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MISSING: Winona State student from White Bear Lake PAGE 2A
Loon whisperers on White Bear Lake BY DEBRA NEUTKENS EDITOR
The local loon population had a distinguished guest last week. Minnesota wildlife expert Carrol Henderson accompanied Loon Chronicles photographer Ellen Maas and her husband Len Pratt Oct. 11 to scout sites for a spring nesting platform. Maas met Henderson at a St. Paul Garden Club meeting this summer and invited the Department of Natural Resources naturalist to Birchwood to offer recommendations on the best nesting locations. Henderson is head of the state’s highly successful nongame wildlife program that helped restore trumpeter swans, bluebirds and peregrine falcons to Minnesota. He’s been called a bird’s best friend. The loon’s natural nesting area on White Bear Lake is precarious, at best, Maas told Henderson. “This is the first year we have had a successful hatch since 2011 because spring rains have always washed out the nest,” she said. “This year the successful hatch of one chick on June 3 happened about 10 hours before a major downpour that completely wiped out the nest. When we went out to check and saw the flooded mess, we thought that the worst had happened, once again. To our utter delight, we found the parents and their brand new chick safely enjoying the afternoon sun.” Maas and husband Pratt have been following
PAUL DOLS | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Preparing for winter Above: As part of a comprehensive teaching program at Tamarack Nature Center, instructor Phil Plumbo, at right, and volunteers Craig Peterson, Cara Benson and Craig Nelson check on honey bee hives Saturday, Oct. 15. The bees, at left, will winter in the hive, keeping their queen warm at a constant temperature of 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
SEE LOON WHISPERERS, PAGE 8A
Lake level lawsuit: Plaintiffs amend complaint BY DEBRA NEUTKENS EDITOR
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Carrol Henderson, right, Len Pratt and Lori Naumann check out a manmade loon nest Pratt and wife Ellen Maas plan to place on the lake next spring. Naumann is a White Bear Lake resident who works with Henderson on his loon research project in northern Minnesota.
ST. PAUL — Parties on both sides of the lake level lawsuit were back in Judge Margaret Marrinan's courtroom Oct. 12. Attorneys representing the plaintiff, the White Bear Lake Restoration Association (WBLRA), and the intervenor association, White Bear Lake Homeowners, presented arguments that would allow an amendment to the original complaint. According to Dick Allyn, counsel to the WBLRA for Robins Kaplan LLP, the purpose of the amendment is to add a law that was specifically intended to protect White Bear Lake from "artificial" water removal. That statute: 383A.07, Subd. 19, reads that waters of
White Bear and Goose Lakes are public waters and "shall never be lowered or diminished by any artificial means, nor shall they or any of them ever be connected with, used, or applied to a use or purpose, public or private, by a person, persons, or corporation public or private." The added environmental statute, say the plaintiff attorneys, provides supplemental support for the existing MERA — The Minnesota Environmental Rights Act — upon which the lawsuit is based. "Violations of environmental laws is evidence of a violation of MERA," Allyn pointed out. The WBLRA contends that since 2000, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and its commisSEE LAKE LAWSUIT, PAGE 8A
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