Minnesota

After more than a quarter century of effort, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has protected a rare wetland with unusual geologic features as part of the state’s newest nature preserve.

The 25-acre Icelandite Coastal Fen Scientific and Natural Area, located 11 miles northeast of Grand Marais, preserves one of only two known fens on Lake Superior’s North Shore. A fen is a rare wetland fed by slow-moving groundwater, made up of a thick layer of peat.

“We don’t have anything like it protected in the state,” said Judy Elbert, SNA program supervisor for the Minnesota DNR. “The SNA is truly unique, for both its ecological and geological features.”

The site features a volcanic lava rock called icelandite, which is rare in the Midwest. It’s a lighter gray than the dark basalt more typically found on the North Shore. Both kinds of rock are about 1.1 billion years old.

Some of White Bear Lake’s history is at the bottom of the lake. Two underwater archaeologists are working to document it.

One of the nation’s strictest abortion laws will take effect in Iowa on Monday. Abortion care providers in Minnesota expect an increase in patients as another border state limits abortion access.

The Iowa law prohibits most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, when fetal cardiac activity can be detected but before many know they are pregnant. The only exceptions to the ban are in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the patient.

Previously, Iowa had permitted abortions until 22 weeks of pregnancy.

Heard what sounded like a massive flushing sound from the sky, turns out I was right.

When most immigrants arrived 120 years ago they rode a train from Duluth that crossed a wasteland of clear-cut hills, muskeg swamp, and logging slash. A millennial forest of white pines had just been felled and hauled away, leaving a complex system of undergrowth to scorch and rot in the blistering sun. Invasive whitetail deer foraged in the ruins, lucky heirs to the displaced elk, moose, bears and wolves.

Half those immigrants came from southern Europe, places like Italy and the Slavic regions of the Austrian Empire. Upon arrival, they experienced the coldest winters of their lives.

Settling in towns like Eveleth, Virginia, Chisholm and Hibbing, these immigrants went into the open pits and underground mines, probing their vocabularies for better words to describe desolation. At first, they were too broke to go home. Some did well and returned to the old country. Some did well and stayed. Many more stayed broke or died prematurely.

Reposting this image from r/Minnesota:.

A vote for Trump is a vote for the end of the BWCA as we know it; tailings and copper pollution from the mining would ruin the environment and be a drag on tourism.

https://canvas.fediverse.events/

Second flag:

Protest organizers say 11 people were arrested Monday outside UnitedHealthcare's headquarters in Minnetonka during an event spotlighting what critics say is a pattern of improper coverage denials by the nation's largest health insurer.

Protestors blocking a road were arrested by the Minnetonka Police Department, according to a news release from People's Action Institute, a consumer group that protested at UnitedHealth Group's Optum headquarters in Eden Prairie in April.

The link has a template and coordinates, if this is something that interests you!

A helium reservoir in northern Minnesota is likely to be "expansive both laterally and at depth," a new survey shows.

Seismic data from a 0.7-mile-long (1.1 kilometers) sweep just outside of Babbitt suggest the recently discovered reservoir is larger than initial estimates indicated, which has resource exploration company Pulsar Helium and its potential clients jumping for joy.

Recent tests also revealed helium concentrations underground are even higher than the "mind-boggling" results obtained in March, firmly establishing the project in Minnesota as a major player in the global helium market.