by Jim Schwartz

BURN BARRELS, generally regarded as a handy way to dispose of unwanted trash, are not only illegal in Minnesota, they also are a source of dangerous airborne chemicals. According to Dough Fairchild, environmental specialist in Duluth, smoke from trash fires contains more that the usual irritants and fine particulates. Fires of this sort also generate small amounts of two deadly poisons: dioxins and furans. Fairchild describes the chemicals as probably the most toxic ever studied. The problem, of course, is that there is no way of preventing the smoke from going where you don't want it to go, including onto your neighbor's property. Best solution? Dump the burn barrel and either take or have your trash taken to the nearest transfer station.

LAST NOVEMBER'S international climate talks in New Delhi marked a major change in emphasis: away from just concentrating on how to limit the forces that contribute to warming and toward coping with the changes that appear all but inevitable. Predictably, industry representatives welcomed the shift as a more realistic approach to what could be a growing global problem. Environmentalists, on the other hand, warned that focusing on adapting to change rather than trying to prevent it would inevitably fail. They reason that change eventually will reach the point where it exceeds the ability to adjust. My own take on the matter is that we must do both: continue our efforts to mitigate the factors that appear to be influencing climate change and put our genius to work at the task of adapting to a transforming world.

RESEARCHERS AT THE University of Wisconsin have learned that bluegills do not thrive as well in extensively developed lakes as they do in their relatively undeveloped counterparts. The same trend appears to be true for largemouth bass, although the findings are less clear-cut. The equation seems to be something like this: development leads to shoreline clearing, which, in turn, means fewer down trees and other woody debris making its way into the lake. The net result is that as habitat favorable to fish life declines, bluegill (and bass) numbers dwindle as well.

ALONG THE SAME LINE, this column has counseled for years against cutting or otherwise damaging bulrush beds and certain other aquatic plants, maintaining that these "pastures" provide important habitat for panfish and other marine life. Such beds are particularly important to the black crappie, a species that, once abundant in Ten Mile Lake, has gone into decline in recent years. If anglers would like to see a resurgence of this wonderful fish, a couple of practices might help: avoid and over-harvest, especially during the spring spawning period, and make it a point to preserve and encourage existing aquatic plant beds.

IF YOU'VE WONDERED whether the few hundred dollars the TMLA spends annually checking the lake for exotics is a wise investment, consider this: the Bay Lake Association shells out more that $80,000 each year in its fight to control the spread of Eurasian Water Milfoil. While our survey cannot prevent a milfoil invasion, we do it in the hope that, if it shows up, early identification will help to keep this rogue plant confined and give us at least a reasonable chance at eradicating it altogether. There are other dangerous exotics as well, but E. Milfoil is the most threatening.

THE ANNUAL REPORT on the transparency of Minnesota lakes has been issued and Ten Mile continues to measure up well. Although my health problems last season prevented Toni and me from taking as many measurements as we usually do, we did manage a total of eight at the regular sites: deepest spot on the main lake and a 45-foot location in Long Bay. On the main lake, the minimum measurement was 19', maximum 24', and the mean 20.9'. In Long Bay those figures were 15', 24' and 18.8'. Clearest body of water in the state was Sabin Lake in St. Louis County, which had a maximum reading of 52'. In Cass County, Hunter Lake south of Longville had a mean measurement of 32'. Our sister lake, Portage, had a mean reading of 23.7'.

MANY OF US WHO arrived early at the lake this spring were greeted by locked up septic systems, victims of the almost snow-free winter. Lacking the usual insulating effect of a snow blanket, the tanks simply froze, meaning nothing would move through. Eventually the systems were returned to working order by resorting to such strategies as pumping, tank heaters, steaming and a generous application of patience. What can be done to prevent this from happening again? Well, not a whole lot, although one could try covering tanks with bales of straw or a very think layer of leaves in the fall. The best solution, of course, is the one over which we have no control: a return to normal winter snowfalls.

SONGBIRD AND WATERFOWL migrations were quite reassuring this spring. We spotted large flocks of bufflehead and scaup, as well as the usual sprinkling of goldeneye, all three of the merganser species, wood ducks and mallards. A variety of warblers dominated the songbird flights. There were orioles aplenty, and the hummingbirds' arrival was two days late: May 12.