EPA posts Web site with information on L'Anse Warden Plant Clean Air Act investigation

By Michele Bourdieu

Railroad ties, one of the fuel sources used in the L'Anse Warden Electric Co. power plant, are stacked near the plant in L'Anse. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality dust wipes taken east of the plant have been analyzed by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and found to contain pentachlorophenol, a wood preservative used in railroad ties, as well as multiple metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. According to the EPA's new Web site on the L'Anse Warden Plant, at this time EPA doesn’t have enough information to determine whether the levels found in the dust wipes were excessive or could cause health problems. Additional investigation is needed to determine risks to the community.* (Keweenaw Now file photo © and courtesy Horst Schmidt)

L'ANSE -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 recently posted a Web site with information on the L'Anse Warden Electric Company (LWEC) to provide publicly available information on EPA's Clean Air Act investigation of the LWEC.*

EPA is working closely with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) to investigate L'Anse area residents’ concerns about odors and fugitive dust coming from the LWEC plant, address potential health risks and determine compliance with environmental regulations.

In an April 1, 2016, letter to Linda Rulison, president of FOLK (Friends of the Land of Keweenaw), Molly Smith, U.S. EPA Region 5 environmental scientist (Air Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, MI/WI Section), states, "At this time we would like to draw your attention to some new information that became available this week. MDEQ, at the request of EPA, collected dust wipe samples at four locations in the L’Anse, Michigan, community. Results of that sampling have been finalized and are available to view on the web."

At present the Web site includes links to the following: EPA requests to LWEC for information related to their emissions, MDEQ violation notices to LWEC, test results and a history of L'Anse Warden permits.

* Click here for the EPA's L'Anse Warden Power Plant Web site.

Company requests MDNR metallic minerals leases in Houghton, Ontonagon, Iron counties; 30-day public comment period

By Michele Bourdieu

This Michigan Department of Natural Resources map shows the parcels (in pink, marked with an M, and one in green in Section 25) in Duncan Township, Houghton County, requested for metallic mineral leases by Trans Superior Resources, Inc., a subsidiary of Bitterroot Resources LTD. Click on map for larger version. (Map courtesy Michigan Department of Natural Resources)

[Editor's Update: Karen Maidlow, Property Specialist, DNR, Office of Minerals Management, notified Keweenaw Now on Apr. 25, 2016, that the public comment period on these lease requests has been extended to May 31, 2016.]

LANSING -- The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) reports that Trans Superior Resources, Inc., (a subsidiary of Bitterroot Resources LTD of West Vancouver, BC, Canada) has requested direct metallic minerals leases from the State of Michigan covering MDNR metallic mineral rights located within Houghton, Ontonagon and Iron counties -- totaling approximately more than 3,000 acres.

In a March 14, 2016, news release, parent company Bitterroot Resources states, "The primary exploration targets being pursued on Bitterroot's Voyageur Lands are conduit-hosted, high-grade magmatic nickel-copper-PGM deposits similar to Lundin Mining's Eagle and Eagle East deposits, which are located 65 km NE of the Voyageur Lands."*

The following requests are being announced in published Public Notices:

In Houghton County, Trans Superior has requested a total of 1,286 acres, more or less, further described as: T47N, R37W, Sections 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, and 35 (in Duncan Township).

In Ontonagon County, Trans Superior has requested a total of 1,605 acres, more or less, further described as: T46N, R38W, Sections 3, 15, 16, and 21; T47N, R38W, Sections 25, 27, 34, and 35 (Interior Township).

This map shows the parcels in Interior Township, Ontonagon County, marked with M, that have been requested for metallic mineral leases by Trans Superior Resources, Inc. Click on map for larger version. (Map courtesy Michigan Department of Natural Resources)

In Iron County Trans Superior's request is for a total of 160 acres, more or less, further described as: T45N, R36W, Sections 11, 12, and 13 (Iron River Township).

This map shows the parcels (marked with an M) in Sections 11, 12 and 13 of Iron River Township, Iron County, requested for metallic mineral leasing by Trans Superior Resources, Inc. Click on map for larger version. (Map courtesy Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources)

A parcel list showing the legal description of the lands and recommended parcel classifications is available at www.michigan.gov/minerals, "Metallic Minerals Lease Information"; or by contacting Karen Maidlow, Property Specialist, DNR, Office of Minerals Management, P.O. Box 30452, Lansing, MI 48909; or maidlowk@michigan.gov.

According to the Public Notices, written comments from interested parties, relative to the request to lease the specified mineral rights, may be submitted to the MDNR at the contact information listed above no later than 30 days from the actual date of the Public Notice publication.

"We have to be assured that the public has 30 days from the date of the publication to submit their comments, which is why the notice is written that way," Karen Maidlow told Keweenaw Now in an email today. "The applicant told me that the public notices were expected to be published no later than April 6th. If that is the case, the public would need to submit their comments no later than May 6, 2016."

MDNR county nomination maps are available online as follows:

Houghton County:
http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/spatialdatalibrary/pdf_maps/Mineral_Lease_Information/Houghton_nominations.pdf

Ontonagon County:
http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/spatialdatalibrary/pdf_maps/Mineral_Lease_Information/Ontonagon_nominations.pdf 

Iron County:
http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/spatialdatalibrary/pdf_maps/Mineral_Lease_Information/Iron_nominations.pdf 

According to Maidlow, "If you right click on the map and zoom in to the township, range, section, you’ll see pink blocks with a red letter M (signifying the parcel is requested for metallic minerals lease). The pink shading means that the State of Michigan only owns the minerals to that parcel. For the majority of the parcels requested to lease, the land is owned by the US Forest Service and the State of Michigan owns the minerals. There is 1 small parcel (6 acres) in Houghton County, T47N, R37W, Section 25, NWNW where the State owns both the surface and minerals. This parcel shows up as olive green on the map, also with a red letter M."

Trans Superior Resources, Inc., is located at 333 Bridge Street NW, Grand Rapids, MI.

*Learn about the Michigan mineral exploration plans of parent company Bitterroot Resources LTD on their Web site.

