Harley the motorcycle-riding bald eagle has flown north to the western bays of Lake Vermilion after spending part of his summer along the St. Louis River and in the Sax-Zim bog area.

Harley — sans motorcycle — had spent much of the spring along the South Fork of the Nemadji River on the Minnesota-Wisconsin border. That was only about

30 miles from where Harley was found floundering along a Douglas County road last August.

In June, Harley moved north along the St. Louis River and then moved even farther north to Lake Vermilion in mid-July. He has spent most of August in a relatively small area in the western reaches, or the Cook end, of the lake.

“Both his evening roost sites and daily wanderings are limited to a fairly small area of the lake,” said Mark Martell, director of bird conservation for the University of Minnesota Raptor Center in St. Paul, in a blog on Harley’s location. “This western edge does not have as many historic eagle nests as parts of the lake further east.”

Martell speculated that Harley might be avoiding confrontations with territorial nesting eagles that are keeping him away from other areas of the lake.

Scientists can track Harley daily because he is wearing a tiny GPS transmitter.

Harley was found Aug. 3, 2009, along Douglas County Highway T near Wascott by Harley-Davidson motorcyclist Brian Baladez of Cloquet. The bird appeared injured, disoriented and was unable to fly.

Baladez captured the bird in his leather jacket and used a bungee cord to secure it to the saddle bags of his motorcycle and drove it 50 miles to Duluth. Harley eventually was taken to the Raptor Center, where he was treated for lead poisoning and malnutrition. Veterinarians later had to do surgery on the wing from an old break that hadn’t healed properly.

Harley was nursed back to health, fitted with a GPS transmitter and set free —with Baladez called in to handle the release — in late January at a bald eagle wintering area along the Mississippi River south of the Twin Cities.

Harley hung out along the Mississippi much of the winter, and then headed north, moving from central Minnesota into western Wisconsin. He was in Douglas County or Carlton County along the Nemadji in April and May and in fact spent a couple of days within a mile or two of where he was found last summer.

The Raptor Center handles more than 800 birds of prey each year. Of the roughly 100 ailing eagles that come into the center each year, more than one-third die because of lead poisoning.

Harley’s travels can be followed at theraptorcenternews.blogspot.com.

This year the VSWS has added a new twist.  They are offering several programs which will give people the opportunity to interact with bears in differents ways.  Upcoming programs include:

• Breakfast with the Bears
• In the Shadow of Bears - Yoga and Meditation
• Spend a Night Surrounded by Bears Camping
• Bears in Figure and Form Drawing Class

More information on all of these can be found on our Calendare of Events (under ”Things to See and Do”) or on their website at American Bear Association Website.

The Tower Farmer’s Market is located in the parking lot of the Train Depot/Civic Center at the west entrance to Tower.  It is an easy walk from the public landing on the East Two River channel, so you can access it from the lake.  Each Friday vendors offer fresh produce, locally produced meats, baked goods, jam and jellies, and maple syrup, with a few craft items available as well.  Vendors must come from within a 50 mile radius of Tower, and all produce must be locally grown.  The motto of the Tower Farmer’s Market is “Fresh, local, in-season”.

This year’s Tower Farmer’s Market will begin on Friday, May 21 and run each Friday from 1-4 PM through early fall.

The Cook Area Farmer’s Market is on Saturdays in the City Park in downtown Cook.  Only items grown or produced within a 30 mile radius of Cook may be sold. Produce, baked goods, crafts, jams, jellies and more are available.

The start date for the Cook Area Farmer’s Market has not yet been set.  Once it begins, it will run Saturdays from 8 AM - noon throughout the summer and into early fall.

You can always check the calendar of events on our website for dates and times for each market.

“The likelihood of Bay View Lodge reopening as a resort/restaurant is not very good. Jim Ertz, from Dennis Frandsen and Company (the same group that owns Queen City Federal) spoke at the Greenwood Town Board meeting, Tuesday, to discuss various options for the sale of the property, which is now owned by the bank. The property has been appraised at between $1.8 and $1.9 million, but Ertz said the bank is looking to get about $1.2 million in a sale.

‘It just doesn’t seem like it is financially feasible to operate the property as a resort,’ he told the board. He noted the resort had not been kept up over the past few years, and that the kitchen does not meet county code, and would require significant upgrades to reopen.

The property consists of about 14 acres on 650 feet of shoreline. Ertz said they have been showing the property, and will continue trying to sell it as-is for a couple of months. But at some point, he said, they might consider removing all the buildings from the site and dividing the land into lots.

Ertz said there is grant money available from Iron Range Resources to help pay half the costs of demolition, but such a grant would have to be applied for through the township. Ertz said another possibility would be having the fire department burn the structures as a training exercise.

