Mississippi River Gorge Stewards

Stewardship In Action!

2010-10-21T14:36:00.011-05:00

Fall Happenings at Riverside Park

2010-10-13T09:42:00.016-05:00

The past couple of weeks have seen drastic changes at Riverside Park.

Continuing the work done by Gorge Stewards in May, volunteers from Aveda joined Gorge Stewards and FMR on September 29th. With the temperatures peaking in the mid 70's, volunteers worked hard in the sunshine removing several invasives, including buckthorn, burdock and motherwort. Manual removal and weeding prepared the area for planting and meant that the site would not need to be treated with herbicides.

This past Saturday, October 9th, nearly 40 volunteers joined ecologists from Ecological Strategies and members of the Gorge Leadership Team to follow up on the hard work of the Aveda crew. Getting their hands dirty in the soil, groups planted several species of native shrubs, grasses, and forbs (wildflowers).

Digging in! Basking in the sunshine, volunteers dig a small trench around the freshly weeded planting beds to keep the turf from encroaching.

Volunteers of all ages were present to restore Riverside Park. Recycled newspaper was spread around seedlings to keep out encroaching weeds, giving the natives a chance to thrive.

Volunteers begin spreading woodchips around some of the 5 grass species and 17 wildflower species planted at the site.

At the end of the day, volunteers planted 63 shrubs - dwarf bush honeysuckle, meadow rose and wolfberry - and about 260 native grass and wildflower seedlings - little bluestem, blazing star, columbine, and more - and helped redefine the trail edge leading down to the beautiful Mississippi.

Once dominated by sprawling invasives, Riverside Park is going back to its native roots with the help of these amazing volunteers. Look for events in the spring for ways you can continue to help restore Riverside Park and watch these plants grow!

2011 Gorge Leadership Team

2010-09-15T17:04:00.001-05:00

The Gorge Leadership Team, now in its third season, has expanded the range of their efforts to include sites on the St. Paul side of the river gorge. This year they had outings at Hidden Falls and Crosby Parks in St. Paul, in addition to working at the 36th Street oak savanna in Minneapolis.

St. Paul's Parks and Recreation Department asked for the team's help caring for a spring ephemeral patch at Hidden Falls Park. The team spent the evening removing narrowleaf bittercress, an invasive species that has only recently been reported in Minnesota but that is spreading at an alarming rate along the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers.

Narrowleaf bittercress, photo courtesy of MN Dept. of Ag.

They also pitched in at the prairie restoration project at Crosby Park, and helped tend the demonstration native prairie garden. The native grasses and flowers planted in 2008 have done really well, but so have the weeds! A small, experienced group of volunteers like the team, working with FMR's ecologist Karen Schik to decipher what was what, was just what was needed at the site.

Members of the Gorge Leadership Team pose in front of the mountain of weeds they pulled from the demonstration prairie at Crosby Park. Photo courtesy of Karen Solas.

The team again had an important role in the management of the oak savanna, prairie bowl, and oak woodland at 36th St & W. River Parkway in Minneapolis. They continued their vigilant work to keep garlic mustard and buckthorn from taking hold, and tackled numerous other outcroppings of invasives, like sweet clover and reed canary grass. Some team members also helped remove graffiti from interpretive signage, while others freed dogwood trees from smothering grapevines.

Team member Sara Muchoswki removes graffiti from an interpretive sign at the oak savanna. Photo courtesy of Karen Solas.

While the team's outings may be over for the season, many team members will be helping out at FMR's remaining public volunteer events, in the river gorge and beyond. These volunteers put in an average of 20 hours a season caring for the river, improving habitat and water quality. A huge thank you goes out to all the 2011 Gorge Leadership Team members for your incredible dedication and hard work!

Team members Michelle Garvey and Fred Tyler remove sweet clover from the oak savanna. Photo courtesy of Karen Solas.

Black swallowtail nectaring on sunflower at the 36th St. oak savanna. Photo courtesy of Carolyn Carr.

Brush Hauling at Upper Crosby Lake

2010-08-12T10:50:00.003-05:00

We recently reported on an exciting new shoreline restoration project beginning at Crosby Park's Upper Lake in St. Paul. On Thursday, August 5th, about 30 FMR volunteers gathered at the park to help out with the first phase of this restoration, invasive species removal.

Invasive and non-native buckthorn had formed a thicket along the shoreline and was choking out all the native trees, shrubs, and plants. Saint Paul Parks crews had cut this brush prior to the event, and our volunteers spent the evening hauling it out of the woods and stacking it so that SPP staff could then pick it up and take it away to be chipped.

After a lot of sweat, mosquito bites, and stinging nettle, we had hauled enough brush out of the woods that some beautiful views of the lake and shoreline were opened up. While this is nice for those of us who hike in the area, it also means that native species will have the opportunity to thrive in these cleared areas.

The piles of brush start to form!

Smiling, energized volunteers - it will take more than nettle to stop them!

Cup plant, one of the wonderful native species that will now have more room and resources to grow.

One of the largest buckthorn "shrubs" removed - this one was definitely more of a tree!

After removing the buckthorn brush, a group of volunteers uncovered this natural playground, including a perfect Tarzan vine...

... and a jump rope vine!

We are so exited to have begun this project, and to see how the shoreline is transformed and habitat improved at this important riverside park. Huge thanks to all the volunteers who helped out, and to St. Paul Parks & Recreation!

Shoreline Restoration at Crosby Park!

2010-07-13T17:56:00.000-05:00

FMR volunteers are important stewards of Crosby Park in St. Paul: tending a spring ephemeral patch, planting acorns, and restoring a native prairie. Starting this summer, we will be adding a shoreline restoration project to that list.

Volunteers will be working with FMR and St. Paul Parks & Recreation staff to restore part of the shoreline of Upper Lake. The first step in this project is to remove some of the invasive buckthorn that is crowding out the native species. SPPR crews will be cutting the brush, and volunteers will be needed to help haul it out of the area on Thursday, August 5th. SPPR will also be working to remove some of the reed canary grass later in the season, and we hope to replace these invasives with native shoreline plants in 2011.

For more information or to sign up to join this exciting new project, check out our events calendar.

Tree Vandals in the Gorge

2010-07-02T18:08:00.004-05:00

Someone recently cut down 28 newly planted trees along the Winchell Trail near Dowling School. The 6' saplings - sugar maple, basswood and oak - were then tossed over the bluff. The trail in this area was eroding and dangerous, so it had been rerouted to prevent further erosion and the trees were planted in an effort to help anchor the soil. The trail had been rerouted to the top of the bluff and a railing was put in to discourage people from using the old trailway. It seems as though whoever cut the trees wasn't happy with the trail rerouting and wanted to continue using the old alignment.

The financial loss is estimated at over $2500, which is enough to make the crime a felony. For more information, check out the following local news stories about the incident:

http://kstp.com/article/stories/S1633387.shtml?cat=0
http://www.startribune.com/local/east/97442169.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU

Photo courtesy of Hillary Oppmann.

Volunteers and Caterpillars at Riverside Park

2010-05-27T08:14:00.002-05:00

The first FMR volunteer event at Riverside Park in Minneapolis was held on May 15, 2010. About 40 volunteers, many from the neighborhood, came together to remove invasive species like garlic mustard and buckthorn from key areas of the park. After all the time and energy invested by neighbors and partners to get the restoration of this park underway, it was very

exciting to finally get our hands dirty! To see more photos from the event, check out FMR's Flickr page.

Another event will be held at the park in the fall. Watch FMR's events calendar for details.

Throughout the event, forest tent caterpillars were raining down on the volunteers from the trees above. They were all over everyone's clothes and in their hair, covering equipment like the blue bucket in the photo, everywhere! If you've been back to the park since the event, you've probably noticed that the caterpillars wreaked some serious havoc, leaving some trees almost completely defoliated. This may look shocking and disturbing, but these trees should put out a second smaller set of leaves later in the summer and recover.

Tent caterpillars are native to Minnesota and have a natural boom and bust cycle - outbreaks occur at intervals of 5-10 years and each outbreak can last for 5-8 years. You'll notice defoliation starting in late May and lasting through late June, till the caterpillars have spun themselves into cocoons and pupated. Tent caterpillars have a whole slew of natural controls that keep them in check, including diseases and native predators (insects, spiders, birds, etc.) that evolved along with them.