Guest Article: Citizens still concerned about community health hazards from L'Anse Warden Electric Company plant

The L'Anse Warden Electric Company (LWEC) "biomass" plant in L'Anse, Michigan, has been the subject of citizen complaints about pollution, especially non-compliance with air quality standards. At right is the Falls River, which flows into Lake Superior. (Photo © and courtesy Horst Schmidt)

By Catherine Andrews, L'Anse Township resident

In the March 29, Daily Mining Gazette (DMG) cover story, Steve Walsh, General Manager/Chief Operating Officer of L'Anse Warden Electric Company (LWEC) opines that Friends of the Land of Keweenaw (FOLK) and Partnership for Policy Integrity (PFPI) are 100 percent against jobs in Baraga County. How he arrives at this conclusion is puzzling in light of a recent conversation I had with him.
(Inset photo: Guest author Catherine Andrews, speaking about the L'Anse Warden Electric Company plant during a meeting of Friends of the Land of Keweenaw last October. Keweenaw Now file photo.)*

On February 24, Walsh repeatedly accused me, and others, of wanting money from him.  I explained  that we are concerned about community health, the health of L'Anse Warden Electric Company (LWEC) employees and the environment. My perception is that he fails to grasp the concept that anyone would value health over money.

A major criteria pollutant emitted from the LWEC stack is Hydrogen Chloride (HCl). The permit limit is 2.17 pounds per hour. A September 24 stack test revealed 5.19 pounds per hour. HCl forms hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid, upon contact with atmospheric humidity. HCl is just one of many chemicals emitted from LWEC.

Exposure to HCl may cause eye, nose and respiratory tract irritation and inflammation and pulmonary edema. Exposure to skin may cause severe burns, ulcerations and scarring.

This photo shows the smokestack of the LWEC plant very near the BHK Child Development Center. (Photo © and courtesy Catherine Andrews) 

When I expressed concern regarding LWEC's close proximity to the BHK Child Development Center, Walsh said, "It should not have been built so close to a power plant."

This photo shows the proximity of the BHK Child Development Center to the conveyor that delivers chipped railroad ties and wood chips used for fuel in the LWEC plant. The receiving hopper (to the right of the conveyor) and the conveyor are sources of fugitive dust. The photo was taken from the river side of the plant. (Photo © and courtesy Catherine Andrews)

BHK was built in 1998, five years after the Warden Plant stopped burning coal in 1993, and 10 years before Traxys purchased the shuttered plant in order to convert it to a Biomass facility.

Even though MDEQ (Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality) and EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) are investigating noncompliance issues within LWEC's expired permit, Walsh's statement to the L'Anse Village Council that LWEC is in no imminent danger of being shut down is probably true. As seen in Flint, extraordinary bureaucratic bungling persists until agencies are forced by public pressure to do their job.

Green Hill Manor, at left, is a senior housing facility, some of whose residents have complained about dust from the LWEC plant. (Photo © and courtesy Horst Schmidt)

Walsh's allegations that citizen activists want to shut down LWEC are completely fabricated. I specifically told him that this whole issue would be resolved if LWEC converted to natural gas, which is already utilized during shut down and start up operations. I have been very clear that using natural gas is preferable to burning chemically treated railroad ties, chipped tires and other chemically treated products. I sincerely hope that most of the 17 people (not 35 as was quoted in the DMG article) who are employed at the plant would continue to be employed if the plant converts to natural gas.

This is a recent photo of railroad ties to be used at the LWEC plant. At right, in the background, is Lake Superior's Keweenaw Bay. (Photo © and courtesy Horst Schmidt)

Traxys, owner of the LWEC plant, is a subsidiary of a private equity investment company. They purchase devalued property and acquire Federal subsidies (LWEC received over 11 million) and other incentives to start up new businesses. Once the new business becomes operational, the company is sold for a sweet profit. LWEC has been for sale for three years.

Traxys never intended to become a long term, integral player in the Baraga County economy. L'Anse is only a blip on their balance sheet and will be stuck with a toxic legacy that will remain long after Traxys has moved on.**

Editor's Notes:

* See our Dec. 4, 2015, article, "FOLK, local residents, EPA investigate L'Anse Warden biomass plant permit violations; DEQ to hold public hearings." 
 
** See also our Oct. 29, 2015, article, "Guest article: Questions on air pollution from L'Anse Warden biomass plant and postponed public hearing," by Diane Miller. Note that the public hearing on the LWEC plant, mentioned as scheduled by MDEQ, has not yet been held.

Portage Library to host Keweenaw Garden Club butterfly presentation Apr. 4

A Monarch butterfly visits milkweed plants in the Keweenaw. (Photo © and courtesy Gustavo Bourdieu)

HOUGHTON -- The Portage Lake District Library (PLDL) will host the Keweenaw Garden Club for an evening of learning about species of butterflies that live in our area.

Tim Eisele, an assistant professor in Michigan Tech's Department of Chemical Engineering, is also an entomology hobbyist. He will present "Keweenaw Butterflies in the Garden" at 7 p.m. Monday, April 4, at the PLDL.

Eisele will show slides and discuss which species are likely to come around in local gardens, what times of year to expect them, and what can be done either to provide food for their caterpillars, or to attract the adults. His slide show demonstrates that even though the Keweenaw does not have the diversity of butterflies that are seen further south, the area does have a nice selection of local species to enjoy. For local entomology photos and news, visit Eisele’s Web site.

The Keweenaw Garden Club was established by and for gardening enthusiasts. They have presentations at the Portage Lake District Library on the first Monday of each month September through May. Those who are interested in learning more about the club can visit their Web site.

Library programs are free and everyone is welcome. For more information, call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.

First Friday in Calumet April 1 to offer new exhibits, workshops, poetry, more

Art by Robin Rastello will be exhibited at Café Rosetta in April. On First Friday, April 1, the café will also host a Poetry Reading at 6:30 p.m. (Photo courtesy Café Rosetta)

CALUMET -- First Friday in Calumet is NO April Fool. Galleries will be open Friday evening, April 1, to welcome the public to new exhibits, art activities and more.

Vertin Gallery: Youth Arts exhibit

The April exhibition in The Vertin Gallery Art and Antiques celebrates Youth Arts Month with "History in the Making -- An Immigrant Story." The public is invited to a reception from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, April 1.

This collaboration between Keweenaw National Historical Park, CLK Schools, and The Vertin Gallery features the work of the 18 CLK 3rd grade Keweenaw Youth Historians. On display are puppets that represent local members of the area with historic significance, created during national Youth Arts Month by this group of young artists with upcycled materials supplied by The Vertin Gallery.

