Our September edition is now live, along with the complete archive of our August investigative audits and field reporting.

Here is what is inside the new issue and a summary of our stories from the past month.

Inside the September Edition

• September in the Northwoods: A seasonal look at cooling waters, active deer movement, aggressive late-season muskies, and black bears feeding before winter.

• Northwoods Wilds (Peak Mushroom Season): Where and how to locate prime edible fall fungi, including Hen of the Woods, Honey Mushrooms, Lion's Mane, and King Boletes.

• Root Cellars (Storing Food the Old Way): Low-tech food preservation techniques to keep potatoes, sand-packed carrots, cabbage, and onions fresh without power.

• Northwoods Curiosities (Why Leaves Turn): The science of the autumn canopy, showing how declining daylight exposes bright yellow pigments and cold nights create deep reds and purples.

• Northwoods Traditions (The First Frost): Practical steps to harvest remaining crops, cover sensitive plants, inspect chimneys, and stage woodpiles before the ground freezes.

• Looking Back (The 1895 Timber Boom): The history of the logging surge, river drivers, and round-the-clock sawmills that built the city of Rhinelander.

• 

August Watchdog Investigations

• The Unpaved Loophole: How Oneida County Let a Developer Bypass Town Road Rules

  How a 4 to 1 county committee vote overrode objections from the Little Rice Town Board, granting a subdivision waiver that shifted long-term road maintenance costs onto local taxpayers.

• The Chapter 9 Trap: How a Shoreline Fight Froze Local Zoning in Oneida County

  How the state DNR struck down 13 proposed shoreline exemptions, triggering an audit that locked all future county zoning updates under state agency review.

• The Ledger on the Lakes: Governing the 28-Lake Chain (Parts 1 2 3)

  A three-part watchdog series examining municipal oversight, environmental management, and town board policies across the Eagle River and Three Lakes chain of lakes.

August Field Reports & Regional Ecology

• Pests, Parasites, and Porch Lights: An in-depth feature on native Polyphemus giant silk moths, their natural sub-zero antifreeze, and the threats posed by non-native parasitic flies, aerial spraying, and outdoor lights.

• Nature's Ultimate Angler: A field guide covering how northern ospreys track, dive, and hunt game fish on local waterways.

• August 2026 Lunar Eclipse Guide: Timing windows and shoreline sightlines for viewing the 96 percent near-total eclipse across open water, paired with 1880s logging camp daybooks on moonlight timber hauling.

Thank you for reading, sharing, and supporting independent public records reporting across Oneida, Vilas, and Lincoln counties.

Tyler Sitar

Editor & Publisher, The Northwoods Ledger

editor@northwoodsledger.com