Your Heartland Outdoors

	Welcome Fellow Heartlanders- If you have landed on this page, you have struck the “mother-lode.” In this, the major section of the web site, you will find almost everything there is to know about “Journeying into the Heartland.” We have researched, written, designed, and organized the many pages you will be visiting into “Minnesota Outdoors”, “Wisconsin Outdoors”, & “Michigan Outdoors”. Within each state’s outdoor presentation, you will find the top picks for: 1) Tourism & Travel, 2) Outdoor Businesses, 3) Resorts & Hospitality, 4) State & U.S. Parks & Forests, 5) Hiking Trails, 6) Fishing Lakes, 7) Campsites, 8)Local Sporting Goods & Outdoor Gear Retailers, and 9) Top Outdoor Organizations.

	We only recommend “the best” for your “Journeying Through” Do our souls sing when we are in the Heartland? “Who can sing the immigrant’s song? Who can dance the immigrant’s dance? Who can tell the old stories?
	We all can to some extent. Everyone has roots that reach beyond our shores. By walking into the Heartland, we retrace the steps of our forefathers and what it meant to them when they came to this the “Promised Land.” In doing so, we find our roots. The experience is at times poignant, sad, and at times it is joyful; but always exciting, energetic, & enlightening. But unless we journey outside, we will not be able to explore our environment, our culture, and our world.
	In some ways, the diversity in our music-from blues to Christian spirituals, from cowboy ballads to seafaring harmonies, from choral renditions to Native American chants- is echoed in the rich soil of the Great Lakes Land-from the forests and lakes, to the hills and wetlands, and resonating over the grasslands. Indeed, our souls sing when we are in the Heartland.
	So, Find Your “Music,” and begin Singing! (Please click on the underlined links throughout this section, to learn more about these top-ranked places!)
	HEARTLAND BUSINESSES-
	•Heartland Energy Group, pioneers in the development of biofuels & alternative energy, out of Alexandria, Louisiana. As a founding member of the *National* *Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, Heartland Energy is committed to providing E-85 fueling stations throughout America. With most of its refueling stations in the Three States Region, Heartland Energy continues to forge ahead with alternative energy solutions. Also, since Minnesota has the largest network of E-85 stations in the U.S., Minnesota’s relationship with this company will play a major role in shaping in our nation’s environmental future. Despite opposition to Heartland’s proposed tire burning plant, Minnesota State Pollution Control Agency, Staff Report (March 23, 2006),we feel the work of HEGP* and Minnesota State University, at Mankato (Mn CAR), will ultimately benefit all Americans. It is one of the largest providers of ethanol based fuels in the country.
	•Heartland Mutual Funds, America’s Value Investor in No-Load Funds in Milwaukee, WI.
	•Heartland Real Estate, Minnesota’s Lake-Shore Home Specialist, Pine River, Minnesota.
	•Heartland Farms, a large farming operation known for its potatoes and cheese in Hancock Wisconsin.
	•Heartland Business Bank, Dubuque, Wisconsin, a community bank with global ties. See them also at: Wis Bus Bank.Com.
	•The Heartland Food Network, Minneapolis, Mn., bringing Minnesota farmers, chefs, restaurants, local food distributors, and retailers together to promote Minnesota-grown food.
	• Heartland Equipment, Inc., located in Doon, Iowa, makers of the popular corn stove.
	View heartland outdoors references.