Greenwood Planning Director John Ziegler noted that the property is currently zoned as a resort, and this would allow for renovation and even expansion of the current cabins. But if the buildings are torn down, he said, any new construction would have to meet the requirements of the Lake Vermilion Plan zoning. Zeigler estimated that the property could be divided into three lots under current zoning, and perhaps four or five if a cluster mound system was constructed. Ziegler also noted that if the dock portion of the shoreline was maintained as a joint access, the backlots could be sold with guaranteed lake access, thus adding to their value.

Frandsen Financial also owns land at Moccasin Point and on Oak Narrows.

‘We know this market will come back and stabilize,’ Ertz said, ‘We just don’t know when.’ “

• Ruffed Grouse, 12
• Spruce Grouse, 2
• Bald Eagle, 3
• Rock Dove, 130
• Northern Hawk Owl, 3
• Downy Woodpecker, 31
• Hairy Woodpecker, 36
• Pileated Woodpecker, 8
• Northern Shrike, 1
• American Crow, 2
• Common Raven, 139
• Blue Jay, 134
• Gray Jay, 19
• White- Nuthatch, 60
• Red-breasted Nuthatch, 42
• European Starling, 53
• White-throated Sparrow, 1
• Dark-eyed Junco, 8
• Snow Bunting, 10
• American Goldfinch, 530
• Black-capped Chickadee, 707
• Pine Grosbeak, 182
• Evening Grosbeak, 101
• Common Red Poll, 113
• Pine Siskin, 52
• House Sparrow, 9

Some significant findings were:  sighting 3 Northern Hawk Owls verified reports of Northern Owls moving south in search of food; American Goldfinch numbers increased from 33 in 2009 to 530; Red-breasted Nuthatches dropped from 136 to 42; and numbers of Pine Grosbeaks, Pine Siskins and Common Red Polls were much less this year.

Thanks to the North Country Free Press for the information.

“The Lake Vermilion area is the hub of a local land trail network that reaches in all directions. The Tower-based Vermilion Penguins maintain the Iron Ore Trail south of Tower and several links to the state trails off Lake Vermilion’s west end. Further north and west are the Bearskin and Wolftrack Trails, which are cared for by the Cook Timberwolves snowmobile club.

DNR Parks and Trails staff is responsible for year-round maintenance and grooming of another 300+ miles of nearby state trails including the Taconite, Arrowhead and Fishing Lakes trails. Voyageurs National Park, Iron Range and Ely area trails are also just a short ride away.

On Lake Vermilion, local volunteers establish 55 miles of ice trails that make travel safer and easier for snowmobilers. In addition to their land trails, the Penguins stake 37 miles of ice trails on the Tower end, while the Cook club maintains 18 miles on the Cook end. Wooden reflectorized stakes are placed every tenth mile to make navigation easy. Intersections are signed with “You are here” maps to help get riders where they want to go. Additionally, the stakes help guide riders around potential trouble spots like thin ice and exposed rocks.”

For up-to-date trail conditions for all the area trails, you can check our web page, Area Trail Conditions.  Information is updated as soon as it is available, or at least weekly.

A little interesting history - the following is a copy of an article titled “Mail Service for Tourists” from the Tower Weekly News, dated July 16, 1920:

“Movement Started to Establish Mail Route on Lake Vermilion

Lake Vermilion is coming to a mail service in the near future.  This idea of a tri-weekly mail service would have been smiled at.  Today it is being demanded.  Get out your scratch book and take down the names of the people living on shoreline and islands from Tower to Isaac Goodwill pleasure resort.  Think of the hundreds of tourists coming for a week or a month who want their mail and newspaper and work from the outside world.  The mail route is coming.  It will be water route rural mail.  It must be covered by boat.  Mail today is being carried free of charge by the boatmen.  But the mail question is the least of their troubles.  They pass by many on their way who have mail and must go after it where the boatmen have left it.  This means a lot of trouble to him, the tourist, and he asks why can’t we have mail at our cabin?

A petition will be circulated erelong among these people of Lake Vermilion and forwarded to Washington looking towards the securing of a mail service.  Vermilion Dam guests have their mail brought to them by carrier.  But the cottager takes his paddle or his outboard motor and goes miles mayhap for his.  This mail service would cover about three months of the year and close with the closing of Lake Vermilion.  Postmaster Helm is interesting himself on behalf of it.  Every Tower citizen should help him in every way they can, as it would add to the usefulness of Tower’s office, and Lake Vermilion as well.  We then would be on the map a little larger than before.  The project is feasible and we should see it to its fulfillment.”