For more information on forest tent caterpillars, check out this page from the DNR.

Photos courtesy of Karen Solas and Carolyn Carr.

Gorge Birds

2010-05-21T17:05:00.000-05:00

Larry Risser took these amazing photos during this year's Gorge Birding Hike. Enjoy!

pileated woodpecker

wood thrush

blue-gray gnatcatcher

Spring Restoration Highlights

2010-05-10T14:18:00.001-05:00

Volunteers removed garlic mustard from the floodplain forest near 34th St & W. River Parkway in Minneapolis on May 1. Volunteers have been working in this area every spring for years to protect the floodplain habitat and the nearby oak savanna and prairie bowl from invasive garlic mustard.

A carpet of wild ginger at Crosby Park's spring wildflower patch in St. Paul. Wild ginger's single purple flower is at the base of its stem, low to the ground to attract insects like ground beetles to pollinate it. Rain storms and an unexpected road closure could not deter volunteers from pulling garlic mustard in this area on April 24, and pledging to return to pull for an additional 6 hours!

If you click on this photo to enlarge it, you will see a variety of ephemerals and other spring wildflowers growing all together - the mottled leaves of trout lilies, yellow flowers of violets, and the fine feathery leaves of dutchman's breeches. Rest assured that the solitary garlic mustard stalk sticking up was promptly removed after this photo was taken! This wildflower patch is looking better than ever, thanks in part to the efforts of our volunteers!

For their first Team Outing of the season, the Gorge Leadership Team worked at a spring ephemeral patch at Hidden Falls Park that has gotten less attention over the past few years. Team members removed garlic mustard as well as narrowleaf bittercress, an invasive species that was only first reported in Minnesota in 2008, and has been rapidly invading forested areas along rivers in eastern Minnesota.

Ecologist Karen Schik teaches Gorge Leadership Team members about the biology of invasive earthworms.

To learn about upcoming volunteer events and how you can participate, check our events calendar or sign up for our twice monthly e-newsletter, the Mississippi Messages.

photos courtesy of Karen Solas and Karen Schik

2010 Earth Day Cleanup

2010-04-27T10:37:00.003-05:00

About 3,000 volunteers joined the annual Minneapolis Earth Day Cleanup on April 17, 2010, and almost 300 of that force volunteered at Friends of the Mississippi River's two locations in the river gorge. Volunteers removed over 15,000 pounds of trash from sites throughout the city - that's 15,000 pounds of trash that won't end up in the river! Thank you to all the volunteers who helped give the city a good spring cleaning!

Thanks to program partners and sponsors Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, National Park Service, Longfellow Community Council, Peace Coffee, and Parkway Pizza!

Thank you also to volunteer photographer Ami Thompson who took the following photos:

Early Spring in the Gorge

2010-04-09T22:57:00.002-05:00

Spring has sprung a bit early this year, giving a jumpstart to the growing season. Take advantage of this beautiful weather if you haven't already and get out to the river gorge to see what's popping up! Like...

bloodroot (left) and Dutchman's breeches (below). Spring ephemerals are doing their best to complete their entire life cycle during a very short period of time, after which they will disappear completely under the soil for the rest of the year!

Unfortunately for the spring ephemerals, garlic mustard is also already popping up, and threatening their success by crowding and shading the little beauties out, possibly even changing the quality of the soil. There are several upcoming opportunities to help remove garlic mustard from the river gorge - see our events listing for more details on how you can join the effort.

Very few native shrubs are leafed out right now, though one you might see is Sambucus racemosa (Red-berried elder, below).

Non-native shrubs Tartarian honeysuckle and common buckthorn are leafed out already. Leafing out early in the spring and retaining their leaves late in the fall is one of the major ways in which they are able to out-compete the natives: this longer growing season enables them to do extra photosynthesizing and simply outgrow everything else.

What interesting things have you been surprised to see popping up early this spring?

Photos courtesy of Carolyn Carr.

Progress at Riverside Park

2010-03-10T15:44:00.005-06:00

Ecologist Carolyn Carr has been hard at work writing a management plan for Riverside Park in Minneapolis. At a March 1 meeting, she presented this plan to the West Bank Community Council and representatives of other stakeholder groups, including the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board and Friends of the Mississippi River. The plan includes a detailed look at the fascinating history of this park, and how its many uses over the years have contributed to the ecological challenges facing it now.

The WBCC voted to approve the plan, paving the way for concentrated restoration efforts to begin, with the help of MPRB crews and community volunteers. FMR will be coordinating volunteer restoration efforts, beginning with a garlic mustard and buckthorn removal event this spring, and continuing with a planting event in the fall. (Watch our upcoming events page for more information on how to get involved.) We are very excited to apply the energy and talents of our amazing volunteers to another site in the river gorge, and to help improve the ecological health, quality of habitat, and aesthetic beauty of this significant Minneapolis park!

Photo Copyright Regents of the University of Minnesota. Used with permission of the Metropolitan Design Center.

Longfellow Community Council

2010-02-10T12:10:00.000-06:00

The Longfellow Community Council, longtime supporter of FMR's Gorge Stewards program, recently approved support of the 2010 and 2011 Gorge Stewards program! Using NRP Phase 2 funds, this support will help make another year of restoration efforts in the Minneapolis river gorge possible, with important activities like removing invasive garlic mustard from the floodplain forest near 34th Street and West River Parkway and buckthorn from the maple basswood forest at 44th Street and West River Parkway. It will also help support a third season of targeted restoration efforts by the Gorge Leadership Team.

On the snowy evening of Monday, February 8, LCC's River Gorge Committee held an open house, which provided an opportunity for community members to hear about the accomplishments of the 2009 Gorge Stewards volunteers and learn how to get involved in 2010. If you are interested in learning more about or joining the Gorge Stewards, check out the informational page for the program on the FMR website.

Thank you, Longfellow Community Council, for your continued and greatly appreciated support!

Photos courtesy of Meghan Dudle and Carolyn Carr.

King Corn & Big River Double Feature!

2009-11-12T12:36:00.002-06:00

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 — 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Riverview Theater, 3800 42nd Avenue S, Minneapolis, MN

Following up on their Peabody Award winning documentary, the King Corn boys are back! Join filmmaker Curt Ellis, star of King Corn, for the Minnesota premiere of Big River. In their new documentary, Curt and Ian return to Iowa on a new mission: to investigate the environmental impact their acre of corn had on the people and places downstream.

Program:

7:00 p.m. King Corn
8:00 p.m. Big River
8:30 p.m. Discussion

All proceeds from this event benefit the Mississippi River Gorge Stewards Program.

Hosted by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), Friends of the Mississippi River, Land Stewardship Project, and Birchwood Café.

Tickets sold at the door. Advance sales at IATP and the Birchwood Café.

For information or for a student group-rate, contact Abby at 612-870-3433.

Watershed Friendly Yard Tour

2009-09-11T15:30:00.007-05:00

Longfellow Community Council & Wild Ones Present the 6th annual
Watershed Friendly Yard Tour
Sunday, September 13th
3:00 - 5:00 pm
Begin tour and pick up a map at: 2925 42nd Ave S

Tour Highlights
- beautiful native plants, shrubs and trees in urban yards
- rain gardens, rain barrels...and chickens!
- talk with the homeowners
- free info on rain gardens and native plants

Enjoy a self guided tour of beautiful native plants and rain gardens during Longfellow's 6th Annual Watershed Friendly Yard Tour. Many of the yards received a grant from Longfellow Community Council in the past 7 years. Walk or Bike! This year all the gardens are within walking distance in the Cooper section of Longfellow. The tour also makes a nice bicycle ride.

Sponsored by the River Gorge Committee of the Longfellow Community Council and the Twin Cities chapter of Wild Ones. For more info contact Hillary Oppmann at hillary[at]longfellow.org

Photo courtesy Elizabeth Beckman

Rare Critter Sighted in River Gorge

2009-08-26T20:55:00.010-05:00

During a prairie bowl restoration outing this month, members of the Gorge Leadership Team encountered animal rarely seen in the River Gorge: a Rufous, 'red-phase' or erythritic raccoon. Red-phase raccoons' fur can range from a pale yellow to a bright orange color; the raccoon living near the prairie bowl has an orange-reddish coat.

