Dustin Looman and Burn Crews Featured in Emmy Nominated Show

Southeast Minnesota’s unique topography, rare wildlife, and recreational opportunities are featured in “Driftless,” a Prairie Sportsman episode that has been nominated for an Upper Midwest Emmy. Conservation Corps Burn Boss Dustin Looman and the Rochester burn crews’ work restoring blufflands are featured in the episode. Former Conservation Corps Development Director and Prairie Sportsman Producer Cindy Dorn also received a nomination for writing and Bret Amundson for hosting. Prairie Sportsman is a production of Pioneer PBS and airs on all Minnesota PBS stations with funding from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.

The episode explores the Driftless Area, which escaped the flattening effects of the last ice age, and a hike down a steep bluff with Dustin and the DNR’s Shawn Fritcher to find timber rattlesnakes. It also features the Root River State Trail and Mystery Cave, the longest cave in Minnesota with 13 miles of discovered passageways.

Prairie Sportsman received other nominations for shows on long-time DNR nongame wildlife supervisor Carrol Henderson who restored trumpeter swans, peregrine falcons and other species to Minnesota, world-renowned wolf researcher Dave Mech, the WolfTrack Classic Sled Dog race in Ely, and ice fishing at Red Lake Nation.

Click here to watch the section of “Driftless” featuring CCMI staff member Dustin and our burn crew.

Click here to watch the full “Driftless” episode.