Outdoors

Venus spends April chasing Mars, but— spoiler alert—won’t catch up to the red planet. At least not anytime soon.

Students in classrooms across the nation experienced the February sky above Voyageurs National Park and Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness – two areas recognized as the largest Dark Sky Region in the world.

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MASTER GARDENER Cold, snowy days are the days when many gardeners turn to their seed catalogs and dream about growing vegetables like the pictures therein so I asked the Master Gardener membership what varieties of vegetables they can’t live without. The list was amazing to me and I hope that it may help the readers pick varieties for the summer of 2023.

District 5 - Eveleth area March 13 CO Darrin Kittelson (International Falls #1) reports the recent snowstorm has extended the snowmobile season as the trails are back in great shape. Ice fishing on Rainy Lake continues, but the success rate is not so great, with small fish being caught. Enforcement action taken for the week included license issues. People are reminded that new angling license were needed March 1.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reminds anglers the upcoming deadline to remove ice shelters from lakes in the northern one-third of the state is quickly approaching. Heavy snow and slush in some areas means conditions on the ice might be challenging, so the DNR urges anglers to plan ahead to ensure they’re able to meet the deadline.

Voyageurs National Park staff will in March and April burn selected wetlands in and near Black Bay Narrows, Cranberry Bay, and Alder Creek in Rainy Lake and Tom Cod, Irwin, and Daley bays in Kabetogama Lake. Activities include burning floating and rooted invasive hybrid cattails as well as other wetland areas to remove dead vegetation, rejuvenate wetland plant communities, and reduce woody plant encroachment, report park officials.

The pair of eagles in the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Nongame Wildlife Program EagleCam nest are incubating two eggs. The first egg was laid on Feb.