Natural History Articles

History – Articles that contain information about Natural History.

Restoration of historic dock completed at Little Sand Bay

Restoration of historic dock completed at Little Sand Bay

The fabled gales of November couldn't stop reconstruction of the historic Hokenson Brothers Fishery dock at Little Sand Bay in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Battered by storms for decades, the dock and related buildings are listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places and are the focus of a $1.4 million preservation and restoration effort by the National Park Service.This summer, construction crews from Pearl Beach Construction Company of Michigan used heavy equipment and a barge to rebuild the dock as historically accurately as possible, using wooden pilings and...

Lakeshore Logbook –  Neil and Forrest Howk

Lakeshore Logbook – Neil and Forrest Howk

Neil and Forrest in the Stockton Island campground As part of our 50th Anniversary celebration, we are collecting and sharing the stories of people connected to the islands, whether they are park guests, former residents or former park employees. This is the 35th in our series called “Lakeshore Logbook,” a collection of memories provided by former National Park Service employees. Living and working in the park on a day to day basis, they’ve experienced a lot to be sure. We hope you enjoy their perspectives. Neil Howk worked as a Seasonal Interpretive ranger, supervisory park ranger,...

Lakeshore Logbook – Matt Welter

Lakeshore Logbook – Matt Welter

Matt Welter As part of our 50th Anniversary celebration, we are collecting and sharing the stories of people connected to the islands, whether they are park guests, former residents or former park employees. This is the 28th in our series called “Lakeshore Logbook,” a collection of memories provided by former National Park Service employees. Living and working in the park on a day to day basis, they’ve experienced a lot to be sure. We hope you enjoy their perspectives. Matt Welter was the park ranger/interpreter at Raspberry Island from 1990 to 1998. What is the coolest thing you did in...

Lakeshore Logbook – Dave Chesky

Lakeshore Logbook – Dave Chesky

As part of our 50th Anniversary celebration, we are collecting and sharing the stories of people connected to the islands, whether they are park guests, former residents or former park employees. This is the 20th in our series called “Lakeshore Logbook,” a collection of memories provided by former National Park Service employees. Living and working in the park on a day to day basis, they’ve experienced a lot to be sure. We hope you enjoy their perspectives. Dave Chesky worked as a Seasonal Park Ranger GS-5, during the 1978 and 1979 seasons. What is the coolest thing you did in Apostle...

Lakeshore Logbook – Daniel Blankenship

Lakeshore Logbook – Daniel Blankenship

Daniel Blankenship As part of our 50th Anniversary celebration, we are collecting and sharing the stories of people connected to the islands, whether they are park guests, former residents or former park employees. This is the 19th in our series called “Lakeshore Logbook,” a collection of memories provided by former National Park Service employees. Living and working in the park on a day to day basis, they’ve experienced a lot to be sure. We hope you enjoy their perspectives. Daniel Blankenship worked in the park from 2008 to 2014. He worked for the interpretive division of Apostle Islands...

Scientists discover tiny new species on Outer Island

Scientists discover tiny new species on Outer Island

You'll never see it without a microscope but a newly-documented species calls Outer Island home. And it's named for a retired water quality specialist from the Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network division of the National Park Service. We're talking about a microscopic species of algae, Semiorbis eliasiae, named after Joan Elias, of the Great Lakes Network. These diatoms have ornate cell walls made of opaline silica, or biologically-produced glass. When the diatoms die, these skeleton-like fragments settle to the bottom of shallow lagoons, including a lagoon on Outer Island, in the...

A day at the beach: Friends volunteers help to restore the Lakeshore’s sandscapes

A day at the beach: Friends volunteers help to restore the Lakeshore’s sandscapes

“Shhhhhhhhhh ….” Next to the drumbeat of the waves, it is the music of the wind dancing in the beach grass that is the quintessential sound along the beaches of the Apostle Islands. Waving and swirling, the grasses of a sandscape are the dance of the lake breezes. And, they are also a delicate, fragile, and all-too-often disturbed ecosystem. Recently, a cadre of volunteers from Friends of the Apostle Islands assisted the National Park Service with restoration work on the sandscapes of Raspberry Island and Little Sand Bay in an effort to protect these beautiful and important places for...

Stockton Island prescribed burn and fuel reductions planned

Stockton Island prescribed burn and fuel reductions planned

BAYFIELD, WISCONSIN (National Park Service News Release) –The National Park Service, in collaboration with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and tribal partners, is planning a 19-acre prescribed burn on Stockton Island (Wiisaakodewan-minis) between May 10th and 26th, if weather conditions permit. The National Park Service uses prescribed burning for vegetation management and to restore cultural landscapes. In 2017 Apostle Islands National Lakeshore collaborated with the Red Cliff Band, Bad River Band and other Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission member Tribes to conduct the...

Lakeshore Logbook – Merrith Baughman

Lakeshore Logbook – Merrith Baughman

Merrith Baughman As part of our 50th Anniversary celebration, we are collecting and sharing the stories of people connected to the islands, whether they are park guests, former residents or former park employees. This is the 13th in our series called “Lakeshore Logbook,” a collection of memories provided by former National Park Service employees. Living and working in the park on a day to day basis, they’ve experienced a lot to be sure. We hope you enjoy their perspectives. Merrith Baughman worked in the national lakeshore from May 1991 to August 1994 as an Interpretive Park Ranger. She says...

Friends join with Big Top Chautauqua to celebrate Earth Day and the beauty and future of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

Friends join with Big Top Chautauqua to celebrate Earth Day and the beauty and future of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

It was a night of music, moving images and intriguing discussions when our friends at Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua collaborated with the Friends of the Apostle Islands to celebrate the connection between Earth Day and the national lakeshore during a special edition of the Tiny Tent Show on Facebook and YouTube. Of Earth Day and the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, host Michael Perry noted that Wisconsin Governor and Senator Gaylord Nelson was "at the heart of both of these milestones." Michael Perry, Host He asked Friends Executive Director Jeff Rennicke about Nelson's connection to...