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State Representative Paul Anderson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4317
For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520
NEWS COLUMN
"Loony" meeting in Grey Eagle
Notes From the Capitol
By State Rep. Paul Anderson
Heard an interesting presentation on Minnesota’s state bird, the Loon, last Saturday at the Big Birch Lake Association’s annual meeting in Grey Eagle. The speaker was Pam Perry, a DNR non-game wildlife lake specialist from Brainerd. Loons have been our state bird since 1961.
She told the 100 or so residents in attendance at the meeting that Minnesota is home to more loons than any other state in the “lower 48.” It’s estimated that we have around 12,000 loons that call our state their home. Maine is next with approximately 5,000 and Wisconsin 2,300. The population of loons in Michigan, where the bird is a threatened species, is around 900.
The loons who spend their summer in our part of the country migrate to the Gulf of Mexico during the winter. They are one of only a few types of animals who can live in both salt water and fresh water. They have a special gland that secretes excess salt from their bodies.
When loons mate in the spring, the female will lay her eggs, with two being the usual number. If all goes well, the eggs hatch in 30 days, usually around the first part of May. They like peace and quiet during the first several weeks of their offspring’s lives, but a couple of events sometimes make that difficult. The fishing opener and Memorial Day both occur in May, and when the birds are young, they are extremely vulnerable to both boats and predators.
Loons spend most of their lives on water, and their bodies are well designed for that environment. In fact, because their legs extend from the very back portion of their bodies, loons are unable to stand up or walk well on land. With fish being their main source of nourishment, they need relatively clear water because they hunt by sight. They like larger bodies of water, with quiet bays being their favorite habitat.
If loons make it through their early days, they can live upwards of 20 years or longer. One danger to them is lead, and if a loon ingests one piece such as a lead fishing sinker, they will die. Minnesotans who live on lakes or anyone who has gone camping knows well the sound of the loon. They make four different calls, and that beautifully haunting sound has become part of Minnesota’s outdoor culture.
Another example of how important sports is to the American way of life occurred last week with the surprise announcement that Brett Favre was ‘un-retiring’ again and had signed a contract to play with the Vikings. I was in a meeting that morning when the person sitting next to me, after reading a message on his Blackberry, poked me in the ribs and handed me his phone so I could read for myself that Favre was landing in the Twin Cities and would soon announce his plans to play football again. About a half hour later, another person interrupted the meeting and announced the latest news, that the future Hall-of-Famer had indeed signed a contract. The meeting stopped, and folks were buzzing with the news.
I was at a meeting in Alexandria last week where health care was the topic. The meeting was put on by PrimeWest Health, a 13-county organization that provides health coverage to a portion of the population in this part of Minnesota. If changes are made to our health insurance system, and a cooperative-type alternative is established, organizations like PrimeWest would seem well-positioned to offer that type of coverage.
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Rep. Anderson encourages constituents to contact his new office with input regarding any state legislative issue. He can be reached on the web at www.house.mn/13A and via email at rep.paul.anderson@house.mn. To contact Anderson by phone, call (651) 296-4317. Mail can be sent to Rep. Paul Anderson, 239 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, Minnesota 55155.
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