Fine art, antiques, jewelry, and gifts from local artists and collectors will be featured including vintage, industrial chic, bohemian, mid-century modern and classic retail items available for the style-minded shopper. The Vertin Gallery is located on the corner of 6th and Oak Street in downtown Calumet.

Paige Wiard Gallery: Gallery Artist Show

"Salt and Pepper" by Meredith Krell. (Photo courtesy Paige Wiard Gallery)

For the month of April, the Paige Wiard Gallery, 109 Fifth St., will be showcasing art work by the many artists that make the Paige Wiard Gallery so special. So stop in the gallery for an opening reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, April 1, and take the time to view not just the April show but the whole gallery. Please call 906-337-5970 or email paigewiardgallery@gmail.com with any questions.

Calumet Art Center: Clay Whistle Workshop

Calumet Art Center First Friday. (Poster courtesy Calumet Art Center)

Celebrate spring at the Calumet Art Center from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on First Friday, April 1. A Clay Whistle Workshop will be open to all ages from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at a cost of $5 per person. Did you know that you can turn mud into music? Participants will learn how to create a whistle out of clay. Fun for persons of all ages!

Looking for something to do while the snow melts and the mud dries up? Sign up for one or more of the exciting classes the Calumet Art Center has planned for April. Click here for details.

Cross Country Sports: "Watercolors Now and Then"

For the month of April, Cross Country Sports, 507 Oak Street, will host a show titled "Watercolors Now and Then," featuring old favorites and new works by Bob Dawson.

"I love painting watercolors," Dawson writes. "I am often inspired by other peoples’ paintings. Works that appear to be spontaneous, transparent and loosely painted appeal to me most. There’s some mystery connected to viewing paintings made with water on paper. Maybe the viewer wants (subconsciously) to enter into the process and start painting them? I certainly look forward to doing more of these watercolors myself."

From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, April 1, the public is invited to the opening of the show and a chance to talk to Bob about his work. Beverages and light refreshments will be served. For more information, call 337-4520, visit their Web site or find them on Facebook.

Copper Country Associated Artists: Embroidery Workshop

Embroidery stitches. (Photo courtesy Copper Country Associated Artists)

Copper Country Associated Artists (CCAA), 205 Fifth St., will host a mini Embroidery Workshop from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, April 1. Karen Secor, a gallery artist member, will demonstrate some techniques and help you get started. Learn several basic embroidery stitches and explore ways to incorporate them into a completed work. Materials will be provided or bring your own. Donations appreciated.

Hahn Hammered Copper: "Collections"

Stop by Hahn Hammered Copper, 203 Fifth St., this First Friday to see "Collections" of cool stuff -- Art, Copper Things, Antiques, Nifty Bottles, Brass Hardware, Clothespin Angels, Found Objects, Ornaments, Ancient Rocks, Weird Gizmos, Wooden Balls in Tiny Boxes, and so much more! See you in downtown Calumet this First Friday!

Café Rosetta: Poetry and Art

Paintings such as this one by Robin Rastello are on exhibit through April at Café Rosetta. (Photo courtesy Café Rosetta)

Café Rosetta, 104 Fifth St., will host an exhibit of art by Robin Rastello during April. On First Friday, April 1, the café will also be open for a Poetry Reading at 6:30 p.m.

Artist Robin Rastello says her painting is inspired by her work making soft sculptured dolls.

"I painted the faces on these dolls. And after learning how to do these, I started making my own patterns and dolls, which would often take a month to create," Rastello says. "After a few years I started thinking that if I could paint a face on a doll, why not on canvas. That was probably 10 or so years ago. Once I got started I never looked back. I love mixed media because it allows me more room to experiment and play. I started out just painting angels -- more folk art style at first -- moved to women and children and then to landscapes and a few cityscapes. I love playing around with the different mediums -- feels much like a kid in a candy store. I am not a formally trained artist, but I have taken a few online classes, get info from books, mistakes, happy accidents. And those ahha moments. My painting has evolved into painting more in the whimsical and abstract."

New Wide-Eyed Gallery to open Apr. 1 in South Range

The new Wide-Eyed Gallery will open its doors to the public at 7 p.m. Friday, Apr. 1, in South Range, Mich. (Image courtesy Wide-Eyed Gallery)

SOUTH RANGE --  A new nonprofit art gallery is about to open its doors in South Range. Wide-Eyed Gallery will be holding its opening celebration at 7 p.m. this Friday, Apr. 1. The Gallery is at 21 Trimountain Ave. in South Range.

Wide-Eyed Gallery is a public space for artists of all medias to display their work for art lovers to enjoy. The gallery space is being donated and run by Dr. Sarah Derenzo, a returning U.P. native, who has had a life long love of all things art. A Go Fund Me campaign had helped raise over $500 to fund the opening expenses of the gallery. Donations are still being collected to support the running costs of the gallery via the Go Fund Me page. Interested artists can contact Sarah at sarahderenzo@gmail.com for more information on art showings.

The gallery's goal is to celebrate art and to leave each guest a little more wide- eyed. Please come and celebrate this new public art space!

Featured at the Wide-Eyed Gallery for April and Spring 2016 are these artists:

Donna Lenard, whose breath-taking watercolors can be seen on her Facebook page. Donna is a self-taught artist who has been painting for 15 years. Her watercolors reflect the softer side of nature and leave you feeling serene.

Ashly Ekdahl of  Celestial Eden will be featuring her stunning oil painting, which can be seen on her Web page. Ashly studied art at Northern Michigan University. Her use of color makes one feel as if her work is jumping off the canvas.

Algomah Acres Honey Farm's own Melissa Hronkin will be exhibiting some of her unique multimedia sculpture. Melissa has been inspiring artists for years with her teaching. Her adventurous use of materials will leave you wondering what she is going to do next.

