Outdoors

National Park Service and the Kettle Falls concession staff will operate the Kettle Falls portage seven days a week from 7:30 a.m. until dark, based on current staffing, Voyageurs National Park reported this week.

Becky Livermore and I testified a couple of week ago in front of KBUN’s Chatabout program that Spring was definitely coming. The topic was questionable then but now we have been proven right.

Voyageurs National Park has added and changed staff in recent months. Changes include new positions for some staff that have worked with the park for many years and new staff coming to the area from other National Park Service sites. Given new remote working opportunities some administrative staff will be working for the park but may be housed in other areas across the country.

D0 – abnormally dry; D1 – moderate drought; D2 – severe drought; D3 – extreme drought; D4 – exceptional drought.

May opens with the two brightest planets low and close together in the eastern morning sky. Jupiter will be just above brilliant Venus, in the act of passing it enroute to a rendezvous with Mars.

I have heard there is good soil for gardening and farming in Beltrami County, but since moving to the area in September 2000, I haven’t lived on “good” soil. I have resided in four different houses, all built on sand. If I’m going to get more specific, the University of Minnesota Extension categorizes the soil in my yard as “loamy sand”, so it’s not pure sand. However, it requires a lot of organic material – compost, mulch and the like, for it to hold moisture and nourish the vegetables and flowers I want to grow.

From drought to rising water, Mother Nature has gone again from extreme to extreme. Due to quickly rising inflow, Rainy Lake and Namakan Lake have risen above their respective rule curves, reports the Water Levels Committee of the International Rainy - Lake of the Woods Watershed Board.