News – Great River Greening

Category: News

What’s better than one tree? An entire forest.

In partnership with the Trust for Public Land and Cannon River Watershed, Great River Greening has ambitious plans to plant a forest northeast of Faribault. The new natural area – called “Sunktokeca Wildlife Management Area (WMA)” – is 200-acres of mostly agricultural with rich pockets of marsh, prairie, and emerging forest. It feeds into the Cannon River, which is a critical tributary to the Mississippi River.

Our goal? To transform Sunktokeca WMA into resilient, abundant wildlife habitat. The natural area is currently closed to the general public, but with a little TLC and support from our donors and volunteers, will soon open to hikers, birdwatchers, sportsmen/sportswomen, and boaters – people like you who want to connect with the outdoors.

What’s going on with Suktokeca WMA?

Given its proximity to the Twin Cities, the community surrounding Sunktokeca WMA is a popular area for residential and commercial development. Although a sign of a strong economy, the booming population creates a huge demand on the area’s natural resources. This depletes important habitat for wildlife, including colonial waterbirds and Blanding’s turtle – two Species of Greatest Conservation Need.

This story is one of many happening across our state – expansive natural areas at risk of degradation, or disappearing entirely, because they can’t withstand our changing demands and landscape.

You can make a difference.

Make a donation and help us Restore Minnesota.

DONATE NOW

Project partners: Trust for Public Land, Cannon River Watershed Partnership, MN DNR

Restoring Oak Savanna in Lebanon Hills Regional Park

Turning off a busy Cliff Road in Eagan, into Lebanon Hills Regional Park, brings visitors into a vast natural area with miles of trails, a dozen small lakes, swimming beach, horse trails, campgrounds, and an education center.

This is Dakota County’s largest park and people throughout the metro area rank it as a favorite for its beauty, accessible location, well-marked trails, and family-centric programs. Its popularity endures year-round, with people currently enjoying the cross country ski paths that wind throughout.

This year the County’s Natural Resources program launched an effort to improve the environmental health of more than 1,100 of the park’s 2,000 acres.

Included in the plan is the Star Pond Savanna Expansion, which, in partnership with Great River Greening, involves restoring 75 acres of woodlands and savanna between Portage and Marsh Lakes, near the scenic equestrian trails.

In January, Great River Greening began removing diseased and low-quality trees and shrubs in order to increase diversity and improve wildlife habitat. Brush pile burns and seeding will occur as the season allows, and a large volunteer planting event will take place in the fall.

This work is made possible by support from the Outdoor Heritage Fund and Dakota County Natural Resources progam.

KARE11: Keep your storm drains clear

The storm drains on your street are meant for collecting water. But this time of year they tend to collect more leaves than anything else.

Author: Laura Betker

Published:November 1, 2018

The storm drains on your street are meant for collecting water. But this time of year they tend to collect more leaves than anything else.

“If you dig down in here you begin to see the beginnings of decay,” says Great River Greening Ecologist Steve Huckett. “And by that I mean it starts to turn black and gets all gooey and ucky. Because these dead leaves are full of nitrogen and phosphorous. All that nutrient then goes into the water system. Both into the rivers and the lakes around here.”

In many cases, there’s no filter between the drain and the lake. That influx of leaf decay means fish kills, algae blooms, and even discolored drinking water for some.

It’s a big problem and one of the main contributors to water quality. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency says nearly half of our metro lakes in the Mississippi River watershed don’t meet water quality standards.
So what can you do about it?

Whether you’re in the city, the suburbs or a more rural area, there’s one solution.

“The best thing residents can do and people in the city can do is to rake up these leaves and get them off the street,” Huckett says. “Put them in a compost pile in their backyard. You could put all this in your garden and till it in. It would be decomposed and ready for planting next spring.”

Or add it to the bags of leaves headed for the city compost site.