Although red-phase raccoons are fairly rare, this raccoon, we'll call him"Rufous", has been spotted meandering just along the bike trail near the ravine just north of 36th Street & West River Parkway, or just snoozing in the crux of a large tree in the prairie bowl.

Next time you're in the Gorge , make sure to keep an eye out for this fluffy orange fur ball. Maybe you'll spot him on the Oak Savanna Tour on September 10th or the seeding on the 26th ?

- Ryan Strand, FMR intern summer 2009

Cool Findings at Volunteer Events!

2009-07-06T12:33:00.013-05:00

Volunteers at the June weeding event at Crosby Park spotted this female painted turtle laying eggs at the edge of the prairie. The very next evening, volunteers at Hastings River Flats also saw the same sight - another female painted turtle laying her eggs near Lake Rebecca. Painted turtles mate in the spring and have a super adorable courtship ritual where the male swims up to the female and tickles her cheeks with the backs of his forepaws. When the female painted turtle is ready to lay her eggs, she will find a suitable spot, preferably one with soft, sandy soil and good sun exposure, and use her hind legs and claws to dig a hole. She'll then lay 4-15 eggs in the hole, cover them up, and leave the nest. Lots of predators like to eat turtle eggs, but if they manage to escape this fate, the eggs should hatch about 72-80 days later, around mid to late August. The little hatchlings will crawl out of the nest (though some hatchlings overwinter in the nest) and make their way to water.

The following week, volunteers removing invasive species like spotted knapweed and hoary alyssum at the Pine Bend Scientific and Natural Area found this skink! Skinks are a type of lizard with no pronounced neck and relatively small legs. Their movement resembles a snake more than a typical lizard. There are three types of lizards in the state of Minnesota - the prairie skink, the 5-lined skink, and the 6-lined racerunner. This little guy is most likely a prairie skink.

One especially skink-experienced volunteer was able to catch the speedy little guy so that everyone could get a closer look at him. Skinks are able to shed and regenerate their tails, and this one seemed to be in the process of growing a new tail. The new tail will look a little different and be shorter.

Volunteers at the July Crosby weeding event found this perfect little bird's nest in an American Hemp plant in the middle of the prairie they were removing yellow mustard and burdock from. If you click on the photo to enlarge it you'll notice that two of the eggs have brown speckles and one is plain white. The brown speckled eggs are likely cowbird eggs. Brown-headed Cowbirds are notorious brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other birds and relying on them to incubate and raise their young. Scientists have recorded over 220 bird species that have been parasitized by cowbirds, and though some reject the cowbird eggs, at least 150 species are known to have raised the cowbird chicks. It's hard to say what kind of bird made this nest and laid the white egg - our best guess is a chipping sparrow.

That same plant was covered in beautiful irridescent, metallic green beetles, like the one on this volunteer's hand. These are dogbane beetles. They feed mainly on plants in the Apocynum genus (dogbane), as well as milkweed. Dogbane and milkweed plants contain poisonous chemicals in their sap, or milk, that are toxic to many animals - in humans, for example, these chemicals can have lethal effects on the heart. These plants likely developed these chemicals as a defense mechanism to keep animals from munching them. However, dogbane beetles are able to eat the leaves, and instead of being poisoned by the chemicals, they store them in glands and then secrete them when they are threatened by predators!

And last but not least, that same evening we also spotted this mutated black-eyed susan! The stem was thick and flat, and instead of a normal flower, the brown center was bigger and flipped kind of like a hamburger patty, with the petals coming out of the top and bottom. Deformities like this can be caused by a variety of factors, but are typically a response to some sort of pathogen or pest, quite often a fungus.

Restoration events will be taking a bit of a break in August, and then kicking back up in full force for September and October. Be sure to check our upcoming event listings at www.fmr.org/participate/events or sign up for our twice-monthly e-newsletter, Mississippi Messages, at www.fmr.org/news/messages.

Old Wagon Road Planting

2009-06-09T16:03:00.009-05:00

Gorge Stewards volunteers recently assisted staff from the Saint Paul Department of Parks and Recreation in a project that provided erosion control, improved habitat, and increased plant diversity along a sad slope near the Meeker Dam ruins site.

The area along the Old Wagon Road Trail (which was recently redone using pervious pavers) was suffering from serious erosion, so the wonderful staff from St. Paul Parks devised a plan to stabilize it using bio-logs, erosion blankets, and native plants. Volunteers laid erosion blanket up the side of the slope, then staked bio-logs at the base holding the blanket in place. Bio-degradable cornstarch stakes were also used to hold the blanket in place. Finally, a variety of native ferns, sedges, grasses, and forbs were planted through the erosion blanket. These plants will provide habitat to our native critters, and their roots will help hold the soil in place and prevent further erosion of the slope.

A big thank you goes out to all the hard-working volunteers who helped with this important project!

Spring = Garlic Mustard Pulling

2009-05-20T15:31:00.002-05:00

Spring time for the Gorge Steward means time to pull garlic mustard, and that's exactly what our dedicated volunteers have been hard at work doing!

The season started off April 30th with the annual pull at the floodplain forest near the sand flats, down the long stone staircase near 34th Street and West River Parkway in Minneapolis. This area has been overrun with garlic mustard, but volunteers have been coming each spring for several years now to uncover the jack-in-the-pulpits, violets, and other native plants. Garlic mustard seeds can remain viable in the soil for 5 or more years, so we know this area requires a longer term commitment, but we are seeing a difference and starting to expand our garlic mustard-free zone!

The following week, on May 6, volunteers headed to the lovely spring ephemeral patch at Crosby Park in St. Paul that the Gorge Stewards have adopted over the past few years. Here we work to protect the trout lilies, dutchman's breeches, large-flowered bellwort, bloodroot, and other goodies that are fighting the rampant garlic mustard for survival. The majority of these awesome volunteers pledged to return to the site on their own to pull for another 6 hours each by the end of May. To read a volunteer's perspective, check out volunteer Carrie's post about the event on her own blog:
http://play schooling.blogspot.com/2009/05/garlic-mustard-pledge-to -pull-kick.html

And finally, the Gorge Leadership Team had their first Team Outing of 2009, and again, much garlic mustard was pulled! This team of super volunteers worked in the oak savanna, oak woodland, and prairie bowl at 36th Street & West River Parkway in Minneapolis, where garlic mustard has been largely kept at bay. Each year a few patches crop up, and each year we pull them out!

Along with garlic mustard, volunteers also attacked a recurring (but smaller!) patch of reed canary grass, and a few stubborn buckthorn re-sprouts.

Happy Arbor Day!

2009-04-24T20:47:00.002-05:00

"Planting a tree is the easiest way to improve the value of your property, reduce your energy needs, shrink your carbon footprint and improve our air and water quality."

- Tree Trust

The City of Minneapolis is once again providing 1,000 trees to Minneapolis residents at a low cost through Tree Trust, a local company founded in 1976 in response to the devastation caused by Dutch Elm Disease, and the need to reforest the Twin Cities metro area.

If you're a Minneapolis resident, you can do your part to make Minneapolis a greener city by planting one of these trees this May. Celebrate Arbor Day by ordering one today! Go to www.treetrust.org for more information.

Happy Earth Day!

2009-04-22T15:29:00.003-05:00

The sun is shining, all sorts of lovely little spring woodland flowers are popping up in the river gorge, and it is finally starting to really feel like spring! What a perfect day to get outside and do something for the environment. Pick up trash along the river or in your own neighborhood, plant a native plant, start composting, or make a resolution to produce less waste or buy more local produce. There are many ways to celebrate Earth Day - just do something!

Thank you to the almost 250 volunteers who celebrated Earth Day early this year by joining us this past Saturday, April 18th at the annual Minneapolis Earth Day Clean Up! Check out this video, taken at the event.

A special big thank you to Peace Coffee, Parkway Pizza, and Ranger Dave Wiggins from the National Park Service for making the day extra fun!

Recreation on the Mississippi River

2009-04-14T17:58:00.001-05:00

Throughout April park rangers at the Mississippi River Visitor Center will be helping people plan their summer vacations! Just stop by the Visitor Center, located in the Science Museum of Minnesota, to get advice about lodging, camping, regulations, recreation activities, and more for trips to national parks throughout the U.S.

On Thursdays in April at 7pm they will be holding special presentations about specific parks, including a presentation on April 23 about our own National Park, the Mississippi National River & Recreation Area.

