[mou] MOU has leased land in the Sax Zim Bog Area

[Ann and Manley Olson]

I applaud the action of the MOU to lease land in the Sax Zim Bog,
thereby increasing the access for MOU members in this unique area of
Minnesota.  Given the propensity of land owners to increasingly espouse
a "this land ain't your land, this land is my land" philosophy, we need
to find ways to assure that we will be able to look for those birds that
chose to frequent other than public lands.  Working out lease
arrangements not only helps provide this access but may also help to
improve relations with local land owners.  However we should also
recognize that we need to be concerned with preserving habitat, even if
it is not a place where we might actually go to seek birds.  This I
would hope that the MOU and its members would continue to support public
acquisition of important habitat, even if it is not a place we are
likely to visit.  Not only do we need places where we personally expect 
to see birds,but we need to support the acquisition and
preservation of wilderness for its own sake.  It must be both/and not
either/or.  This is the vision of  Thoreau (" In wildness is the
preservation of the world"), John Muir and Aldo Leopold.  In the
concluding paragraphs of "A Sand County Almanac", Leopold passionately
argues for the preservation of wilderness for its own sake, not just for
the use of  "trophy-recreationists" as well as trophy hunters.

If we doubt that most of us birders are not in the trophy collection
business, one needs only to review the data Randy Fredrickson compiled
on the spending in pursuit of owls.  For some of us the trophy was a
photo, for others a tick on a  list.  After 45 years of marriage my wife
is no longer surprised by a trip to Aitkin County to see owls but I
think she was not quite prepared for at least 150 people from 9 states 
who came to our back yard seeking the Varied Thrush.

So while I encourage the providing, either by lease or purchase, of
places where we can bird freely, I also encourage us to put some of our
resources into land acquisition, even if we may never bird there.

Manley Olson
Falcon Heights

Alt, Mark wrote:

 >The MOU has taken a first step and become a leaseholder on a parcel of 
land in St Louis County, in the Sax Zim Bog area, less than a mile from 
Owl Avenue. We are leasing 79 acres from Potlatch Corporation for a 
year. It will be posted for no trespassing except with the permission of 
the leaseholder, which is the MOU, so anyone who is a MOU member is a 
leaseholder, so come on down! The MOU Board is doing this to take a 
first step towards setting aside areas here for recreational birding. 
The DNR and MN Audubon are strong supporters of this initiative.  We 
hope it leads to other land being set aside, such as McDavitt for the 
woodpeckers, the Blue Spruce loop for Boreal specialties, and others. 
Perhaps it may lead to a birding trail. We are not certain of how to 
best use this plot, but we want it used, so I invite each of you to come 
visit and bird on it!  I will keep a tally of species reported on it and 
make notes on our usages.
 >	The legal description of the property is referencing the St Louis 
Plat book - it is the SW quarter of section 21 in T.54.N. - R.19W. For 
regular directions,  drive North from Cloquet to Cotton on Hwy 53, then 
turn west on Hwy 52 (Arkola Rd), past CR 7 (about 6 miles), then 
continue west another 5.5 miles to Owl Avenue (Township rd 203). Turn 
south on TR 203 and head south. Continue about 2 miles through a gradual 
"S" turn, (where TR 203 turns into TR 202), then you come to an 
intersection with S. Overton Rd. (TR 980). Turn West on TR 980 and 
proceed 1.75 miles, from this point to where TR 980 makes a 90 degree 
turn to head north, you are driving along the southern border of our 
property. As you turn north the Township Rd number is now TR 230, and 
the name of the road is now Overton Rd. The first ½ mile as you head 
north on TR 230, the MOU property borders you on your right.  There are 
boglands on the remote NE corner of the property, so we could get all 
types of northern specialties, potentially.
 >	We are arranging to have a small parking area set up for 6 cars or 
trucks in the area. We will be looking forward to hearing from all 
visitors to this little spot of woods up north; please let us know what 
is there! Good Birding!
 >
 >
 >
 >Mark Alt
 >President,
 >Minnesota Ornithologists Union
 >J. F. Bell Museum of Natural History
 >University of Minnesota
 >10 Church Street SE
 >Minneapolis, MN 55455-0104
 >MOU.mn.org
 >mark.alt@bestbuy.com
 >Cell:  612-803-9085
 >
 >
 >
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