local features

A lot of focus surrounding PFAS has been on how it contaminated drinking water, but a new study is focused on how we may be consuming it in our food.

Slick ice has covered roads and sidewalks across much of the Northwoods in recent days. This also means more salt is being used to melt that ice.That salt has been making its way into lakes in southern Wisconsin for decades. The City of Madison says the chloride levels in Lake Mendota have been increasing by about one milligram per liter a year since 1962.While chloride level data is lacking on many Northwoods lakes, data collected from one local lake makes it clear that water bodies here are not immune.

In this month's installment of Field Notes, Trout Lake Station’s Gretchen Gerrish takes us to Florida with a lesson about marine field research.

Have you made your resolution to be more conservation-minded this year?Conservation Warden Tim Otto has some suggestions in this episode of All Things Outdoors.

State Senator Mary Felzkowski spoke with WXPR about her concerns with the Pelican River Forest and why she held up funding for conservation easements on the property.

During the first cross-country endurance race in Wisconsin, the Hodag International Cross-Country Marathon, racers came from all over, including Canada. However, there were few women among the entrants. MaryAnn Montgomery was one.

The 70,000 acres of woods, wetlands, and rivers meant to be a crown jewel of conservation in Wisconsin are now in limbo because of an anonymous lawmaker on the state’s Joint Finance Committee.

Minocqua is bringing a legendary snowman back to life – and it’s not Frosty. It’s Snowmy Kromer, a 40-foot-tall snowman that has graced Northwoods winters with its presence for decades.

PFAS levels hundreds of times higher than what is considered safe for drinking water has been found in private wells in eastern Oneida County. PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals that have been linked to adverse health effects like high cholesterol, infertility, and lower immune response to vaccines. The news of contaminated wells in the Starks and Stella area, which is about 10 miles east of Rhinelander, has left many residents angry, worried, and with more questions than answers at this moment.

In this week’s All Things Outdoors, WXPR’s Katie Thoresen and Wisconsin DNR Conservation Warden Tim Otto talk a bit about the motivation to risk it this time of year.