For more information and the complete schedule of special presentations: http://www.missriverfund.nonprofitoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7B361AD92E-7246-455D-87F7-9933146EC170%7D&DE=%7BAF68A519-EFDF-4716-8A3F-1500D60DCFDE%7D

Photo courtesy of Tim Boyle.

Earthworm Invasion

2009-04-09T10:55:00.007-05:00

Reprinted from Conservation Minnesota.

In recent weeks, Minnesotans have begun to notice earthworms emerging from their winter hideouts. Although not exactly cuddly, earthworms are to many of us welcome signs of spring.

Trouble is they’re an invasive species and they may be upsetting Minnesota’s ecology, especially forest health. That’s right.

As the University of Minnesota’s “Great Lakes Worm Watch” website says: “Ask anyone on the street if earthworms are good for ecosystems and you will undoubtedly receive a resounding “YES!” When asked why, they may say something like ‘earthworms mix and aerate the soil.’ It is a basic ecological concept that we may have learned as early as kindergarten.”

But the same experts know the truth: once-native Minnesota earthworms were wiped out with the last glaciation. And the earthworms we typically see in the state now were introduced by European settlers. (There are native worms in Minnesota, but no native earthworms.) They came with rocks and dirt used as ballast and in plants whose soil may have included earthworms or egg cases.

Why’s that a problem? Because U of M researchers have documented dramatic changes in native hardwood forest ecosystems when exotic earthworms invade, including losses of native understory plant species and tree seedlings, changes in soil structure and declines in nutrient availability.

Says Cindy Hale of the University of Minnesota’s Natural Resources Research Institute in Duluth: When earthworms invade these previously earthworm-free forests, they mix the thick layer of spongy, slowly decomposing matter we call duff into the soil, which changes the structure, the chemistry, and the biology—the living organisms in the soil—literally eating the rooting zone out from under the forest understory plants.”

Changes caused by invasive earthworms may lead to further changes in the forest that:

undermine small mammal, bird and amphibian populations;
increase the impacts of herbivores like white-tailed deer;
and facilitate invasions of other exotic species such as European slugs and exotic plants like buckthorn and garlic mustard.

“These results suggest that exotic earthworms may pose a grave threat to the biodiversity and long term stability of hardwood forest ecosystems in the region. Much more research is needed,” says the U.

What can be done?

The way to control earthworms is to control the ways in which they spread by carefully managing:

Bait worms, most of which are non-native species, including those sold as night crawlers, Canadian crawlers, leaf worms, or angle worms. Unused bait shouldn’t be dumped on the land or water.
Compost, leaf mulch and topsoil
Landscape plants or trees with soil around their roots
Soil movement during road building
Vehicle tire treads that carry soil including:
Construction, farming and logging equipment, all terrain vehicles, mountain bikes.

There is hope. “Without humans moving them around, earthworms move slowly, less than a half mile over 100 years", says Hale. So if we get a handle on the unintentional ways we introduce and spread earthworms, we may be able to keep them from invading new areas.

Parkway Pizza at the Earth Day Clean-Up!

2009-04-02T16:50:00.002-05:00

For the second year in a row, the good people at Parkway Pizza will be providing pizza for all the volunteers at FMR's Earth Day Clean Up sites!

Come help give the river gorge a good spring cleaning, take part in one of the biggest city-wide events of the year, and be rewarded with a slice of delicious pizza!

Saturday, April 18th, 9:30am-12pm
36th Street & W. River Parkway
44th St. & W. River Parkway
No pre-registration necessary

For more information and directions, go to: http://www.fmr.org/participate/events/earth_day_cleanup-2009-04-18

Parkway Pizza is located at 4457 42nd Ave. S in Minneapolis, and has free delivery (612-729-9090). Stop in to support them - and tell them thanks for supporting FMR and the river gorge!

Earth Day in the City

2009-03-11T16:12:00.011-05:00

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.minneapoli searthday.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.minneapolisr ecyclerun.com for details and registration info.

First two photos courtesy of Peter Kastler.

Bringing Nature Home

2009-03-10T17:04:00.007-05:00

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

2009-03-05T12:53:00.007-06:00

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/

Peregrine Having Lunch in the Middle of Snelling Avenue

2009-02-27T13:19:00.001-06:00

Taken from a story at kare11.com.

SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- After 20-plus years as a St. Paul police officer, Bob Winsor has seen just about everything. But what happened at Snelling and Ashland Friday was certainly a first.

Officer Winsor blocked a couple lanes of traffic for 30 minutes to protect a bird that was feasting on a pigeon in the middle of the road. His reasoning was simple: "Anything that kills pigeons is good with me."

But Winsor soon learned he was protecting a rare peregrine falcon, which is the fastest bird in the world.

"It's a great success story," says Lori Naumann with Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources.

It's unusual to see a peregrine in the middle of a busy road, Naumann says, but they are becoming more common in the Twin Cities. And it wasn't always that way.

"In the 1950s and 60s, they were almost extinct," she says. "They were placed on the endangered species list."

Thanks to intense restoration projects that started in the 1970s and 80s, Minnesota now has more than 50 peregrine pairs, which raised 93 young last year.

"The population is doing really, really well," Naumann says.

The U.S. ban on D.D.T. was another reason for the peregrine's comeback. It was removed from the U.S. endangered species list in 1999. It remains on the state's threatened species list, but Naumann says it could be removed in the next couple years.

Because the peregrine on Snelling had a band around its leg with the code "27A," we know she was born in 2007 and is named Elspeth. She's named after the granddaughter of Bud Tordoff, the man behind Minnesota's peregrine restoration.

"Dr. Tordoff passed away last year, so it was pretty special to see that this was a bird that's still surviving," Naumann says.

Elspeth is simply a sign of his success, which is good news for peregrines, but bad news for pigeons.

By Joe Fryer, KARE 11 News

photos by Peter Leete

The Colors of a River: Pollution and the Upper Mississippi

2009-02-06T21:59:00.003-06:00

“The Betsy-Nell,” Clarence Jonk wrote in 1933, “has been lowered into the sewage-laden water where fish die, bloat and turn idly about in the eddies, showing their worm-infested bodies like a curse to the men who infected their world. Continuously their white mouths nudge the manure of humanity, the off-wash of the streets and gutters; and here, curling under our starboard side, a brown foam bubbles and steams. Such is our baptism into the Great River.” (River Journey)

What was the Mississippi River like when only American Indians and early explorers paddled its waters? When did we first begin polluting the Mississippi and how? How bad did it get before anyone did something about it?

At his recent presentation, "The Colors of a River - Pollution and the Upper Mississippi River", historian and author Dr. John O. Anfinson of the National Park Service discussed these questions and took a look at the pollution issues facing the great Mississippi today. About 160 community members braved a frigid evening to hear the presentation, which was held at Augsburg College on Monday, January 26th.

John is a historian with the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service. John is the author of a history of the metro area Mississippi River entitled A River of History. As an independent scholar, his book, The River We Have Wrought: A History of the Upper Mississippi River has been published by the University of Minnesota Press .

Here is John summarizing the talk, followed by the conclusion of his presentation:

Photos courtesy of Chris Higgins.

River Gorge Featured in 1000 Friends of MN's Legacy Letters

2009-01-08T09:52:00.003-06:00

1000 Friends of MN and Twin Cities Public Television have been working together to create short videos, called "Legacy Letters" highlighting some of the places and things MN residents treasure the most in our state. The videos are each a minute in length and are airing for the next year on the Minnesota channel (TPT's digital channel). According to the 100 Friends of MN website, "The videos will feature the hopes, dreams, memories, concerns, and visions of Minnesotans like you who can articulate what’s working well and what’s needed in Minnesota."

One of the places we treasure the most is the Mississippi River Gorge. Check out the following video about why this place is so special, featuring Carolyn Carr, ecologist with Ecological Strategies and key figure in the volunteer-based restoration efforts of the gorge.

West River Parkway Trail Improvements Open House

2008-12-05T14:39:00.002-06:00

Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is planning to reconstruct three miles of bicyle and pedestrian trails along West River Parkway from Franklin Avenue south to Godfrey Parkway. The trail will connect to the recently reconstructed section of trail at Godfrey Parkway along the side of Minnehaha Park.

