Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Hot summer weather continues in Minnesota, and families are enjoying summer vacations that include long weekends at the beach or pool. Unfortunately, as cool and refreshing as it may look, water can be dangerous.
A person can drown in as few as ten seconds and drowning can occur in just inches of water -- including wading pools, hot tubs and even buckets. The DNR offers these tips to help make it a safer summer in Minnesota:

USDA Rural Development in Minnesota has received an additional $20 million in Recovery Act funds to help low and very-low income individuals and families achieve home ownership.
To qualify, applicants must purchase or build in a rural area, generally defined as a community with a population of 20,000 or less. Applicants also must be considered low or very-low income, meet income and credit standards and demonstrate repayment ability. Funds can be used to purchase an existing home or build a new one.  

The 29-mile “Wildlife Drive” for vehicular access to the Roseau River Wildlife Management Area (WMA), 20 miles northwest of Roseau, will be open from July 17-25 and weekends thereafter through August 22.
The drive traverses wetland, woodland, brushland, and farmland habitat, allowing visitors ample opportunity for wildlife viewing. Roseau River WMA is one of 45 viewing stops along the Pine to Prairie Birding Trail.

The Lake of the Woods girls' basketball team played in the Pacesetter Varsity MIT (Minnesota Invitational Tournament) on Saturday and Sunday, July 24-25 in St. Cloud at the College of St. Benedict, Whitney Rec Center and St. Cloud State University.
The 18 girls' teams playing include New London-Spicer, Sebeka, Champlin Park, St. James, St. Francis, St. Cloud Cathedral, Crookston, Pequot Lakes, Litchfield, Eden Valley-Watkins, Isle, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted, Perham, Montevideo, Lake of the Woods, Rogers, Foley, and Burnsville.

The Lake of the Woods girls’ softball team had a picnic and awards ceremony July 3rd at coach Doug and Pat Nosan’s home.
Ally Moeller was awarded the most improved and rookie of the year awards. Most dedicated player was Shelby Nosan.
The unsung hero of the team was Deanna Olson.
Jennie Buegler and Shelby Nosan tied for the Leadership award.
The most valuable player was pitcher Ali Hasbargen.
Hasbargen and Nosan were named to the Sub-Section North 8A team and Buegler got an honorable mention.

Residents of Lake of the Woods County and surrounding areas, Lake of the Woods School continues to collect UPC bar codes from both “Campbells Labels for Education” products and “Our Family Labels for Learning” products. These are two separate programs that both benefit the school in many different ways.

by Penny Mio
editor

Katie Haws, DNR Nongame specialist, gave a talk about the piping plovers of Minnesota,which have been in decline for the past 30 years.
About eight people took place in the discussion last Saturday, and then walked the beach to see if they could find the bird.
The shorebirds are listed as endangered on the Minnesota Endangered Species Act, the worst of three categories; special concern, threatened and endangered.

by Penny Mio
editor

The ground has officially been broken for the new lineworkers school north of Baudette.
The project was on a fast track, the idea coming to the forefront last October and school set to begin August 23rd.

Six years ago Chelsie Fuller Bird was diagnosed with Lymphoma at the age of 19. Lymphoma is a blood cancer that strikes 102,000 Americans each year and kills over 60,000. This year marks the five year anniversary of her being cancer free. To celebrate, she and her four siblings (three sisters and one brother) are running a marathon in Dublin to raise $25,000 for cancer research.

Matthew Dyrdahl and Emily Brooks, Development Specialists from the Headwaters Regional Development Commission, recently led a group of local citizens on a walking audit of the City of Baudette as part of the Community Physical Activity implementation from the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) initiative.  A walking audit is an audit of the walkability or pedestrian access of a community.  The group completed a one-mile walk and assessed the city for barriers and assets for walking and biking.  Results of the