Local Features

Throughout the last year, our local historian Gary Entz has uncovered why many towns in the Northwoods are named what they are. Some previous installments of A Northwoods Moment in History have included how the communities of Gagen, Phelps, St. Germain, Sayner, and Rhinelander got their names. This week’s story comes from a WXPR listener who submitted a question to our new Curious North series. Keith Kasprzak lives in Sugar Camp and this was his question: What is the history behind how Sugar

Sometimes politics and natural resources can come together for the good of all people. In this week’s Wildlife Matters , the Masked Biologist reflects on the life and legacy of John Dingell. This past February 7 th , the nation lost a giant in the realm of natural resource politics, if there is such a thing. John D. Dingell Jr. spent nearly 60 years serving in Congress, from 1955-2015. During his tenure, he worked to develop and pass almost every Federal environmental law in existence. The Clean

Trees For Tomorrow in Eagle River is celebrating their 75th anniversary this year. As part of our We Live Up Here series, Mackenzie Martin talked to their executive director about the importance of teaching children about conservation in our forests. Trees For Tomorrow in Eagle River celebrated their 75th anniversary of operation as a nonprofit natural resource specialty school in February. A group of students from Indian Mound Middle School in McFarland was visiting at the time. Smokey Bear and

We're continuing our Curious North series today with a listener question about something you may or may not have heard of. An anonymous listener in the Rhinelander area recently asked: What are snow fleas? Where do they live and what do they eat? Ken Krall relayed the questioned to P.J.Liesch. Here's their conversation... "I'm P.J. Liesch, (UW) Extension emtomologist and Director of the UW-Madison insect diagnostic lab. " Krall: "Someone came up with a question about snow fleas, so tell us what

Most ski jumping records have been set in Europe… but that wasn’t always the case. Gary Entz tells us about Ironwood’s Curry Hill Ski Jump for this week's A Northwoods Moment in History . Ski jumping as a competitive sport has been going on since 1808. In that year, Olaf Rye set the first world’s ski jump record of 31 feet, in Eidsberg, Norway. Nordic ski jumping has been dominated by European countries, and most of the world’s records have been set in Europe. However, for a brief period in the

WXPR's Nancy Richmond recently spoke with Ed Willett from the Chance Ensemble ahead of their performance at Nicolet College this Saturday, March 30th at 7:30 p.m. The Chance Ensemble brings together the best of John Muir’s life and legacy through his own writings and original musical composition in a voice, cello, and violin performance. Narrated by Norman Gilliland of Wisconsin Public Radio, the show’s musical landscape is a place where contemporary, classical, and Celtic music beautifully

When you think of the benefits of living up north, do you include tall trees and clear water? The Masked Biologist does, and that is the topic of this week’s Wildlife Matters . When my wife and I decided to move our young family from the wide-open prairie to Wisconsin’s great Northwoods, we would always tell people it was for “tall trees and clear water.” If you have never driven through the prairie pothole region, it is basically square mile after square mile of row crops, with a smattering of

Have you ever wondered how the Upper Peninsula of Michigan came to be… why it's a part of Michigan, and not Wisconsin? Gary Entz has the story for this week's A Northwoods Moment in History . The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is part of the same Great Lakes ecosystem that reigns over Wisconsin’s Northwoods, and a glance at any map is enough to see that the UP really is a land extension of Wisconsin. In contrast, there is a water boundary between the UP and Michigan’s Lower Peninsula and at no

We all had to spring forward recently, a move that extends the afternoon daylight. In this week’s Wildlife Matters, the Masked Biologist examines the impact of photoperiods on living things including us. The recent change to Daylight Savings Time got me thinking about animals and daylight. The creatures in the woods do not have to change their clocks, naturally, but the seasonal change in day length plays an important role in their lives. Biologists use the word “photoperiod” as a way of saying

The Ironwood/Hurley area can get up to 200 inches of annual snowfall, in part due to their close proximity to Lake Superior. This makes for great skiing, but it was only recently that a youth-based cross country ski program began in the area, named for the Finnish concept Sisu, that has to do with resilience. Last week, they wrapped up the season with 25 youth participants. Larry Lapachin continues our We Live Up Here series with the story. In last year’s Winter Olympics, Americans were at the