Not so long ago, northern Minnesota forests offered endless room to roam.

In the world of television hunting shows, the hero always gets his deer. Most often we see footage of the mighty stag prancing around near the hunter’s stand like a cow in a pasture.

In Minnesota, many small towns define their greatness with cartoon monuments. Mythical logger Paul Bunyan looms over a couple of towns. Elsewhere, you can saddle up and ride a leaping walleye.

They say you shouldn’t drink the water when traveling south of the border, because you might be afflicted with an unflattering ailment known as Montezuma’s Revenge.
 

While thousands of Minnesota duck hunters sat in swamps last weekend, I went walking in the woods. Sitting in a blind beside a stool of decoys goes against my restless nature.

Congressman Chip Cravaack made headlines recently when the U.S. House passed his legislation authorizing a land-for-land swap between the U.S.

About a decade ago, North Dakota hunters, upset with increasing numbers of out-of-state duck hunters, urged the state legislature to pass new restrictions on nonresidents.

This summer, Minnesota lost the Verso paper mill in Sartell and the Georgia-Pacific hardboard plant in Duluth. Both appear to be permanent losses.

Some say fishing is just luck. My friend Kate Watson would agree, pointing out that all of hers is bad. Twice this summer the Grand Marais woman has gone fishing with yours truly.

The introduction of Pacific salmon to the Great Lakes in the 1960s is perhaps the best example of a government invasive species program that worked.