July 4, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Rachel Reabe visited Itasca State Park in northern Minnesota as part of a report that years of bare bones budgets have taken their toll on Minnesota's park system. Officials say the resources and facilities are being neglected, as funding for parks has not kept pace with popularity.
July 6, 1996 - Every year, half a million people visit Itasca State Park near Bemidji. They go to see the headwaters of the Mississippi and to walk in groves of huge, old pines that have been growing since long before white settlers arrived in Minnesota. But the old growth forests in Itasca State Park are facing a serious threat…an explosion of pine bark beetles threatens to wipe out EVERY old growth pine in the park.
September 20, 1996 - Joanne Benson, Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, discusses plans for “Minnesota Clean-up Day” and ongoing efforts in addressing pollution of Minnesota River.
October 21, 1996 - Less than a century ago, millions of acres of North America were covered with prairie, vast grasslands that were home to bison, wolves, and prairie chickens. Today, less than one tenth of one per cent of that prairie remains. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working on the Tallgrass Prairie Project, a plan to buy and protect some of what little prairie is left.
July 18, 1997 - Midday discussion about Minnesota’s other state bird…mosquitos. Studio guests are Dave Noetzel, professor emeritus and extension entomologist at the University of Minnesota; and Jim Stark, public affair coordinator for the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District. Listeners call in with questions about the pest.
October 22, 1997 - They're still a rare sight in most of the state, but timber wolves are making a comeback in Minnesota. Held strictly to northeastern forests a few decades ago, wolves are now spreading west and south…toward St. Cloud, Grand Forks, and Elk River. Mainstreet Radio's Leif Enger reports on biologists using satellite technology to forecast where wolves will show up next.
November 6, 1997 - Midday features a Mainstreet Radio special about deer hunting, broadcast from Bemidji. A huge number of Minnesotans participate in this annual event. In the second hour of program, host Rachel Reabe talks with Bemidji hunters Kevin, Brett and Corey; and psychologist Dr. Dwight Phelps on the culture of deer hunting. Reabe also interviews Jean Bergerson about women deer hunters.
November 6, 1997 - Midday features a Mainstreet Radio special about deer hunting, broadcast from Bemidji. A huge number of Minnesotans participate in this annual event. In the first hour of program, host Rachel Reabe talks with guests Jim Bryant, regional wildlife supervisor with Minnesota DNR; and Joe Wood, executive director of the MN Deer Association about the hunting regulations, management of season, and environmental impacts. Program closes with James Baden, editor of Mille Lacs Messenger, providing a commentary from the non-hunter perspective.
May 20, 1998 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports that leading environmentalists are vowing to fight a proposal that would return trucks to two boat portages in Northern Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
September 3, 1998 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports on the short and long term affects of a warming Lake Superior. While swimmers enjoy a comfortable swim in the usually frigid waters of Lake Superior, the conditions might help predict some troubling consequences should the region warm several degrees over the next decades.