Reconstruction will provide improved trail safety and durability, separated bike and pedestrian trails where possible, and river bluff protection and enhancement. The project may include other elements, such as signage, site furnishings, drinking water fountains and landscaping, depending on available funding. Planning and design efforts are expected to occur this fall and winter. Trail construction is anticipated to begin in the summer of 2009.

The public is invited to comment on plans at an open house to be held at Brackett Park on Wednesday, Dec. 10, at 6:30 p.m. Brackett Park is located at 2728 39th Ave. S.

For more information contact Nick Eoloff, project manager at 612-230-6465 or e-mail neoloff@minneapolisparks.org.

2008-11-21T10:44:00.013-06:00

It has been a great season for the Gorge Stewards project, packed full of invasive species removals, seed collecting and spreading, interpretive hikes, prairie planting, geology, birding, and more. A big THANK YOU goes out to all the volunteers who worked so hard to care for our precious river gorge this season, as well as to the program funders and sponsors (see the list to the right).

Check out these photos from some of the Gorge Stewards events this season!

Vote Yes on the Clean Water, Land & Legacy Amendment!

2008-11-02T11:02:00.013-06:00

This Tuesday, November 4th you will have the opportunity to vote on Minnesota's Clean Water, Land & Legacy Amendment.

All is not well in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Forty percent of the waters we have tested are polluted, and most of our lakes and streams have not even been tested. Funding for water, parks, and wildlife habitat remains near historic lows, and we are losing access for swimming, fishing, and wildlife watching. We have to act now, with this amendment, to protect our state's many water sources----for our own health, and for that of our wildlife, before they are lost forever.

The amendment would increase the State sales tax by three-eighths of one percent. This amounts to only about $1 a week and $56 a year for the average Minnesota household - a small price to pay for protecting our clean water, wildlife habitat, and natural areas.

While the latest polls show that Minnesotans are strongly supportive of the amendment -- 59% say they will vote yes -- we also know that many people who haven't heard about the amendment may leave that question blank, and anyone who doesn't vote on this question gets counted as a "no" vote. As a result, it appears the vote will be VERY close.

This amendment is about protecting our WATER RESOURCES, LAND AND NATURAL AREAS.
There is tremendous growth in Minnesota: over 1 million acres of wooded lands, natural areas and farmland will be lost over the next 25 years, as Minnesota continues growing faster than any other state in the Midwest. We want to make sure that while we grow, we are protecting and preserving our natural areas for recreation, which is so much a part of why we love it here, and protecting our lands for game habitat, wildlife, fishing, hunting, and hiking. The amendment will also help to fight global warming by protecting forest lands in Minnesota.

This amendment is about preserving our CULTURAL RESOURCES.
Minnesota has a long and proud tradition and history of arts and culture. Arts and cultural education are critical not only to our children's future but also to our state's economic well-being. Like our natural resources, our states cultural resources are an important part of our tourism industry and our great Minnesota quality of life.

This amendment is about FUTURE GENERATIONS.
Things as important as clean water are well worth protecting in our Constitution, and worth creating a permanent funding source for - especially when future generations rely on our actions today. Acting now to ensure that we properly protect our water, parks, wildlife, and arts and cultural resources for our children and grandchildren is an investment well worth making.

For more information about the the Clean Water, Land & Legacy Amendment, check out the Vote Yes! website at http://www.yesformn.org. Click on "FAQ's" at the bottom of the page for some great information about the amendment.

Thanks in advance for your help in seizing this incredible opportunity to leave a healthy Minnesota to future generations! Please spread the word!

Tales of Rivalry at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Border

2008-10-03T19:23:00.006-05:00

Have you ever noticed those cement structures that poke up on the east side of the river, just north of the Lake St. Bridge? It’s the remnant of a long-fought battle between Minneapolis and St. Paul. No, it’s not some 19th century battalion, although it does traverse the border between the two cities. It’s all that remains of the first lock ever built on the Mississippi River.

The Meeker Island Lock and Dam was built in 1907 and dismantled in 1912. An ironic finale to a century-long quest to tame the Mississippi River Gorge for steamboat navigation.

By the mid-1800s, the City of St. Paul marked the head of navigation on the Mississippi River and Minneapolis was on its way to becoming the milling capitol of the world. But each City envied the others’ glory and hoped to reap its own share of it from the river. Minneapolis’ quest to move navigation upriver was finally realized with construction of the Meeker lock and dam and another low dam and lock at the site of the current Ford dam in St. Paul. But even as they were being built, St. Paul was pushing for one high dam that could generate hydropower, and would flood out the Meeker project as a result. In the meantime, the milling industry was winding down, and the rest is history.

Well actually it’s all history, and I and 50 other folks were lucky enough to get the complete tale last weekend during the Meeker Island Lock & Dam Ruins Interpretive Tour led by Dr. John Anfinson. John is a Historian for the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area – a unit of the National Park Service that runs through the Twin Cities. If you missed the Meeker tour, look for it again next Fall. John also gives a presentation about the Meeker story called “Rapids to Reservoirs,” with lots of great photos from the Minnesota Historical Society.

Of course it’s also a great time of year to explore the area on your own. The ruins can be accessed from East River Road at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Border. There is an old wagon road on the St. Paul side that was recently converted into a new trail, and there are iron steps that lead down from the Minneapolis side.

It’s also pretty cool to see the site from the water – sign up for FMR’s Gorge Fall Colors Paddle on October 11th and you can take it in riverside!

The Mississippi River Gorge Stewards Leadership Team

2008-07-12T10:30:00.000-05:00

Volunteers have been working in the gorge for several years now, and while there are always some new faces at events, we definitely had a group of "regulars". We started thinking about how to put the knowledge, dedication, and experience of these seasoned volunteers to the best use in the gorge, as well as how to offer them greater opportunities for learning, greater responsibility, and a richer volunteer experience. With funding from the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization, the Gorge Stewards Leadership Team was formed!

Members of the Gorge Leadership Team were asked to commit to volunteering at least 25 hours in the gorge this year, including attending a 2-hour indoor and 3-hour outdoor training, and participating in at least 4 of the 6 team outings. The rest of the hours can be completed a variety of ways, such as participating in and assisting with public events in the gorge, tabling, speaking, or otherwise assisting with outreach. The team outings combine training with restoration work, and are directed by ecologist Carolyn Carr. The subjects Carolyn chooses vary, but there is an underlying focus on phenology and how things progress and change over the growing season. Team members are also helping to monitor different sections of the 36th and West River Parkway site, and contributing to written and photographic documentation of species and conditions present.

From the very first training session and at every team event since, this group has proven to be quite the inquisitive bunch! Full of great questions, and noticing even the tiniest bugs or weird bumps on plant leaves. One of the most exciting things about the team for me has been watching the interactions and overhearing tidbits of conversations, where folks are sharing the different knowledge, skills and experiences that they each bring to the team, and learning from each other as well as from Carolyn.

This is the first year for this exciting project, so we are learning as we go and tweaking little bits here and there. We have accomplished quite a bit so far this season, and hope to continue the project in years to come. Thank you to all of the Gorge Leadership Team members for all your hard work and dedication to the river, for keeping us on our toes, and for being such an inspiring group of people to work with!

Photos courtesy of Hillary Oppmann

Summer Blooms

2008-07-05T08:47:00.000-05:00

The gorge is blooming! Check out these photos from dedicated long-time volunteer and Gorge Leadership Team member Tim Boyle. Can you identify these native plants? See even more great photos here.

This is an exciting and colorful time of year to go for a hike in the gorge, or have a picnic up at Giggly Hills and check out the prairie plantings.

New Prairie at Crosby Park!

2008-06-03T11:09:00.010-05:00

There's a new prairie in town! Crosby Park in St. Paul now boasts a beautiful new interpretive prairie, thanks to the hard work of many volunteers last Saturday, May 31st.

These hard-working folks planted, watered, and mulched almost 1000 native prairie plants as part of a restoration project in partnership with St. Paul Parks & Recreation, funded by Capitol Region Watershed District.
This semi-formal section of the prairie planting will hopefully provide visitors with an opportunity for education about prairies and native Minnesota plants. To that end, name markers bearing the name of the species were placed by several plants, and new signage about this project and the importance of Minnesota's prairies is in the works.

