Mine reopens near Tower

Tours of Soudan Underground Mine State Park near Tower are scheduled to resume Saturday, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reports. The tours were suspended last season after a March fire in the mine shaft damaged wood timbers near the mine entrance.

“Cleanup and repair of the mine shaft is now complete, so we are looking forward to welcoming visitors back to full access at the park,” said Park Manager Jim Essig. “Visitors were disappointed that they couldn’t visit the underground portion of the mine last summer, so we expect to see more than our normal 34,000 visitors this year.”

Three tours will be available at the park for the season, which runs daily through Sept. 30, and weekends in October until Oct. 21. The underground mine tour, high-energy physics lab tour (operated by the University of Minnesota), and the free, self-guided surface tour will be available.

Guided tours depart on the hour, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the cost is $12 adults, $7 for children age 5 - 12, and free for children under age 5. Required hard hats are provided for underground tours. Visitors are encouraged to check the park website for suggested footwear and clothing, and for other important details.

Don’t cut just yet by road

With animals nesting, DNR urging landowners to delay roadside mowing

Landowners along Minnesota roads and highways are being urged by the Department of Natural Resources to delay mowing or otherwise disturbing vegetation until after Aug. 1.

Motorists pass a nest every four to eight seconds. Roadside habitat provides hatching grounds for about 25 percent of each year’s pheasant brood. Roadsides also are important habitat for teal, mallards, gray partridge, many grassland songbirds, frogs and turtles.

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