The hidden super power in a prairie

Green growth: new neighborhood grows up around prairie

In 2013, at the same time the City of Cottage Grove was creating Cedarhurst Meadow Park — with a playground and walking paths that connect to a larger trail system — dozens of new homes were beginning to line that public path.

In the center, South Washington Watershed District and Great River Greening began the Cedarhurst Prairie restoration.

It can take three to five years for prairie plants to establish, as their roots extend 5 to 15 feet into the earth. This year, the Cedarhurst Prairie came into its own, and the backyards in this new neighborhood opened to a healthy display of blazing star, big bluestem, and other native wildflowers and grasses.

Great River Greening has been working in the South Washington Conservation Corridor since 2010 to restore former farmland to prairie, with shading oaks, native grasses, and flowers. The benefit is plenty; restored basins deeply enhance the land by providing critical native habitat and improving water quality by controlling storm water runoff in an area where development is booming.

We want everyone to enjoy this space. Here some important ways to keep it healthy:

The Cedarhurst Prairie is public land, owned by the South Washington Watershed District and open for use: walk the paths and explore the habitat.
Please do not deposit compost or lawn trimmings, add or remove plants.
Homeowners with adjacent land should not mow the prairie. If you desire easier access to the paved trail, you can mow a path to it – up to 4ft wide.
If you do create a path, free “pollinator lawn” seed is available for you to plant in this section, consisting of low-growing native wildflowers that can tolerate high and infrequent mowing. (contact information is below)

What’s next?

Connect Cedarhurst to a larger conservation corridor

Great River Greening will continue to manage the Cedarhurst prairie, in partnership with South Washington Watershed District, to control weeds and other unwanted plants. Most future trees will be suppressed, including female cottonwoods (which produce fluffy seeds).

This fall, Great River Greening volunteers began seeding the neighboring Parkway Ravine which will connect Cedarhurst Prairie to the larger conservation corridor.

Why prairie at Cedarhurst?

Prairies in Minnesota once occupied almost one third of the state’s land, including much of Washington County. Today, only about 1% of the original prairie remains, making it one of the most critical habitats to protect and restore in Minnesota.

In a healthy prairie, you can find up to 50 different species of grasses and 200 species of wildflowers that support wildlife, from endangered pollinators to majestic hawks.
By restoring the prairie, we honor our natural heritage and improve the environment.

The tall grasses and colorful wildflowers in a prairie attract and provide shelter for numerous birds and endangered pollinators.
The deep roots of the prairie help stabilize soil and soak up stormwater runoff, filtering nutrients and other pollutants from groundwater before making its way south to the Mississippi River.
Other Benefits of Prairie:
• Groundwater recharge
• Less long-term maintenance
• Greater resistance to weeds
• Increases soil organic matter
• Rebuilds the soil

Why are trees growing in the prairie?

You find almost no trees in a prairies. However, oak trees add value by providing shade and food to wildlife, and structure for birds and other creatures. In the fall of 2017, Great River Greening and volunteers planted groves of oaks at the Cedarhurst. Some cottonwood trees that had previously established were also left to mature. While not a typical prairie tree, cottonwoods are a choice tree for bald eagle nests.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT US

Want to know more?

Tallgrass Prairie Facts (compiled by the MN DNR)

Native tallgrass prairie is the MOST ENDANGERED ecosystem in North America. (Kansas State University)
One acre of established prairie can produce 24,000 pounds of roots. (Iowa State University)
One acre of established prairie can ABSORB 9 inches of rainfall per hour before runoff occurs. (University of North Iowa)
One acre of established prairie will INTERCEPT as much as 53 tons of water during a one-inch hour rain event. (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
Prairie foliage represents a surface area 5 to 20 times larger than the soil area beneath it. (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
Prairie planted in roadside ditches makes our highways safer by INCREASING the holding capacity for snow in the ditch provided the shoulder is mowed. (Mn/DOT)
Natural competition of prairie plants REDUCES the occurrence of weeds in an area. (Iowa State University)
Greater prairie diversity creates greater biotic barriers to PREVENT weed invasion. (University of Minnesota )
One acre of reconstructed prairie can produce more net bioenergy than land used to grow corn for ethanol. (University of Minnesota)

Planting pollinator-friendly habitat to celebrate 65 years of community giving

Picture: General Mills volunteers planted a pollinator garden plot at Westwood Hills Nature Center as part of the Foundation’s 65th anniversary celebration

Great River Greening is pleased to be among the recipients of a commemorative grant celebrating the General Mills Foundation’s 65th anniversary.