The group was such a bunch of rock stars that we finished early with the planting, mulching, and watering, but many volunteers stuck around to remove invasive weeds (like giant ragweed and Canada thistle) from the adjacent area.

Volunteers will be needed throughout the season to help care for this new planting by weeding and other tasks, and to help prepare the rest of the site to be seeded in the fall. If you are interested in helping out with this project, contact sue through our contact form or at 651-222-2193 x14.

Photos courtesy of professional photographer Rikk Flohr, www.fleetingglimpse.com. For more photos from this event, click on this link.

Prairie Burn at Crosby

2008-05-14T13:15:00.008-05:00

Thanks to a grant provided by Capitol Region Watershed District, FMR will be working with St. Paul Parks & Rec and lots of volunteers this year to plant an interpretive native prairie at Crosby Farm Regional Park.

The first major volunteer-powered effort will be to put in about 1000 native prairie plants in one section on Saturday, May 31st from 9:00 a.m. - noon. Several volunteer events will be held throughout the growing season to weed around the new plants. The remaining area will be seeded with native prairie seed in the fall. There will also be a guided hike in late summer to offer participants an interpretive look at the work that has been done, the different species that were installed, and the other sections of this beautiful park.

To prepare the site for this planting, St. Paul Parks & Rec conducted a controlled burn early last week. Controlled burns help manage and remove weeds, reduce the duff or plant litter layer, and return nutrients to the soil.

Keep watching the Events and Activities page of the FMR website for more info on all of the upcoming events at Crosby Park!

Spring at Crosby Park

2008-05-08T13:11:00.012-05:00

Last Saturday morning I woke up and immediately looked outside, expecting to see an inch of snow on the ground and more on its way down. But there was no snow, no precipitation at all, and the sun looked like it was fighting to peek out! Good thing, since we had a birding hike at Crosby Park in St. Paul.

We had a fairly small group (I suspect because of the forecast), but a nice size for birding, and the good fortune of 3 guides. We saw about 40 species, including lots of warblers (yellow-rumped,
black-and-white, and palm to name a few), a ring-necked duck, a green her on, a broad-winged hawk, and a blue-winged teal.

In addition to the birds, spring woodland wildflowers were everywhere! I was thrilled to see lots of Dutchman's breeches in bloom. They are a small spring ephemeral with flowers that look like upside down pants hanging on a clothes line. There were also tons of marsh marigolds surrounding the pond, large-flowered bellwort on the hillside with their pretty yellow droopy flowers, and bloodroo t back in the forest.

Later in the week I pulled garlic mustard with a group from Aveda at a site upriver from the marina at Crosby. The area we worked in was full of trout lilies, jack-in-the-pulpits, and wild ginger, as well as other beautiful little native wildflowers.

Native woodland plants complete their entire life cycle in the spring before the trees and shrubs really leaf out, and spring ephemerals then disappear entirely for the rest of the year. These plants are up against several formidable threats: garlic mustard, earthworms, and deer among them. So every plant I see in the woods seems like a sign of hope, a tough survivor fighting for life and winning - so far. It also is a reminder of why we and hundreds of volunteers work so hard to help them in their fight.

Drawdown Tours Revisited

2008-05-08T10:44:00.003-05:00

On February 20th John Anfinson and David Wiggins of the National Park Service led several tours of the St. Anthony Pool of the Mississippi River after it had been drawn down 13 feet. If you weren't able to attend a tour, or if you did and want to relive it in a much warmer environment, check out these wonderful videos of the tour, provided by Andrew Busam of the Mill City Museum. The videos are full of beautiful footage, fascinating facts, and river lore, not to mention that seeing all those bundled up folks sure will make you happy it's finally spring!

First Garlic Mustard Pull of the Season

2008-05-02T11:01:00.001-05:00

Thanks to everyone who joined us on Sunday afternoon for the Garlic Mustard pull!

An awesome group of 43 people turned out despite the rainy forecast and pulled a LOT of Garlic Mustard. We saw a few signs of spring too! The trees are starting to bud, there's a lot of bird action going on, and there's green peaking out from underneath all of the leaves on the ground as well.

A few of our volunteers took some Garlic Mustard home to test out some of the recipes we had available on site. If you took some home and missed out on the recipes, they can be found on the Mid-Atlantic Exotic Pest Plant Council's website.

Not all of us are fabulous chefs, and you don't have to be to help eat away our invasive species! The Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden is partnering with Heartland Restaurant and Lucia's Restaurant and Wine Bar to give the Twin Cities a taste of Garlic Mustard. Throughout the months of April and May, both restaurants are featuring selections on their menus made with Garlic Mustard provided by Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden-- just be sure to call ahead to make sure it's on the menu.

For anybody who missed out (or those of you who made it and had so much fun that you can't wait to do it again), there will be another pull on Wednesday May 21st from 6-8pm. For more information or to register please visit Friends of the Mississippi River's events page.

Photos courtesy of Hillary Oppmann.

Earth Day Clean-up in Numbers

2008-04-28T08:50:00.001-05:00

The numbers are in! The 2008 Minneapolis Earth Day Clean-up, which was held on Saturday, April 19th, was a huge success! There were 36 clean-up sites throughout Minneapolis, and 2859 volunteers came out and picked up about 22,500 pounds of trash!

FMR coordinated the site at West River Parkway and East 36th Street, and we had an incredible turnout - 370 volunteers! That's almost twice as many as last year!

The good folks at Pe ace Coffee provided us with some delicious coffee to start the day off right. Parkwa y Pizz a generously provided a reward for the hard-working volunteers at the end of the event in the form of free pizza. Thank you, thank you, thank you to these wonderful sponsors!

The Minneapolis Rowing Club gave us a big hand by picking up trash bags and large pieces of trash from volunteers at the river so they didn't have to carry them back up the steep hill to the parkway.

We also had a great art activity provided by the Minne apol is Institute of Ar ts. Kids (and plenty of adults too!) could make their own butterfly, paint it with watercolors, and add little wire antennae.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this event happen, including MPRB staff, FMR staff and interns, the many sponsors and partners, and most of all, the volunteers!

Photos (except 2 of my own) courtesy of Peter Kastler.

Happy Earth Day!

2008-04-22T17:57:00.002-05:00

The bloodroot are up in the gorge! Elizabeth Storey took this photo on Saturday about 200 paces south of the Oak Savanna interpretive sign along the Winchell Trail. I somehow managed to walk right past them without noticing! I was hoping to find some Dutchman's Breeches in bloom, but didn't see any. If anyone sees them, or has any other spring wildflower sightings in the gorge, let us know!

Top 10 Reasons To Come To The Earth Day Cleanup

2008-04-14T20:52:00.012-05:00

I'm sure none of you need more of a reason to participate in the city-wide clean-up than celebrating Earth Day or caring for our community gem, the river gorge, but in case you did need a little extra incentive, here you go:

The forecast for Saturday is 65 and sunny! It's actually starting to feel like spring, and this is a great way to get out there and enjoy it!
A delicious caffeinated kick start will be provided for the early birds by the good folks at Peace Coffee!
You can join artists from the Minneapolis Instit ute of Arts in making a miniature painting to honor the Earth! Images of plants and animals from the museum will be on hand for inspiration. Add a wish for the future, along with a postcard stamp to share it with your friends and family afar.
Those who stick it out until noon will get to chow on delicious Parkway Pizza!
Volunteers from the Minneapolis Rowing Club will be helping us out again this year, so you won't even have to haul your trash bags up the hill - they'll pick them up from you right at the bank of the river.
No pre-registration required! You just have to show up!
April 19th is the birthday of two FMR employees, and their birthday wish is for a clean river!
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board will have a free surprise for each participant. I don't even know what it will be - that's how much of a surprise it is!
Everybody is doing it! This year's cleanup has a whopping 36 sites - that's more than ever before!
Did I mention that it's an Earth Day celebration??

Let's give this gorge a good spring cleaning!

Spring Events

2008-04-07T21:56:00.003-05:00

Spring time to a lot of people says tulips and daffodils, or perhaps baseball, or rain showers. To me, it says garlic mustard, and birding!

