July 11th 2023 climate meeting with Doug Lande
Doug brings expertise of forestry and fires. Doug is District 2 Supervisor/Secretary of the Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD). He has a good understanding of local and state agencies. He runs an off-grid solar home. Our conversation covered both the forest and the trees and how humans and other animals in northern Minnesota are affected by climate change. This is not a summary of the conversation but it is a summary of the useful contacts and links that were discussed.
CLIMATE AND WEATHER MAPS
Climate Reanalyzer from the University of Maine is an excellent site
World average temps showing record high temps early July
https://climatereanalyzer.org/clim/t2_daily/
CR provides today’s weather maps worldwide with many interesting parameters
https://climatereanalyzer.org/wx/todays-weather/?var_id=t2&ortho=1&wt=1
Click on map to advance around the world, click on the topic on the LHS to select the parameter you want to view.
Check “departure from mean” for temps and SST (sea surface temps)
Note N Canada is hot, much hotter than average
Note water around Greenland is cold from all the ice melt
SOIL & WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
SWCD website https://www.co.lake.mn.us/soil-and-water-conservation-district/
Useful forestry video (5 mins) on spruce budworm, ash borer and more
https://www.co.lake.mn.us/soil-and-water-conservation-district/forestry/
SWCD annual tree sale (bare root trees available in spring at Eveleth)
https://www.southstlouisswcd.org/annual-tree-and-shrub-sale/
Free white pines seedlings are distributed by Lake Co. SWCD once a year about the same time as the native plant sale and must be picked up in Two Harbors at SWCD. This is not guaranteed from year to year. https://northshorejournal.co/business/free-white-pine-seedlings-available-via-the-north-shore-forest-collaborative/
Assistance to manage your forested property in Lake Co or N St Louis Co
https://www.co.lake.mn.us/soil-and-water-conservation-district/private-forestry-assistance/
https://www.nslswcd.org/programs-services/forestry/
SWDC works with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), a division of the USDA, to provide financial assistance to landowners through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Many Lake County landowners (usually with properties 2+ acres in size) have benefited from this program. You can apply for an EQUIP grant without a stewardship plan.
WILDLAND FIRE INFORMATION
FIREWISE – a program to help homeowners make their property more fire resistant
https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/firewise/index.html
Local Firewise contact for St Louis Co is Gloria Erickson gloria@dovetailinc.org
For Lake Co Firewise contact Aaron Mollin-Kling 651 387 1770
BOOKS on fire preparedness
“Surviving Wildfire: Get Prepared, Stay Alive, Rebuild your Life (A Handbook for Homeowners)” by Linda Masterson
“Creating a Firewise Property” a folder published by the DNR. Available for download here: https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/assistance/backyard/firewise/creatingfirewiseproperty.pdf
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