The foundation awarded $100,000 to GRG for a suite of pollinator projects that have conservation impact and touch multiple communities throughout the state.

“General Mills has long been a leader in programs that promote sustainability. Great River Greening is honored to be considered a partner in this tradition. Choosing pollinators as a focus for our work together is timely and exciting. Insect pollinators, such as bees, butterflies, and wasps, are an important part of food production for humans and wildlife, and for plant reproduction in Minnesota and the world.” – Great River Greening Executive Director, Deborah Karasov

The projects supported by the General Mills Foundation grant include three pollinator garden plots, located in a St. Louis Park nature center, a school forest in Clear Lake, and the Chanhassen nature preserve.

Todd Rexine, a GRG ecologist, said that such plots are typically enclosed areas where native plants are allowed to grow without disturbance from deer, rabbits and other browsers. Once plants mature, they can be divided and used to restore the site.

A fourth project lies along highway 52 in Vermillion Township, which bisects 155-acres of small family farms leased through the Hmong American Farm Association, making it a particularly beneficial area for pollinator corridor.

Mary Jane Laird, Executive Director of the General Mills Foundation, said:

“We are so pleased that these Great River Greening pollinator projects will help commemorate General Mills Foundation’s 65th anniversary in a beautiful manner that will leave an ongoing legacy of impact.”

Great River Greening is across the state on vegetation restoration with pollinator management as a key focus. Our partners include conservation organizations, businesses and government agencies across the Twin Cities, as well as in Greater Minnesota. Working with a variety of partners allows us to merge the best science from many fields and combine elements of pollinator habitat, research, and citizen engagement.

KARE11: Restoring prairies with seed plots

October 3, 2018
KARE 11 meteorologist and reporter Laura Betker reports Great River Greening’s effort to alleviate the native seed shortage.

Farm Field to Forest Project starts with 23 bushels of…

Great River Greening will soon be seeding a new forest in a new 200-acre Wildlife Management Area, Sunktokeca WMA, located northeast of Faribault.

The project is part of a larger effort by Trust for Public Land (TPL) and Cannon River Watershed Partnership to protect seasonally flooded wetlands, improve habitat, and open more outdoors to the public. Much of this region, which has been agricultural, is undergoing change and its close proximity to the metro area makes it popular for new development. TPL acquired Sunktokeca WMA and conveyed it to the MN DNR to be managed as a WMA.

GRG is providing project management and ecological expertise and involving community partners, such as Bailey Nurseries, which is storing recently collected acorns to be planted later this fall. Other species planned for the forest include black walnut, basswood, kentucky coffee tree, highbush cranberry, and choke cherry.

These trees will add much needed habitat for wildlife in a part of Minnesota which had been mainly forested in the past.

-Becca Tucker, GRG project manager.

Steve Huckett, GRG director of conservation programs, said working with this partnership “gives GRG the opportunity to work across six counties in Greater Minnesota, with a focus on habitat restoration, improvement to water quality, and public engagement.”

The new WMA will be open to the public for hunting and fishing. It will also provide much needed habitat for non-game, pollinators, and neo-tropical bird species providing many opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts and sportsmen.

Becca says 10 of 30 acres will get direct seeding this fall. The rest will be started next year and maintenance of the site will be ongoing for a few more years.

23 Bushels of acorns just a start

It will take a lot of seed to reforest Sunktokeca WMA. This fall, 23 bushels of native white and burr oak acorns were collected from the Cannon River Watershed region. They are awaiting the fall planting in a cooler that was generously donated by Bailey Nurseries.