Help remove garlic mustard from the river flats and the oak savanna in the Longfellow neighborhood in the Minneapolis River Gorge on two dates this spring: Sunday, April 27th from 1-3pm, and Wednesday, May 21st from 6-8pm. Garlic mustard is an herbaceous exotic plant invading many River Gorge areas and out-competing native spring plant species.
There's still room available on a couple of our popular birding hikes in May! On Saturday, May 3rd from 8-9:30am, FMR is partnering with the Ramsey County Bird Festival on a birding hike at Crosby Farm Regional Park. No registration is required for this hike. FMR's own Land Conservation Director Tom Lewanski and Hastings Park Superintendent Kevin Smith will lead participants on a birding hike at Old Mill Park in Hastings on Saturday, May 10th from 7-9am .
Also on Saturday, May 10th, from 10-11:30am, hydro-geologist Craig Larson and National Park Ranger Lyndon Torstenson will guide a geology hike through the river gorge in the Seward and Longfellow neighborhoods of Minneapolis to explore how this beautiful wonder, the only true gorge on the entire length of the Mississippi River, was formed.

For more details or registration information for these events, see our Events & Activities page on the FMR website, or contact sue rich at 651-222-2193.

Winter Watershed Workshop: Recap

2008-03-31T10:31:00.005-05:00

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!

2008-03-28T11:52:00.004-05:00

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!

2008-03-20T16:39:00.000-05:00

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

2008-03-17T11:40:00.008-05:00

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!

2008-03-15T16:27:00.008-05:00

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!

2008-03-12T14:47:00.005-05:00

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

2008-03-06T11:15:00.001-06:00

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

2008-03-04T20:32:00.005-06:00

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.

In the Heart of the Beast's New Show!

2008-02-17T14:58:00.002-06:00

In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre's new show, Beneath the Surface, opens this Tuesday, February 19th and runs through March 16th. Beneath the Surface is episode #2 of a 3-part performance series which explores the issues surrounding water quality, quantity, and ownership. In addition to performances, each episode also includes a hands-on "lab"of practical actions and questions (in this episode, it takes the form of a "What You Can Do!" carnival), and ideas for community advocacy.

This show is a great way to introduce children to the issues facing our world about water, but if it is anything like the first episode, I can say from personal experience that people of all ages will be entertained and take new knowledge and fresh inspiration away from it.

And if you're not already sold, this is from the HOBT website:

Come to the Circus
of the Common Well!

The Wettest Show on Earth!
Experience the Rain!
The Monsters and Myths!
Staggering Magic Acts
and Daring Rescues!
And above all… Clowns Clowns Clowns!!

Check out a 2-minute video preview of the performance below:

For more information on ticket prices and show times call the HOBT box office at 612-721-2535 or go to their website, www. hobt.org.

Deep Freeze Please!

2008-02-08T15:01:00.001-06:00

While we're on the subject of the Minnesota deep freeze, here's some food for thought. I know most people dread the cold snaps that are an inevitable element of winter in these parts, but as reported in the Minnesota Monitor, they actually play a pretty important role in keeping some invasive species under control.

Lee Frelich is a research associate at the U of M and director of the Center for Hardwood Ecology. (As a side note, I had the privilege of hearing Lee speak several times during my days as a grad student in the U of M's Natural Resources Science and Management program, and his research on disturbance from fire and storms, and the threats posed to our forests by white-tailed deer and earthworms is mind-blowing, fascinating, and sometimes frightening!) Lee says that extreme cold kills off some invasive bugs, like the European elm bark beetle, which transmits Dutch elm disease. Minnesota used to be able to count on its extreme cold to kill the pests off annually, but as our climate warms, more and more are making it through the winter. Lee says that you have to hope for 25 or 30 below to really do a number on them, and that the colder it is and longer it lasts the better job it will do.

Other bad bugs have been kept out of Minnesota because of cold temperatures here or elsewhere that prevent them from migrating. But global warming may take away this natural defense system, making our native ecosystems vulnerable to several new invaders. The shorter and less frequent these cold snaps are, the more likely it is that we will be adding species to our "Least Wanted" list.

I don't know about you, but that gives me an appreciation for the great Minnesota deep freeze, and even... dare I say it? makes me want it to get colder!

Photo courtesy of Tim Boyle

Birds and the Deep Freeze

2008-01-30T11:49:00.001-06:00

This morning we looked out our kitchen window and saw a group of birds huddled together in the bushes, looking very puffy. During last week's deep freeze, I started thinking about our Minnesota wildlife and wondering how critters make it through these times of bitter cold. I did a little research and found some great information through the Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center about the adaptability of our feathered friends!

The first fascinating tidbit I learned is that of the roughly 650 species of birds that live in North America, about 75% of them participate in some sort of migratory behavior. Some of these migrate within the continental United States, and some head all the way down to South America. Some species that overwinter in Minnesota have migrated here from parts further north.

For the birds that call our neck of the woods home during the winter, their focus is naturally on finding food and staying warm. How much and what kind of food birds eat during the day determines how well they will be able to maintain a sufficiently warm body temperature during the night. Some birds hide or cache food during times of plenty, which gives them a little break when times are lean, assuming no other critters found it first!

Now about those puffy birds outside my kitchen window. They were apparently fluffing themselves up to create air pockets between their feathers and skin to help retain heat. To see what I mean about the fluffing up, compare the 2 pictures on the right of the robin. They can also shiver (like people do) to help them stay warm, will snuggle up with each other, and some birds also add extra feathers before winter.

The coolest adaptation I've read about is torpor, where the bird goes into a short-term hibernation-like state to conserve energy. Their metabolic rate dramatically drops, resulting in a drop in most of their body functions, including body temperature, heart rate, and respiration rate, and making them appear to be in sort of a trance. I wasn't able to find which species of birds in Minnesota have this adaptation, so if anyone knows, leave it in the comments section!

Photos by Bryce Mullet
Robin unpuffed: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mulletar/385080149/
Robin puffed: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mulletar/385080149/

Winter Wonderland

2008-01-17T11:54:00.003-06:00

Here we are, facing our first real arctic blast of the winter, where temperatures plummet below zero, the inside of your nostrils freezes the second you walk out the door, and you just can't wear enough long underwear. It's just not a real Minnesota winter if we don't have at least one of these cold blasts! So in celebration of one of the many things that makes Minnesota remarkable, here are some great photos of the river gorge in all its winter glory.

The first two, taken from the east end of the Ford bridge looking north up the river, were shot by one of our most dedicated FMR volunteers and Gorge Stewards, Tim Boyle. If you are interested in seeing more of his photos or purchasing some of his photos, visit him at http://dignature.blogspot.com/ or www.ttboyle.com .

And here are a couple more, taken by FMR's own Watershed Program Director Trevor Russell. These were taken from behind the frozen Minnehaha Falls.

(Click on the photos to enlarge them.)

2008-01-14T10:59:00.001-06:00

In response to last week's tanker spill, Paul Labovitz, superintendent of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, wrote an opinion piece that was published in Sunday's Star Tribune. If there was a bright side to the disaster, it was that it hopefully raised public awareness about the fact that everything that goes down the storm drains empties directly into the river. Paul not only drove this point home, but also emphasized our responsibility to care for this precious resource in our community every day - not just when disaster strikes.

Gasoline in the River

2008-01-09T15:16:00.000-06:00

A tanker truck carrying about 8000 gallons of gasoline overturned today on the westbound I-94 ramp off of Hennepin and Lyndale Avenues. The Star Tribune said that "fuel gushed at a rate of more than 100 gallons of gas a minute as it sat on its side". Though emergency crews were able to contain 700-800 gallons of the gasoline at the site, the rest of it quickly made its way to the storm drains, and then to the Mississippi River just north of the 10th Avenue bridge.

According to TwinCities.com, the Minneapolis fire department is reportedly monitoring the air at the river near the the construction of the new 35-W bridge to make sure it is at safe levels, and there are reports of dead fish.

A series of containment booms have been placed in the water to collect the gasoline as it empties into the river and direct it to the banks. Since gasoline floats on top of water, it will most likely be vacuumed off the top. The vacuum trucks can't get right up to the actual sewer outfall because of the construction. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of water are also being flushed through the sewers to move the gasoline out. Hopefully their efforts at removing it will be quick and effective and damage to the river's water quality and aquatic life will be kept to a minimum!