More Michigan Communities, Tribes pass resolutions to stop oil flowing through Enbridge’s Line 5 pipelines in Mackinac Straits

Sign displayed during the Sept. 6, 2015, protest against Line 5 at the Mackinac Bridge. (Keweenaw Now file photo)

CHARLEVOIX TOWNSHIP -- Charlevoix Township recently became the 25th community in Michigan to pass a resolution calling on Governor Rick Snyder and Attorney General Bill Schuette to stop the oil flowing through Enbridge’s 63-year-old Line 5 pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac.*

Four Indian tribes in Michigan and the Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority that manages their fishery also support stopping the nearly 23 million gallons of oil flowing through Line 5 in the Mackinac Straits, which University of Michigan experts have called the "worst possible place for an oil spill in the Great Lakes."**

Dozens of organizations, hundreds of businesses, and thousands of individuals also support efforts by the Oil and Water Don’t Mix campaign to prevent a catastrophic oil spill in the Great Lakes, which drive the Pure Michigan economy and provide drinking water to millions of people. Enbridge has a history of oil spills from Line 5 -- which runs from Superior, Wis., to Sarnia, Ont., and is responsible for 2010’s million-gallon oil spill disaster into the Kalamazoo River.

In response to the 25th-community milestone, partners in the Oil and Water Don’t Mix Campaign issued the following statements:

"The passage of the resolution by Charlevoix Township is historic: Since the beginning of November, a total of 25 communities and four tribes  across the State of Michigan have taken action and called on Governor Snyder and Attorney General Schuette to stop the flow of oil in the Straits of Mackinac," said Mariah Urueta, Michigan Organizer for Food and Water Watch, noting that the resolution has passed easily in virtually every place it has been introduced.

Mariah Urueta of Food and Water Watch speaks against the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline during the Sept. 6, 2015, Pipe Out! Paddle protest at the Mackinac Bridge. Urueta helped organize the event with Food and Water Watch and tribal groups. At right is Aaron Payment, Tribal chairperson for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians (representing himself as an Anishinaabe individual) who commented on the need for tribal representation on Michigan Governor Snyder's Task Force and Committee dealing with pipeline issues in the Great Lakes.***

"In addition, citizens are working with many more local governments to pass resolutions that support shutting down Line 5," Urueta added. "To anyone listening, the message is clear: Michiganders don’t want this pipeline to continue operating for another day. It poses too great a risk to the Great Lakes, our communities, and our economy. It’s time to shut down Line 5."

"We have attended countless community meetings in towns all across northern Michigan," said Joanne Cromley of Straits Area Concerned Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment. "There is overwhelming support everywhere we go for stopping the flow of oil in Line 5 immediately. This is not a partisan issue. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are concerned about the threats posed by this 63-year-old pipeline owned by Enbridge, and we’ll keep working with local governments on resolutions until the governor or attorney general does right by the people of Michigan and shuts down Line 5."

"It’s been eight months since Attorney General Schuette said that Line 5’s 'days are numbered,' but the Great Lakes still remain at risk of a disastrous oil spill," said Kelly Thayer, a campaigner for FLOW (For Love of Water). "Communities have spoken out because they know that these dented, cracked, and rusted old pipelines won’t last forever. Today we again call on the governor and attorney general to take quick action and use their authority to shut down Line 5."

Editor's Notes:

* At present, 27 local governments are supporting shutting down Line 5. Some of their resolutions as well as a list of supporters among communities, tribes, business, and organizations can be viewed on the Oil and Water Don't Mix Web site. See more updates on the Oil and Water Don't Mix Facebook page.

** Click here for the list of tribal supporters and links to their resolutions.

*** See videos with statements by Urueta, Payment and others in our Sept. 30, 2015, article, "Two protests near Mackinac Bridge defend Native treaty rights, oppose UP mining projects and Enbridge Line 5: Videos, photos."

Michigan G-Men to perform March 26 in Marquette to benefit Yellow Dog Watershed Community Forest project

The Michigan G-Men of Ann Arbor will perform in a concert to benefit the Yellow Dog River Community Forest project on Saturday, March 26, at Coco’s Restaurant in Marquette. (Photo courtesy Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve)

MARQUETTE -- The Michigan G-Men (or Gentlemen for long), an all-male a cappella group from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, will present a concert to benefit the Yellow Dog River Community Forest project Saturday, March 26, at Coco’s Restaurant in Marquette.

Nationally renowned for their unique talents, the G-Men have competed in ICCA Finals in New York City’s Town Hall, toured extensively across the US, and performed privately for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.* Northern Michigan University's Lake Effect Choir will also be at the event to lend their vocal support.

The event begins at 5 p.m. at Coco’s, 911 N. Lakeshore Boulevard in Marquette. Donations are greatly appreciated at the door and will go toward the purchase and establishment of the Yellow Dog River Community Forest. Many items will be available through a silent auction, including vacation home rentals, massage gift certificates, art, and local treats.

A short presentation about the project and the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve's  fundraising status as well as a performance by Milo Birch will precede the concert by the G-Men, who will then take the stage and share their voices and talents until 8 p.m.

The Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve (YDWP) is leading an effort to purchase and protect some of the forests and waterfalls along the Yellow Dog River in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The group has an opportunity to purchase 695 acres in order to establish the proposed Yellow Dog River Community Forest.

Yellow Dog Falls, also known as Hills Falls, are part of the Yellow Dog River Community Forest. (Photo © Carrie Whittaker and courtesy Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve)

"This place is important to many," says Emily Whittaker, YDWP Special Projects manager. "This particular property we are aiming to purchase features the primary public access point, a hiking trail, the most visited set of waterfalls, and habitat for rare plant and animal species. It’s a high quality ecosystem that draws locals and visitors who are looking to spend time outdoors. If we don't take the opportunity to protect this place, it could be sold off to private individuals or investors. We could see public access taken away, the forest converted, and the natural features degraded."**

The group has until March 31, 2016, to raise the total cost of the project, which is $1.1 million. Help them reach this goal by donating today and sharing with friends!

Visit the YDWP Crowdrise page to donate.

If you don't want to donate online, you can send check or cash to:
Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve
P.O. Box 5
Big Bay, MI 49808

* Click here to learn more about the Michigan G-Men and to listen to their music.

** Check out more about the Community Forest here.

The Legacy of Mercury in Lake Superior

W. Charles Kerfoot, Michigan Tech professor in biological sciences and and director of the Lake Superior Ecosystem Research Center at Michigan Tech, is pictured here in his laboratory. (Photo courtesy Michigan Tech University)

[Editor's Note: The Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District reports that W. Charles Kerfoot, Michigan Tech professor in biological sciences, will be one of the featured speakers at an informational meeting on environmental issues surrounding Torch Lake from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 23, in the Lake Linden-Hubbell High School Auditorium. (The meeting was originally scheduled for March 16 but was postponed due to inclement weather.)* We are publishing here, with permission, this recent Michigan Tech News article on the mercury research by Kerfoot and his team.]

