University of Wisconsin - Extension

As the travel season hits prime time, WeekEnd on Wisconsin Public Televisionhttp://www.wpt.org"> http://www.wpt.org (WPT) travels to Minocqua for a special northwoods edition.

WeekEnd, WPT's lively public affairs program, will broadcast live at 7 p.m. Friday,

June 22, from the Torpy Park Bandshell downtown on Minocqua Lake. The public is invited to attend the broadcast. Those interested should arrive by 6:30 p.m., and people should bring chairs or blankets on which to sit.

Tourism, the environment and other matters of importance up north will be on the agenda for the Minocqua show. Jerry Huffman and Patty Loew are the co-anchors of WeekEnd.

"During the summer, many Wisconsinites head north to enjoy the treasures to be found there," says WeekEnd associate producer Christine Sloan-Miller, whose family lives in Minocqua. "We're happy to take WeekEnd on the road to check the pulse of the northwoods and examine the economic, environmental and political issues that matter to the people who live there."

Among the stories in the works for this special WeekEnd is a Loew report on the Lac du Flambeau tribe and its emphasis on cultural tourism. Following will be a discussion on how tribal and non-native tourist attractions are working toward a common approach to pull people to the region.

Also planned for this WeekEnd:

? Huffman is working on a humorous story about what it means to be up north and how to tell the "real" people from the tourists.

? A demonstration by Scheer's Lumberjack Show that will include log rolling and crosscut saws.

? A performance by singer-songwriter Tuck Pence.

? A talk on state forests.

? A report on the limnology research site run by the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Trout Lake.

? A look at "rural sprawl" in the form of forest fragmentation, the selling off of larger wooded tracts for development that divides older forests.

WPT is a service of the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin-Extension.

Wisconsin Public Television examines the pressing issues of the day on WHA-TV/Madison, WPNE-TV/Green Bay, WHRM-TV/Wausau, WLEF-TV/Park Falls, WHLA-TV/La Crosse and WHWC-TV/Menomonie-Eau Claire.

Program support for WeekEnd is provided by LaserTech.