Photo: Bruce Bisping, Star Tribune

The Emerald Ash Borer

2007-12-07T11:05:00.000-06:00

As if we didn't already have our hands full with invasive species in MN, another one might soon be crossing our borders. The emerald ash borer has already killed more than 20 million trees in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, and has made it as far west as Illinois. Wisconsin and Minnesota are next in line, and we also happen to have the most ash trees of all the states in the country - more than 1 billion ash trees in the two states combined! Minnesota alone has about 870 million ash trees.

The adult ash borers eat the leaves of the tree, but they aren't the real problem, and only cause minimal damage. The real buggers are the larvae, which feed off the inner bark and disrupt the tree's ability to transport water and nutrients. By the time you see the adults, the damage has already been done.

Because of the numbers of trees already killed and the great threat posed, the USDA has imposed quarantines and fines on moving wood from infested trees. MN and WI state parks have banned out-of-state firewood in an attempt to prevent the transport of the beetles into the states. The insects are not strong flyers and can only make it about a half mile on their own, but humans tend to give them a lift - 80% of the infestations in Michigan, for example, were traced back to firewood.

Entomologists say the arrival of the emerald ash borer in MN is inevitable, and all species of ash appear to be susceptible. The loss of the ash tree would have a significant impact on our urban landscape (my backyard would be a completely different and much less appealing place!), but it would have an even more detrimental effect on our forests. In the river gorge, green ash is a common tree species, and prickley ash and black ash are also present.

For more information:

http://www.emeraldashborer.info/ - a multi-state effort (MI, IL, IN, MD, PA, OH, WI) to provide the latest information on the emerald ash borer
http://www.mda.state.mn.us/plants/pestmanagement/eab.htm
MN Dept pf Ag's Response Plan and Strategic Plan, survey maps and tree traps
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/05/03/buggytrees/
http://www.extension.umn.edu/extensionnews/2005/emeraldashborer07.html

Photos: http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/animals/eab_child.shtml, David Cappaert
http://www.ppdl.org/dd/images/eab.jpg, H. Russel, Michigan State University
http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_12141-69866--,00.html
http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/image/f/frpe--lf13383.htm, Steven J. Baskauf

Winchell Trail Repairs Underway!

2007-11-23T11:52:00.000-06:00

Repairs on the Winchell Trail in the gorge began September 17th, so those of us who use it for recreation or transportation need to be aware and extra careful. Sections will be closed intermittently as they work to stabilize areas prone to erosion and replace deteriorating and damaged trail surfaces.

The areas of the trail near 24th, 25th, and 42nd Streets are the focus of the project, funded by the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization. Parts of the trail will be completely resurfaced, and erosion work will include repairing or replacing existing retaining walls, and planting native vegetation (hurray!). Added bonus: it sounds like some buckthorn is going to get removed in the process!

Watch for detour signs and workers moving equipment in and out of the area. Once we get some real snow (keep your fingers crossed!) the work will be put on hold and the trail will be closed through the winter. The project is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2008.

For more details, the Minneapolis Park and Rec Board's website has an information page on the project here.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/13965410@N06/1749836220/

Restoration Season 2007

2007-11-14T14:54:00.000-06:00

The Gorge Stewards have had a busy and productive restoration season this year!

More than 450 volunteers have contributed almost 1200 hours to help protect and enhance the natural communities of the river gorge through a variety of activities including clean-ups, removing invasive species, and collecting and redistributing native seed.

FMR once again coordinated the 36th Street and West River Parkway site of the Minneapolis Park and Rec Board's citywide Earth Day clean-up. With almost 200 volunteers, the gorge was given a pretty good spring cleaning! Later in the season, a group of students from Northwestern College participated in another clean-up, focusing on the areas near 34th and 44th Streets and West River Parkway.

During the spring months of April and May, Gorge Stewards volunteers devoted much of their energy to pulling garlic mustard, a highly invasive exotic woodland plant. As a way to empower and increase the impact of our volunteers, we held a "Pledge to Pull" event, during which volunteers were provided training and asked to pledge to return to the site to pull more garlic mustard on their own time. After providing a brief orientation on garlic mustard, we began work on a slope of the restored oak savanna. Thanks to the hard work of so many volunteers over the years, this area is teeming with a variety of good natives, like this beautiful bloodroot plant. Removing the garlic mustard helped to ensure the success of the native plants in this amazing spot. The group then headed to the river flats, a large section of floodplain that unfortunately is carpeted with garlic mustard. Eight volunteers later returned to the gorge to pull more garlic mustard on their own, for an additional 67 hours! In addition, a group of students from Carondelet Catholic School learned about and pulled garlic mustard in the river flats area in mid-May.

Oak Savanna Workdays began in May and were held once a month through October. During these events, volunteers under the direction of Carolyn Carr of Ecological Strategies carried out a variety of tasks associated with caring for the mesic prairie and remnant oak brushland/woodland that is being restored to an oak savanna. This often involved removing invasive species, such as buckthorn, reed canary grass, and sweet clover. Volunteers also helped maintain existing plantings by weeding and watering during the dry period this summer. Towards the end of the season, volunteers helped prepare sections of the site for seeding, then collected seed from native prairie plants, spread the seed, and laid erosion blanket.

In the fall when trees begin to drop their leaves, buckthorn stays green, giving it a competitive advantage over other plants. However, this also makes it easier for volunteers to identify and remove! Our last Gorge Stewards public restoration event of the season was a buckthorn pull at a site in the Seward neighborhood, near 24th Street and West River Parkway. Around twenty brave and hearty souls tackled a patch of buckthorn on a steep slope between the paved walking and biking path and the Winchell Trail. A few individuals also tended to the prairie plantings that had been installed by volunteers several years ago.

As in years past, Gorge Stewards volunteers were of all ages and from all walks of life. Some volunteers have been regular Gorge Stewards for several years, some became regulars this season, and some came to just one event. But all brought with them infectious enthusiasm and dedication, and their hard work made a valuable contribution to the health and future of this rare and precious gem, our Mississippi river gorge.

Photo 1 courtesy of Tim Boyle
Photo 2 courtesy of Peter Kastler
Photos 3, 4 courtesy of Karen Solas
Photos 5, 6, 7, 8 courtesy of Hillary Oppmann

Mississippi River Gorge Stewards

Stewardship In Action!

Fall Happenings at Riverside Park

2011 Gorge Leadership Team

Brush Hauling at Upper Crosby Lake

Shoreline Restoration at Crosby Park!

Tree Vandals in the Gorge

Volunteers and Caterpillars at Riverside Park

Gorge Birds

Spring Restoration Highlights

2010 Earth Day Cleanup

Early Spring in the Gorge

Progress at Riverside Park

Longfellow Community Council

King Corn & Big River Double Feature!

Watershed Friendly Yard Tour

Rare Critter Sighted in River Gorge

Cool Findings at Volunteer Events!

Old Wagon Road Planting

Spring = Garlic Mustard Pulling

Happy Arbor Day!

Happy Earth Day!

Recreation on the Mississippi River

Earthworm Invasion

Parkway Pizza at the Earth Day Clean-Up!

Earth Day in the City

Bringing Nature Home

Minnehaha Creek Falls and Glen Restoration Project Open House

Peregrine Having Lunch in the Middle of Snelling Avenue

The Colors of a River: Pollution and the Upper Mississippi

River Gorge Featured in 1000 Friends of MN's Legacy Letters

West River Parkway Trail Improvements Open House

Vote Yes on the Clean Water, Land & Legacy Amendment!

Tales of Rivalry at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Border

The Mississippi River Gorge Stewards Leadership Team

Summer Blooms

New Prairie at Crosby Park!

Prairie Burn at Crosby

Spring at Crosby Park

Drawdown Tours Revisited

First Garlic Mustard Pull of the Season

Earth Day Clean-up in Numbers

Happy Earth Day!

Top 10 Reasons To Come To The Earth Day Cleanup

Spring Events

Winter Watershed Workshop: Recap

Take Action with Earth Hour March 29th!

Dirt Cheap Compost Bins in Hennepin County!

Spring Birding Season

Earth Day 2008 Events!

Attention Minneapolis Residents!

Drawdown of the St. Anthony Pool

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

In the Heart of the Beast's New Show!

Come to the Circus of the Common Well!

Deep Freeze Please!

Birds and the Deep Freeze

Winter Wonderland

Gasoline in the River

The Emerald Ash Borer

Winchell Trail Repairs Underway!

Restoration Season 2007

Come to the Circus
of the Common Well!