By Allison Mills, Michigan Tech Science and Technology Writer
Posted March 17, 2016, on Michigan Tech News
Reprinted with permission.

The northern Great Lakes are praised for being clean, but these aquatic systems don’t exist in a vacuum. Contaminants still find their way into lake water and sediments. Mercury is of particular interest because of its toxicity and persistence.

In a new study published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research in February, an interdisciplinary team from Michigan Technological University examined the legacy of mercury in Lake Superior.

Currently, the National Atmospheric Deposition Program reports low levels of mercury deposition across most of the upper Midwest. However, those figures don’t account for past mercury deposition and what that might mean for heavy metal contamination. In fact, when mining was booming around the lake in Michigan, Minnesota and Canada in the 1800s and 1900s, the researchers found mercury input was higher than expected.

"We document that the mining effort was discharging mercury at 1,000 times the normal deposition rate in the region," says W. Charles Kerfoot, a professor of biology and director of the Lake Superior Ecosystem Research Center at Michigan Tech. "We set out to quantify this deposition -- and it was a real wake-up call."

Mine Tailings

Kerfoot collaborated with Noel Urban, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of the Center for Water and Society at Michigan Tech. Together they dug into mine tailings buried at the bottom of local waterways near the Michigan Tech campus to start piecing together the region’s mercurial history.

Booms and busts rocked not just the area’s economy, but also heavy metal fluxes. Naturally, some metals -- including mercury -- make their way into water bodies. Mining speeds up that process; and the more mining, smelting and processing taking place, then the more heavy metals get deposited. In the Keweenaw Waterway and Torch Lake, lakebed sediments record these mercury-rich layers in lighter bands.

 

Because of the unique environment of the Keweenaw Peninsula, the team was able to quantify two kinds of mercury in these layers.

"That’s normally difficult to do," Urban explains. "But here, we can show that the amount of mercury in the environment due to local activities is huge compared to the amount coming from other sources like regional coal power plants."

During an educational boat ride on Torch Lake aboard Michigan Tech's Agassiz research vessel on July 4, 2014, Michigan Tech Professor Noel Urban displays samples of contaminated sediments from Torch Lake. He explained to visitors how fish in Torch Lake are contaminated with both PCBs and mercury. Behind him are historic photos of the early mining activities around Torch Lake. (Keweenaw Now file photo)**

Urban, Kerfoot and their team gathered dozens of 5-centimeter diameter core samples by boat, then lugged them back to the lab for analysis. That’s where Kerfoot and Urban uncovered some of the "lingering effects" from mercury deposits.

Methyl Mercury

Mercury as an inorganic metal is not as toxic as its organic form, methyl mercury, which is formed by bacteria. The organic form is bioavailable -- meaning it is readily taken up and stored in organisms -- and tends to accumulate up the food chain. A little plankton feeds an invertebrate that feeds a fish and then another fish. By the time a person eats that fish, the methyl mercury has accumulated every smidge from every plankton and fish into a sizable dose of heavy metals. Because of bioaccumulation, there are guidelines on how much fish is safe to consume.

During the July 30, 2015, Geotour on copper mining waste of Lake Superior, aboard Michigan Tech's Agassiz research vessel near the Gay stamp sands, Professor Charles Kerfoot speaks about copper and mercury contamination. The educational Geotour was one of a series led by Bill Rose, Michigan Tech professor emeritus in geology. (Photo by Keweenaw Now)

Understanding the quantity and timing of the initial inorganic deposition is then crucial for understanding how much methylation occurs and how much methyl mercury is hanging out in the ecosystem.

"For each core, you need to know the concentration of the total inorganic mercury, and then you need to know how much time it took to be deposited," Kerfoot says. Once that data is compiled, it’s compared to a similar set of data for methyl mercury. In this case, as the team writes in their paper, the results "reveal that methylation occurred at the time of mining operations and shortly afterwards, with an apparent time lag of 20 to 40 years."

Regional Impacts

The question remains why the lag is there and there are several possible explanations. The delay could be from the time it takes the watershed to move mercury back into surface waters. Following clear cutting and other landscape-scale changes, forest and wetland regrowth could have played a part in remobilizing mercury. On a smaller scale, the microbes living in sediments needed time to recover from copper toxicity before being abundant enough to methylate mercury.

To better understand the time lag, and connect local activities to regional impacts, the next step of the research is to scale up. Kerfoot points out that the research in the Keweenaw gives researchers a baseline to start comparing additional sites around the lake.

The work can also affect how remediation is done with mercury contamination. At the very least, knowing how much mercury is present in the environment changes the conversation about how to deal with heavy metal contaminants in the Lake Superior region.

Editor's Notes:

* Click here for more information on the Torch Lake informational meeting to be held Wednesday, March 23.

** To see videos and photos of Noel Urban's Torch Lake presentation on the Agassiz, see our May 11, 2015, article.

Michigan Tech to host World Water Day events this week on theme "Water and Jobs"

The Portage Lake Lift Bridge. Celebrate World Water Day at Michigan Tech this week. Be aware of maintenance delays on the bridge if driving to Houghton from the north. (Photo courtesy Michigan Tech University) 

HOUGHTON -- "Water and Jobs" is the theme of this year’s World Water Day, held annually on March 22. The celebration grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, in an effort to bring international awareness to the quality and quantity of water.

Michigan Tech will celebrate 2016 World Water Day by examining several aspects of the United Nations-selected theme, "Water and Jobs."

John Austin -- director of Michigan Economic Center at Prima Civitas Foundation, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, president of the Michigan School Board and a lecturer at the University of Michigan -- will be the keynote speaker. At 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 22, Austin, who coined the term "Blue Economy," will speak on Water and Jobs in the regional context with a seminar, "Water is our Past -- Water is our Future," in 641 Dow, followed by a reception.

Austin is well known for authoring the report "Healthy Waters, Strong Economy," which led to federal support for Great Lakes clean-up and restoration and regional understanding and actions to build on our Great Lakes and water resources as an economic asset.

A  panel discussion will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 23, in GLRC (Great Lakes Research Center) 202. One of the key figures in the development of the city of Marquette’s waterway, Jim Compton -- as well as Austin, Michigan Tech Professor Alex Mayer of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Erin Johnston and Debbie Williamson from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community -- are on the panel.

