By Jenny Van Sickle, Staff Writer

On the eve of the Sucker Moon, a log cabin style multi-purpose building in Lac du Flambeau, Wis. came alive for a second night of carving and painting fish decoys as the aromas of warm bread and wild rice soup filtered through the air. 

By Charlie Otto Rasmussen, Editor
 

Ashland, Wis—At first glance through a door window, the space conjured the trappings of so many police procedurals, forever streaming on network television, as men and women dressed in matching aprons pored over examination tables. Inside, overhead lights illuminated a series of white polymer tables, while the clinking of scalpels and forceps on stainless steel pans accented low murmurings about trauma and tissue samples. 

By Bay Paulsen, Staff Writer

From the Ziigwan (spring) 2025 issue of Mazina'igan

Let's eat walleye safely

The return of extended sunshine after a long cold winter means spring ogaa (walleye) spearing season is on the horizon. As families begin to prepare for spring harvest activities, food safety is a top priority. GLIFWC’s Mercury Maps can help you and your family make informed decisions about where to harvest ogaa and how much is safe to eat.

By Michael Waasegiizhig Price, GLIFWC TEK Specialist

In November 2021, the President of the United States issued an Executive Memorandum ordering all federal agencies to integrate Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (ITEK) into federal decision-making. This memorandum is meant to strengthen relations between federally recognized tribal nations and the federal government, as well as tap into the rich wisdom that Indigenous people possess about the landscape. But what does this really mean? The term, Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), has been around since the mid-1990s.

By Rob Croll, GLIFWC  Climate Change Program Coordinator 

When Cherie Hagen, Lake Superior Unit Manager in the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Office of Great Waters, heard Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve (LSNERR) and GLIFWC staff share a presentation on Ganawenindiwag: Working with plant relatives to heal and protect Gichigami shorelines at the 2024 St. Louis River Summit she was excited about this new resource and started thinking about how her team could incorporate it’s teachings into their work.

By John Coleman GLIFWC Environmental Section Leader 

Following the failure of a $50 million grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to Highland Copper to make it into the state budget for the proposed Copperwood Mine, site development has slowed but continues to move ahead. Tapping existing funds, Highland Copper is creating wetlands at the Gogebic County site as part of the project’s wetland and stream mitigation program.

By Esteban Chiriboga & Jennifer Vanator GLIFWC Staff

Gay, Mich.—The almost two-decade long effort to address contamination from mine tailings along the eastern shore of the Keweenaw Peninsula takes a major step forward with the release of the Final Alternatives Analysis report. This past January the Buffalo Reef Task Force (BRTF) released the Final report, which outlines all alternatives that were proposed and analyzed for addressing the encroachment of mine tailings, or stamp sands, onto Buffalo Reef and its associated whitefish and lake trout spawning areas.

On November 29th, 2023, the Mole Lake Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Forest County Potawatomi hosted their 20th Anniversary Celebration for the purchase of the Crandon Mine.