Earth Day in the City

Celebrate Earth Day by participating in the 15th Annual Minneapolis Earth Day Watershed Clean Up, Saturday, April 18th, 9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.! Last year's event drew about 3000 community members who picked up 22,000 pounds of trash! 2009's event promises to be even bigger and better, with over 40 clean-up sites throughout the city. Find out more at www.minneapolisearthday.com.
FMR will be coordinating two sites for the Clean Up, at 36th Street and West River Parkway and 44th Street and West River Parkway. Both sites will also feature educational presentations to learn more about topics like geology, native plants, and invasive species. Go to www.fmr.org/participate/events for more information on these two sites.

You can also support the Earth Day Clean Up by participating in the 5K Recycle Run, Sunday, April 19th. Go to www.minneapolisrecyclerun.com for details and registration info.

First two photos courtesy of Peter Kastler.

Bringing Nature Home

From the Audubon Minnesota website:
Monday, March 16, 2009 - 7:00-8:00pm
Macalester College, John B. Davis Lecture Hall, Ruth Stricker Dayton Campus Center

Dr. Douglas Tallamy, author of a new book that calls for planting gardens that appeal to wildlife—especially insects—brings his important message to St. Paul on Monday, March 16. The author of Bringing Nature Home, How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens, will speak at 7:00 p.m. in the John B. Davis Lecture Hall in the Ruth Stricker Dayton Campus Center at Macalester College. The event is free and open to the public.

Many birders, gardeners, and landscapers are already great fans of Tallamy’s book and viewpoint. An entomologist and dynamic speaker, he will discuss the clear link between native plant species and native wildlife.

As more and more of nature disappears under bulldozers and chain saws, gardeners may just be the salvation of birds and other wildlife. Wild creatures are losing places to live and breed at an alarming rate, and their food sources are shrinking. If more and more of us filled our yards and gardens with native plants, we’d help create the biodiversity that sustains all life forms, including our own.

Tallamy clearly makes the case for natives and against alien plants. He shows how non-native plants are nearly invisible to native insects and other wildlife: if insect larvae haven’t evolved with a plant they can’t use it. In this way we lose strands in the web of life, a scenario occurring all over the world. How important is this? Research shows that 96 percent of North American’s land birds rely on insects to feed their nestlings, and insects rely on native plants.

“We help decide which animals will make it and which will not every time we plant or remove something from our yards,” Tallamy says.

For everyone interested in the conservation of birds and other wildlife and everyone who gardens, this is a “don’t miss” event. Please refer to the Macalester College campus map (pdf). The Ruth Stricker Dayton Campus Center, where the lecture will be held, is building #25 on the map.

Minnehaha Creek Falls and Glen Restoration Project Open House

You're invited to a public open house to learn more about the Minnehaha Creek Falls and Glen Restoration Project.
*Saturday, March 14,* 10 - 11 a.m.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers archaeologist Brad Perkl will present information on the history of the site and what the restoration project involves. The Minnehaha Creek construction project includes the stabilization of approximately 1,390 linear feet of WPA walls, repairing failed portions of the walls and providing erosion protection for the area immediately downstream of the walls. Construction began late January and is expected to be complete by August 2009.

The open house will be outside - meet near Sea Salt Restaurant in the northwest corner of the park. Attendees will not be taken inside the construction area due to safety reasons.

The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, in cooperation with the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board, the State of Minnesota and the Minnesota Veterans Home is partnering with the Corps of Engineers on this project.

Photo courtesy of Tim Boyle, http://dignature.smugmug.com/