Through April 30, the water-related art exhibit, "On Currents and Eddies" is on display in the Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC).

A poster competition will highlight water-related research done by Center for Water and Society graduate and undergraduate students. Posters will be on display from 2:30 p.m. Tuesday until 5 p.m. Wednesday in the Dow lobby. 

The Green Film, Lost Rivers, will be shown at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, in Forestry G002 Hesterberg Hall. The 72-minute film explores the hidden waterways in cities around the world and introduces us to people dedicated to exploring and exposing them. Many municipal governments are "day-lighting" their once-buried waterways -- find out how and why. The film is FREE and open to all. Enjoy refreshments (bring your own mug!) and discussion.

Jim Compton, City of Marquette hydrologist/engineer will facilitate the discussion on the film, including a short presentation on the daylighting of Whetstone Brook, a downtown Marquette stream.

Co-sponsors of the Green Film Series are Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative, Michigan Tech Center for Water and Society, Keweenaw Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and  Keweenaw Land Trust.*

Noel Urban, professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and director of Michigan Tech's Center for Water and Society, said his goal for the events is "to draw attention to the water issues in the world and the research done here at Tech." **

* Click here for the 2016 Green Film Series schedule.

** Click here for more details on World Water Day events.

Park Service to focus on Isle Royale wolf management issue; public comment period extended

By Michele Bourdieu

 

Isle Royale wolf. (Photo © and courtesy Rolf Peterson)

HOUGHTON -- Last year the National Park Service (NPS) began considering a broad range of management actions as part of determining how to manage the moose and wolf populations at Isle Royale National Park for at least the next 20 years. Following public comments and additional internal deliberations, the NPS has determined that it will revise and narrow the scope of the EIS (Environmental Impact Study) to focus on the question of whether to bring wolves to Isle Royale National Park in the near term, and if so, how to do so.

Over the past five years the wolf population on the island has declined steeply. There were three wolves documented on the island as of March 2015 and recent surveys confirm only two wolves as of February 2016. At this time, natural recovery of the population is unlikely. The potential absence of wolves raises concerns about possible effects on Isle Royale’s current ecosystem, including effects on both the moose population and Isle Royale’s forest/vegetation communities.

In an article published in the Winter 2015 UP Environment Newsletter of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition (UPEC), Rolf Peterson, Michigan Tech research professor and co-director of the Isle Royale Wolf-Moose Study, states that the virtual absence of wolf predation on Isle Royale since 2012 has resulted in rapid increase in both the moose and beaver populations on the island. He adds, however, that moose populations on the mainland have recently declined.

"Mainland moose populations have always dealt with predators, both black bears and wolves, and climatic warming is not appreciably different between Isle Royale and the mainland," Peterson writes. "What is different is that white-tailed deer do not inhabit Isle Royale, and it is well known that deer in the Midwest harbor an endemic parasite known as the brainworm (Paraelaphostrongylus tenuis) that is fatal to moose. Fully one-third of the adult moose radiocollared by the Lake Superior Band of Chippewa on their reservation at Grand Portage, Minnesota, have died of brainworm. With moose not doing well in the upper Midwest (there is a petition for federal listing of moose as Threatened), Isle Royale may be an important reservoir for a brain-worm-free population of moose. Of course, if Isle Royale is a last reservoir for moose in the Great Lakes region, then it will be critical that the population stay healthy. The best assurance of health in a moose population is the presence of wolves."

Peterson will be one of the speakers at UPEC's Celebrate the U.P. event TOMORROW, Saturday, March 19, at Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College in Baraga. At 10:30 a.m. he will present documentary filmmaker George Desort's film Counting Wolves, in which Desort provides a behind-the-scenes look at the annual Winter Study of wolves and moose in Isle Royale National Park.*

The NPS held public meetings last summer and received thousands of comments from the public and stakeholders. Feedback was received from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 19 other countries. Many commenters urged the NPS to bring new wolves to Isle Royale as they fear the present population of wolves will die off. Others opposed management of the wolf and moose populations.

Following the presentations at the July 27, 2015, NPS Open House on the Isle Royale Wolf-Moose-Vegetation Management Plan/EIS, both Peterson and John Vucetich, Michigan Tech wildlife ecologist and co-director of the Isle Royale Wolf-Moose Study, told Keweenaw Now they favored restoring the wolf population on Isle Royale to assure the health of its ecosystem.**

A Detroit Free Press article posted Wednesday, March 16, 2016, comments on the NPS plan to narrow the scope of its EIS to consider the wolf question. The article quotes Michigan U.S. Senator Gary Peters' reaction as follows:

"'I remain concerned that the wolf population on Isle Royale is dangerously low. Not only are the wolves a part of Isle Royale’s heritage, but their presence can help control the moose population and preserve the ecosystem,' said U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. 'While the Park Service must base their decision first and foremost on science and provide a full analysis of their plan, I believe narrowing the scope of the (study) is appropriate given the dire circumstances of the current wolf population.'"***

Public comment period extended

As a result of the revised scope, the NPS is offering an additional public comment period that will close 30 days after an amended notice of intent is published in the Federal Register.

"All comments already submitted have been posted online; however, we welcome additional input at this time," said Superintendent Phyllis Green.

The park encourages everyone to visit the project web page http://parkplanning.nps.gov/ISROwolves to review comments already submitted, read the newsletter, or provide additional comments. The newsletter includes four revised alternatives for wolf management. To read the newsletter with the revised alternatives being considered, go to http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=140&projectID=59316&documentID=71605 and click on the link to the pdf newsletter at the bottom of the page. Then you can click on Comment Now or go to the form at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/commentForm.cfm?documentID=71605 to comment. 

The new Comment Period closes May 16, 2016 at 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time.

The public may also mail or hand deliver written comments to:

Isle Royale National Park
800 East Lakeshore Drive
Houghton, Michigan 49931

Editor's Notes:

* Click here for more info on Celebrate the U.P. (Inset photo: Rolf Peterson. Keweenaw Now file photo courtesy Rolf Peterson)

 **See our Aug. 25, 2015, article, on the July 27, 2015, Open House, "Public comments on Isle Royale Moose-Wolf-Vegetation Management Plan/EIS due Aug. 29; wildlife experts concerned about wolf rescue." 

*** See the Detroit Free Press March 16, 2016, article, "Park Service limits Isle Royale study to wolves' future," by Todd Spangler.

