Winter Watershed Workshop: Recap

With the snowflakes flying yet again today, it seems an appropriate time to do a recap of our recent workshop: Winter home and watershed care: Tending your house, yard, and river.

About thirty citizens gathered on an almost spring-like evening at St. Paul's Saint Anthony Park Library to discuss the environmental impacts of snow and ice removal, as well as plan for watershed-friendly lawncare with native plants, rain gardens, composters, and more.

Katie Schonhorst and Connie Fortin of Fortin Consulting, Inc. explained the variety of products and chemicals used to remove snow and ice, and the environmental impacts of each. They then offered tips for the least harmful ways to deal with snow and ice.

If you weren't able to make the workshop, or were there but want some refreshers, here are some resources on the information they covered:

• The MWMO's educational page on winter snow removal for homeowners
• Info on different types of deicers
• Environmental impacts of road salt and salt alternatives
• Effects of road salt on groundwater

Then we started thinking spring! We talked about a variety of things homeowners can do in their yard and garden to protect water quality, including lawncare, rain gardens, rain barrels, native plants, composting, and more.
Some great resources covering these topics include:

• Wisconsin DNR's Rain Gardens - A how-to manual for homeowners (PDF)
• The Blue Thumb program, and particularly their Plant Selector
• Reduce.org's page on lawns and gardens, which includes info on composting, fertilizer and pesticide use, mowing, and landscaping
  

Thanks again to the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization and the City of St. Paul's Department of Public Works for making this workshop possible!


Photo courtesy of Katie Schonhorst, Fortin Consulting, Inc.

Take Action with Earth Hour March 29th!

Make a difference this weekend with Earth Hour. On Saturday, March 29th, people around the globe will be turning off their lights for one hour between 8pm and 9pm. Last year Earth Hour in Sydney, Australia achieved a 10% reduction in their greenhouse gases for a day. Let's see what we can do here in Minnesota! Visit the Earth Hour website for more information.

Dirt Cheap Compost Bins in Hennepin County!

Deals, deals, deals! First it was trees, now compost bins! In honor of Earth Day, Hennepin County is selling compost bins to residents for just $35! Here's the skinny:

• Option 1:
• Pre-order your bin by April 1, 2008 using this order form.
  
• Choose to pay for and pick up your compost bin at either Bachman's or the Reuse Center (Lakewinds Natural Foods had some too but is already sold out!) between April 19-22.
• Option 2:
• If you miss the pre-order deadline, a limited quantity will be available at Hennepin County's Drop-off facility in Brooklyn Park, beginning April 23, on Wednesday evenings from 6-8pm.
  

For more information, go to this page of the Hennepin County website. Composting is a great and easy way to turn food and yard waste into nutrient-rich fertilizer and mulch for your yard and garden. Need help getting started? Reduce.org has some great info on what's compostable, what isn't, how to start and maintain your pile, and how to use your compost.

Spring Birding Season

It seems funny to be talking about spring when we're on the verge of a winter storm warning. But believe it or not, it really is time to get ready for the spring bird migrations! The Mississippi River Valley is one of North America's greatest bird migration corridors, used by millions of birds each spring and fall. FMR takes advantage of this fact by organizing several guided bird hikes in key places along the river, such as the river gorge, Crosby Regional Park, and Hastings Old Mill Park.

Details of this year's bird hikes are still being worked out, so check back for more information. But in the meantime, get yourself all psyched up by checking out this bird list (124 KB PDF) for species found in the river gorge, compiled by Dave Zumeta, experienced birder, and one of our guides for the gorge birding hike.

Or check out this list of birds spotted near Bluff Street Park in Cedar Riverside, compiled by Steve Brandt, a resident of the area. This is a great example of site specific bio-monitoring done by citizens, which can sometimes be very helpful in making the case to protect and/or restore a natural area. Thanks Steve!

LIST OF BIRDS SPOTTED IN AREAS AROUND RIVERVIEW TOWER
AND THE ADJACENT MISSISSIPPI RIVER BLUFF

Regular residents:
Killdeer
Mourning Dove
Northern Flicker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Wood pecker
Red Eyed Vireo
American Crow
Black Capped Chickadee
House Wren
American Robin
Grey Catbird
Yellow Warbler
American Tree Sparrow (winter)
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Dark Eyed Junco (winter)
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
House Finch
American Goldfinch

Occasional visitors:
Cooper’s Hawk
American Kestrel
Red Bellied Woodpecker
Eastern Wood Pewee
Great Crested Flycatcher
Yellow Throated Vireo
Blue Jay
White Breasted Nuthatch
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Creeper
Cedar Waxwing
American Redstart
Indigo Bunting
Redwinged Blackbird
Brown Headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
Grasshopper Sparrow
Bald Eagle
Peregrine Falcon

Migrants:
Swainson’s Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Tennessee Warbler
Yellow Rumped Warbler
Palm Warbler
Mourning Warbler
White Crowned Sparrow
White Throated Sparrow

Earth Day 2008 Events!

This year the actual official Earth Day, April 22nd, falls on a Tuesday, which has led some organizations to plan their Earth Day festivities the weekend before, and some the weekend after. This means that people looking for a way to celebrate Earth Day have more options to choose from. Or better yet - why not celebrate Earth Day for the whole week! Kick things off on Saturday, April 19th by participating in the citywide Earth Day clean-up, and wrap things up the following Sunday, April 27th by helping to remove invasive garlic mustard from the river gorge! Details of each event are below. We hope to see you there!

