Lake Superior Days 2017

Various science, environmental and business organizations will set up informational tables about water use and water issues during the annual Lake Superior Days. This year, the programs will focus on the future of water resources and especially on children.

See invasive species bottled and on display by Minnesota Sea Grant (along with information about how to keep them from lakes and streams). Learn about managing the Superior National Forest from the U.S. Forest Service. The Sappi staff shows how the paper company works to reduce water use and keep water clean at its Cloquet operation. Chat with folks from Minnesota’s Lake Superior Coastal Program, Jay Cooke State Park and the Save Lake Superior Alliance (they may bring agates). Or try to stump the editor with Big Lake questions at the Lake Superior Magazine table.

Inside the center, there are the usual free maritime displays, plus special showings of films about the Great Lakes and the maritime heritage.

There also will be an informational treasure hunt where participants gather stamps on an entry form to place into a drawing for a grand prize Friday and Saturday. The prizes feature books and products related to Lake Superior, donated by Lake Superior Magazine, Minnesota Sea Grant, Visit Duluth and others.

A series of “10-minute Tent Talks” offers activities, readings and short presentations by environmental experts, artists and writers under a tent outside the center – a children’s focus on Friday and more grown-up topics Saturday. Twice daily free tours (1:15 & 3:15 p.m.) will guide participants through the history of the piers and Aerial Lift Bridge.

In the evenings Friday and Saturday, Dances on the Lakewalk, the Freshwater Dance Collective celebrates the Lake with free dance performances directed by choreographers from Duluth, Minneapolis and California. Starts at 7 p.m. each night in Lake Place Park (corner of Superior Street & Lake Avenue).

During the weekend, The Duluth Experience tours will include information about Lake Superior Day and the Big Lake. The Brewery Tour focuses on how this Great Lake’s water influences our great craft beers.

Several churches plan a special Lake Superior Day focus during Sunday services.

Tent Talk Schedule for Saturday

10:30 a.m. – Big Lake, Big Changes? How we can help a resilient Lake Superior face climate change impacts by Tom Beery, MN Sea Grant climate change extension educator

11 a.m. – In Hot Water: North Shore Fisheries & Climate Change by Dean Paron, MN DNR area fisheries supervisor

11:30 a.m. – It’s Only Natural: What are SNAs and where do I find them on the North Shore? by AmberBeth VanNingen, MN DNR SNA specialist

Noon – Get Habitattitude! Don’t let your pets go wild by Ryan Hueffmeier, University of Minnesota Sea Grant Program and Natural Resources Research Institute

12:30 p.m. – Big Lake, Big Changes? How we can help a resilient Lake Superior face climate change impacts by Tom Beery, MN Sea Grant Climate Change Extension Educator

1 p.m. – In Hot Water: North Shore Fisheries & Climate Change by Dean Paron, MN DNR Area Fisheries Supervisor

1:30 p.m. – It’s Only Natural: What are SNAs and where do I find them on the North Shore? by AmberBeth VanNingen, MN DNR SNA Specialist”

2 p.m. & 2:30 p.m. – Going Coastal – Readings from the Lake Superior Writers fiction winners by Marie Zhuikov and Maxwell Reagan

3 p.m. – Get Habitattitude! Don’t let your pets go wild by Sean Loftus, University of Minnesota Sea Grant Program and Natural Resources Research Institute