Local Features

Today is the day to cast your vote for the District 7 Representative in Congress, Justice of the Supreme Court and a variety of other local elections. While today might be the first and last time you ponder this election, the League of Women Voters of the Northwoods (LWVNOW) has been working tirelessly over the past several months to ensure local citizens were registered in preparation for today’s election. At a League event at Nicolet College on Jan. 29, volunteer and advocate Debra Durchslag

No doubt we are in the middle of winter here in the Northwoods. At the same time, though, wildlife is looking forward to spring, and we can do some advance work to prepare for its arrival. The Masked Biologist shares some timely reminders in this week’s Wildlife Matters.

Wisconsin is the home of its own conservation hall of fame, the home of the founder of Earth Day, Gaylord Nelson, and the home of John Muir. It was the first state in America to ban DDT. “Wisconsin has had such a long tradition in the conservation area and protecting the environment,” said Susan Hedman, the former Great Lakes Region Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency. Hedman says Wisconsin used to a leader in the field. But now, it’s a leader in something else. Between 2008

Few people today associate the Northwoods with pearl buttons, but for a short time, Rhinelander and other Northwoods towns along the Wisconsin River experienced an economic boom similar to that of a small gold rush. Gary Entz has the story in this weeks Northwoods Moment in History.

In this month’s Field Notes, Susan Knight looks at the thin ice situation this year, and discusses why ice is so cool.

We may have our share of challenges to face during Wisconsin winters, but at least we don’t have to deal with falling iguanas. That’s the topic the Masked Biologist chose for this week’s Wildlife Matters.

As part of the We Live Up Here series, Jim Skibo visited with Raptor Education Group Director, Marge Gibson. She moved back to Antigo to be closer to family, research and write about birds. She and her late husband, Don, soon discovered, however, that the northwoods lacked a facility for bird rehabilitation. In 1990 they opened a facility that takes in about a 1000 injured birds per year along with providing many educational opportunities.

Michael Anderson uses a long bit on a drill to bust through the ice on Silver Lake in Eagle River. “That would be a good depth for an ice castle right now,” Anderson says, measuring about 15 inches of ice. That’s plenty for harvesting and forming into blocks for ice-castle building. But there’s a problem. A deep layer of slush on Silver Lake makes it inaccessible to the machines and trucks needed to transport ice blocks. Without the ice blocks, there’s no ice castle downtown, and that means

Burlesque is a form of entertainment that has become synonymous with exotic dancers. What does burlesque, fishing and the Northwoods have in common? Gary Entz tells us in this week’s Northwoods Moment in History.

“Did the groundhog see his shadow?” If you didn’t ask this question yourself, odds are someone you know, or heard, asked it yesterday or today. In this episode of Wildlife Matters, the Masked Biologist talks about groundhog day.