Celebrate the U.P. with UPEC March 18-19 in Baraga

Celebrate the UP poster courtesy Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition (UPEC).

BARAGA -- The Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition (UPEC) will be celebrating their 40th Anniversary (2016) at their Seventh Annual Celebrate the U.P. event Friday and Saturday, March 18-19, at the Ojibwa Community College in Baraga.

The event kicks off Friday, March 18, with the Quarterly UPEC Board Meeting from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and UPEC's Annual Meeting at 6 p.m. All are welcome at these meetings. At 7 p.m. the film Ojibwe Drum Songs, by Michael Loukinen, will be shown. Featuring several local Native drummers, the film blends story, song and dance and profiles an Elder from the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe, his interpretations of stories, and the songs that come to life around the drum.

On Saturday, March 19, an opening ceremony with Native Drummers will be held at 9 a.m., followed by 12 speakers on various UP topics (3 per time slot: 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.).

Children’s activities will be held from 1 p.m.- 3 p.m. Saturday.

At 3:30 p.m. UPEC will host featured speaker Trevor Thomas, the only blind professional long-distance hiker, who has hiked nearly 20,000 miles on America’s long trails including both the Appalachian Trail (2,180-mile journey from Georgia to Maine) and Pacific Crest Trail (2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon, and Washington) with his service dog. Don’t miss this exciting talk along with all the others throughout the day Saturday!

A Meet-n-Greet Reception will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday.

All events are FREE and open to the public!

Presenters include the following:

• Chris Swartz, KBIC Tribal Council Chairman, Opening Ceremony, Welcome
• Bill Rose, geologist. Keweenaw Geohistory and Geoheritage
• George Desort’s new film, Counting Wolves, with Rolf Peterson, Michigan Tech wildlife biologist, to put things in perspective
• Joseph Youngman, expert birder. Birds of the Keweenaw -- Migrants and Breeders
• Joe Bouchard, Baraga County Trails in Motion. Happy Birthday Baraga Trails!
• Doug Welker, North Country Trail in Baraga County.
• Chris Burnett, Forester and UP Land Conservancy. Walking the Talk and Talking the Walk
• Maria Janowiak, US Forest Service. Climate Change and Upper Michigan’s Forests: Risks, Opportunities, and Ways to Adapt
• Carolyn Peterson, Isle Royale Wolf/Moose Study and Community Volunteer. Reaching Over the Fence (to people who are different from us)
• Jerry Jondreau, KBIC Tribal Forester. Mending an Ancient Relationship: The Story of the Anishinaabeg From Wiikwedong. A History That Shaped the Present Landscape and a New Way Forward
• Nancy Langston, Michigan Tech social sciences professor, Sustaining Lake Superior (and what we can learn from the past)
• Evan McDonald, Keweenaw Land Trust, and Whitey Soli. Private Land Conservation: Benefits and Effects Now and in the Future
• Gene Mensch, KBIC Fisheries Department. The KBIC Fisheries Program
• Nancy Mannikko, Baraga County Historical Society, History of Industrialized Forestry and the paradigm shift from crosscut saws and hand loading to no man on the ground, no hand on the tree
• Featured Speaker, Trevor Thomas, World’s only Blind Pro Hiker. Check out his website.

Click here for the schedule of presentations and room numbers.
Learn more about the speakers and their presentations here.

Directions: Just west of the Casino on M-38 in Baraga turn north on Beartown Rd., go north ¼ mile and turn right. Click here for a map.

Conservation District to hold Public Meeting on Torch Lake Watershed MARCH 23 in Lake Linden

This map shows the extent of the Torch Lake Watershed. (Image courtesy Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District)

UPDATE: Because of inclement weather, the Torch Lake Watershed Project meeting has been POSTPONED to Wednesday, March 23. It will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Lake Linden-Hubbell School auditorium.*

LAKE LINDEN -- The Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District (HKCD) will host a public informational meeting on the Torch Lake Watershed Project from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, MARCH 23, at the Lake Linden-Hubbell School auditorium.

Carol MacLennan, Michigan Tech professor of anthropology, presents a history of pollution problems in the Torch Lake Watershed at the Feb. 10 Torch Lake Watershed Project meeting in Lake Linden. (Photo by Keweenaw Now)

This meeting will provide information on previous restoration work along Torch Lake and additional water quality information. Guest speakers will review the history of Superfund work, current sediment mercury levels, fish consumption recommendations, an update on the state and regional Area of Concern meeting and next steps to take to continue remediation of Torch Lake.

This meeting is open to all interested individuals. RSVP is appreciated but not required. Please call (906)482-0214 or email meral.jackson@macd.org to notify Meral Jackson of HKCD that you will attend.

Funding is provided by the Areas of Concern Program, Office of the Great Lakes (OGL), Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

*Editor's Note: We originally announced the date of this meeting as March 16. We have updated it to March 23, as requested by Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District.

Carnegie Museum to present "Small Streams and Great Lakes" Natural History Seminar March 15

Carnegie Museum will present "Small Streams and Great Lakes," by Amy Marcarelli, Michigan Tech associate professor in biological sciences, at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 15. (Poster courtesy Carnegie Museum)

HOUGHTON -- "Small Streams and Great Lakes" will be the subject of the Carnegie Museum's Natural History Seminar at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 15.

Amy Marcarelli, Michigan Tech associate professor in biological sciences, will discuss what we do and don't know about the small streams ringing the Great Lakes, focusing on those surrounding Lake Superior, including historical and current stresses and restoration efforts.

Refreshments and introductions will be at 6:30 p.m. and the talk and discussion from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the ground floor Community Room. All seminars are free, open to the public, and wheelchair accessible.

March's Natural History seminar is sponsored by Statewide Real Estate of Houghton.

Congressional Candidate Lon Johnson: Town Hall on Line 5 Pipeline attracts concerned citizens

First District Congressional Candidate Lon Johnson speaks at the March 5, 2016, Town Hall on Line 5, the aging pipeline under the Mackinac Straits. More than 100 concerned citizens attended the Town Hall, held at Little Bear Arena Community Center in St. Ignace, Mich. (Photos courtesy Lon Johnson)*

By Lon Johnson, Candidate for Michigan's 1st District Congressional Seat

This past Saturday, we held a town hall meeting in St. Ignace to talk about the threat the Line 5 oil pipeline is posing to our Great Lakes. I was so pleased that more than 100 community members came to the event to share their thoughts and concerns about this critical issue.

