the classes, visit the North Coast Holistics Web site.

Coaster brook trout protection denied by USFWS

MARQUETTE -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced a 12-month finding on a petition to list the coaster brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. The petition also asked that critical habitat be designated for the species.

According to a May 18, 2009, article in the Duluth News Tribune, environmental groups have sought federal protection since 2006 for the native fish now found only in Lake Superior near a few streams.

"Coaster brook trout are brook trout that spend a portion of their life cycle in the Great Lakes," the article states. "At one time, there were more than 50 runs in the U.S. waters of Lake Superior. They also were found in Lakes Huron and Michigan, where they now are extinct.

"Today, there are only four known wild populations in the U.S. waters of Lake Superior, all in Michigan -- one in the Salmon Trout River in the Upper Peninsula and three on Isle Royale."*

The Salmon Trout River is now threatened by Kennecott Minerals / Rio Tinto's proposed sulfide mine for nickel and copper.

The article also notes that USFWS "determined that the coaster is not a 'distinct population' from other brook trout and that it doesn’t deserve special designation because the overall brook trout population is not in peril."

From the USFWS: "After review of all available scientific and commercial information, we find that the coaster brook trout is not a listable entity under the Act, and therefore, listing is not warranted. We ask the public to continue to submit to us any new information that becomes available concerning the taxonomy, biology, ecology, and status of coaster brook trout and to support cooperative conservation of coaster brook trout within its historical range in the Great Lakes."

Editor's Notes:
* For the complete online article, go to: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/120559/

This update is courtesy Save the Wild UP.