Earth Day in the city: Minneapolis watershed cleanup
Saturday, April 19, 2008 — 9:30 am-Noon
East 36th Street & West River Parkway, Minneapolis River Gorge

This cleanup is an Earth Day tradition in the Minneapolis River Gorge. People come from throughout the local river corridor neighborhoods and throughout the metro area — through churches, corporations and classes — to contribute to the health and vitality of the Mississippi River Watershed.

We’ll meet at East 36th Street and West River Parkway, an Oak Savanna actively being restored by FMR Gorge Stewards volunteers. Here, you’ll sign in and receive gloves, trash bags, refreshments and directions. Pizza will be provided for volunteers by Parkway Pizza.

This event is part of a city-wide cleanup sponsored by the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board and the City of Minneapolis. For alternative site information, call the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board at 612-230-6484.

No pre-registration required.

Thank you sponsor Parkway Pizza! (4457 42nd Avenue South, 612-729-9090)

Photos courtesy of Peter Kastler.


Garlic Mustard Pull in the Gorge
Sunday, April 27th, 2008 — 1:00-3:00 p.m.
East 35th Street & West River Parkway, Minneapolis River Gorge

Join Friends of the Mississippi River and other volunteers from the Gorge Stewards on Saturday, April 26th to help remove garlic mustard from the river flats and oak savanna in the Longfellow neighborhood. Garlic Mustard is an herbaceous exotic plant that is invading many areas of the River Gorge and out-competing native spring plant species. This extremely invasive plant is very easily identified and can be pulled by hand.

Volunteers will meet at 35th Street and West River Parkway for training in identification and removal of garlic mustard, and then work to remove garlic mustard near the river flats between 34th & 35th Streets and at the oak savanna near 36th Street.

Pre-registration is required. For more information, or to register, please contact Volunteer Coordinator sue rich at 651-222-2193 X14 or by using this contact form.

Attention Minneapolis Residents!

Starting today and going through April 11, Minneapolis residents can buy a tree through the City Trees program for only $25! You can choose from 5 varieties: bicolor oak, fall fiesta sugar maple, pagoda dogwood, Japanese tree lilac, or "welchi" juniper. To buy a tree, pick up an order form from local libraries, or go to the Tree Trust website. The city has made 1,000 trees available on a first-come first-served basis, so order yours right away! Planting a tree increases your property value, provides habitat, reduces your energy needs, and helps manage stormwater.

Photo courtesy of dugjeep.

Drawdown of the St. Anthony Pool

The Army Corps of Engineers recently drew the St. Anthony Pool of the Mississippi River down 13 feet below it's normal level in order to facilitate the inspection of the Bassett Creek tunnel. FMR organized tours for the public, led by National Park Service rangers and historians John Anfinson and Dave Wiggins.

When we first started planning this day, we were only going to do one tour. We thought we would have to put in extra work to fill it too, given that it was an outdoor tour in the middle of the winter, during the middle of a weekday. When we had almost 100 registrations overnight after barely putting the word out, we realized we were very wrong. We worked some quick magic to add more tours, and had every one filled within a matter of a couple days. So when the weather forecast suddenly changed from around 20 degrees to below zero, we were pretty irritated! We should have realized though, that Minnesotans are a hearty folk! I couldn't believe the turnout, and even the people on the first tour of the day, when it was -10 with a windchill of -27, were all smiles! Unbelievable!

Our super-volunteer Tim Boyle joined me, and when he wasn't helping me with organizational stuff he was taking amazing photos! These first two photos are his, and if you'd like to see more, check out this site:
http://www.ttboyle.com/drawdown/ddhpgp.htm

There was quite a bit of media coverage of the event, but my favorite video was from the Star Tribune (and not because I was in it). They talked to a lot of different people, had some great narration from Dave Wiggins, and captured some beautiful footage of the steam coming off the river during the frigid morning. Minnesota Public Radio also covered it, as did Kare 11, and KSTP. One of our members who attended a tour posted some photos on Flickr which prompted lots of discussion and photo sharing. And my friend Peter Kastler took this great photo (at left).

If you weren't able to make one of the tours, I recommend checking out the links to photos or media coverage in this post. We hope to have a video of the tour to post here soon, so check back!

Winter home and watershed care: Tending your house, yard and river

Learn how to preserve local water quality year-round — starting with your own yard!

Join this free workshop!

• Listen, learn, and discuss environmental impacts of various winter home and yard maintenance options: de-icer selection, application rates, snow removal methods, etc.
• Start planning for greener times. We’ll discuss such approaches to managing stormwater as landscaping with native plants, the proper use of lawn fertilizer, rain gardens, and much more!

Thursday, March 13, 2008 — 6:30-8:00 p.m.

Saint Anthony Park Library, 2245 Como Avenue, Saint Paul

Please note: Advanced registration is required to attend this workshop.

To register, contact FMR Volunteer Coordinator sue rich with your name, address, e-mail address and phone number and the number in your party, at 651-222-2193 x14 or by using this contact form.

This workshop is free of charge and is offered by the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization and the City of Saint Paul Department of Public Works. Presented by Friends of the Mississippi River and Fortin Consulting.

First photo courtesy of the MWMO. Read more on the subject of winter snow and ice removal for homeowners at their website: http://www.mwmo.org/education.html

Second photo courtesy of Elizabeth Storey.