Aaron Payment (left), tribal chairperson of the Sault Tribe at Kewadin Casino, joins Lon Johnson in greeting community members during the March 5 Town Hall on Line 5 in St. Ignace.

Line 5 is a 60-year-old pipeline running under the Straits of Mackinac. It carries more than 500,000 barrels of oil and other petroleum products every day, passing through pristine, fresh water that supports fisheries, provides drinking water and sits at the heart of our thriving tourism industry.

The Canadian company operating the pipeline has a terrible safety record, having been responsible for major spills in Michigan and throughout North America. We can’t simply take their word that Line 5 is safe. We need an independent inspection to prove it.

As the member of Congress representing the U.P. and Northern Michigan, I promise to fight for the causes that matter to you. The people of the 1st Congressional District deserve a congressman who works as hard as they do.

* Click here to see more photos from the March 5 Town Hall on Lon Johnson's  Facebook page. He invites readers to share them on Facebook to raise awareness about this serious threat to the Great Lakes.

Visit Lon Johnson's Web site to see the list of communities that have passed resolutions calling for the shutdown of the flow of oil in the Line 5 pipeline.

Letter: Bernie Sanders is the real deal

By Mary Jane Williams*

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Two words on Central Florida's best reaction to Donald Trump: BERNIE SANDERS! He's the real and only alternative to establishment Democrat and establishment Republican wars in the Middle East and Libya, brought to us by the Clintons and the Bushes. It's these wars that have brought Radical Islamic terrorism to our country.

Neither Trump nor anyone else can stop people from coming to America for work and freedom. How about we put a couple million people to work digging up antiquated water pipes all over the country so we don't have more Flint, Michigan, type water poisoning. How about we put people to work rebuilding our bridges, roads, and subways? Bernie would spend money on projects like these rather than more wars.

Before I'd heard of Bernie Sanders I happened to attend a Senate hearing in Washington, D.C., of the committee supposedly overseeing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Every Senator in that room was licking the shoes of the Commissioners. Hardest question: "How come it's taking so long to license more reactors?" Bernie pulled the microphone over and gave a spontaneous talking-to to the NRC Commissioners, telling them the hard regulations they should be putting into place. Bernie's wisdom, command of the subject, and ability to articulate -- also his courage, his guts! -- were astounding.

Bernie Sanders is the real deal; sadly he's almost a unique deal: a passionate, extremely intelligent, informed person, elected to Congress by a citizenry that truly governs itself and self-educates itself on the issues. (Each Vermont town has a yearly Town Meeting where every citizen speaks his/her mind. Town Meeting articles become the law for that town.)

BERNIE SANDERS! 

Editor's Note: The above letter was submitted recently to an Orlando newspaper as a comment on their website article on Donald Trump. It is reprinted here with the author's permission.

*The author of this letter, Mary Jane Williams describes herself as a "Reluctant mover (from the Keweenaw) to Florida last August following my grandson." She would like to be a snowbird back and forth to the U.P.

Inset photo: Williams is pictured here with her grandson, Jonah, in 2010. (Photo courtesy Mary Jane Williams) 

First Friday in Calumet to offer exhibits, art activities, more ...

Participants in the Copper Country Associated Artists workshop this First Friday will learn to create an Art Journal such as this one using recyclable books and materials. (Photo courtesy Copper Country Associated Artists)

CALUMET -- First Friday in Calumet, March 4, will offer new art exhibits and activities. Check these out:

Copper Country Associated Artists Workshop: Creating an Art Journal

Copper Country Associated Artists will host a workshop on Creating an Art Journal beginning at 6 p.m. Friday, March 4. Class will be limited to 15 participants.  Recyclable books will be provided along with lots of scrap materials and tools to help get you started on your own journal. Many ideas will be demonstrated and shown to inspire your creativity.

Calumet Floral and Gifts: Design new arrangements

On your First Friday Art Walk stop at Calumet Floral and Gifts and learn to battle midwinter blahs with beauty! This Friday the staff will be demonstrating how they create "custom permanent arrangements" to coordinate with various spaces. They will show how they work from swatches, wall hangings, pillows, curtains, etc., to update a look. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own containers or outdated arrangements, and floral experts will help them design a new look. Calumet Floral and Gifts is at 221 Fifth St. For more info call 906-337-1711.

Paige Wiard Gallery: Celebration of Sled Dogs!

Gunner Ready to Go. Art by Michelle Wegler. (Photo courtesy Paige Wiard Gallery)

For the month of March the Paige Wiard Gallery, 109 5th Street, is celebrating how amazing sled dogs are with artwork by Michelle Wegler. In her works Michelle is able to capture the magic of Copperdog -- the excitement, beauty and loyalty of the dogs. Visit the Gallery for a celebration of sled dogs with an opening reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on March 4. For more information call 906-337-5970 or email paigewiardgallery@gmail.com

Calumet Art Center: Gallery exhibits, classes, more ...

Pottery created by Ed Gray is featured in the galleries of the Calumet Art Center.  On First Friday, visit the working studios in the lower level of the Art Center, where a mosaic of art classes are taught year-round to children and adults. See a collection of new weavings, twined rugs and more. Visit with art center members and learn of upcoming classes. Learn about new programs for veterans and the Center's online Indigogo.com fundraiser to incorporate a new ramp for barrier-free accessibility. Every First Friday at 8 p.m. a 50/50 raffle ticket is drawn -- the bowl is filling with tickets of hopeful winners. For more info visit calumetartcenter.com.

Cross Country Sports: "True North" exhibit

Cross Country Sports, 507 Oak Street, welcomes the Great Bear Chase skiers with a show titled "True North" -- featuring works by Jeremy Rowe of Nightsky Photography, Watercolors by Donna Lenard, jewelry by Annele Sakari of Hello Starling Designs, Heather Mroz and Designs by Jak. An open house with refreshments will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, March 4. For more information call 337-4520, visit www.crosscountrysports.com or find them on Facebook.

Hahn Hammered Copper: Identify the Mystery Object

Stop in at Hahn Hammered Copper this First Friday and see what’s old. The Hahns will be featuring an assortment of weird and unusual vintage items! Win a hand-hammered copper zipper pull if you can help identify this month's Mystery Object. Peter and Shelly Hahn say they are stumped!