(Project partners: Trust for Public Land, Cannon River Watershed Partnership, MN DNR, Bailey Nurseries OAK PHOTO: Eli Sagor Creative Commons)

Seven Mile Creek Watershed farmers share experiments in cover…

Dan Coffman used an old cultivator bar and added parts to create a broadcast seeder on one side and a drill seeder on the other. He wanted to see what worked best early in the season.
Dan Coffman used an old cultivator bar and added parts to create a broadcast seeder on one side and a drill seeder on the other. He wanted to see what worked best early in the season.

9-18-2018 By Nancy Madsen

It goes a bit against the grain for farmers to plant seed in the summer or fall.

But for a handful of farmers in the Seven Mile Creek Watershed, planting cover crops in between rows of corn or soybeans is gaining traction. Cover crops, such as rye, turnips and wheat, have been touted as a method to reduce soil erosion and nutrient loss over winter, as well as generally improve soil health and possibly reduce the need for adding fertilizer and herbicides. But it’s been a tough sell in the colder climates of Minnesota.

In testing what works best, local farmers jury-rigged seeders from old equipment.

He tried it in 2016 between rows of corn, then used aerial seeding last year for a soybean field.

There was a bit of trial-and-error with the method. But he did reduce how much nitrogen fertilizer he used.

“We got a few bushels less, but we used less nitrogen with no sideress,” Coffman said. “So when you put pencil to paper, for the cover crop, we got about the same on return.”

If he uses the same method again, he said he would use an annual rye seed and plant a little earlier. The drill seeder worked best, he said, because it pushed seed down into the soil, increasing seed-to-soil contact.

Coffman farms close to the Oshawa Town Hall where a group of about 25 farmers and farming advisers met. He and brother-in-law Marty Mogensen said they do see better soil health already.

“It has better structure and is healthier when we use cover crops,” he said. “We’re liking what we see.”

Three farmers talked about how four different pieces of equipment, mainly made up from old equipment and hand-made additions, showed possibilities for sowing early in the season with short crops or later in the season with tall corn.

“There’s a lot of innovation going on,” Susie Carlin, Seven Mile Creek Watershed Partnership coordinator, said. “They’ve all got this question and they’ve each addressed it in a slightly different way.”

The partnership is a cooperative effort of the Nicollet County Soil and Water Conservation District and Great River Greening.

Buying new equipment just to add cover crops is impractical, Carlin said, as equipment is expensive and, so far, cover crops have little value on the market.

Chuck Peters and his son have strip-tilled for eight years and used cover crops for three.

Peters said, “There’s a lot to learn and it takes a long time to absorb a system that will work well for you. We’ve not been at it long enough to really know if it will work right.”

They’re adding more cover crops and will seed after they harvest corn and soybeans.

“All fall, we’ll be seeding,” Peters said.

Due to the timing, they’ll plant mainly rye, which greens up again in the spring. They have also planted radish, rye and clover and let livestock graze there as a test. That practice is more common with cattle and dairy cows.

Eric Miller, Seven Mile Creek Watershed technician at Nicollet County Soil and Water Conservation District, organized the field day after participating in a conference organized by the Sustainable Farming Association.

He told the group that he wants to expand programming beyond the Seven Mile Creek Watershed, possibly north to Rogers Creek or the St. Peter drinking water protection area or west to Eight Mile Creek.

“We have to have producer willingness,” he said.

Miller said there are several programs to help producers try cover crops: a cost-share program through the conservation district and an innovation grant from Minnesota Corn Growers Association are among them.

He was encouraged by the turnout, which represented a wide swath of Nicollet County.

“We had a lot of good interactions,” he said. “‘And that what it takes for us to get a project going.”

Reach Associate Editor Nancy Madsen at 507-931-8568 or follow her on Twitter.com @SPHnancy.

Seven Mile Creek watershed hosts cover crop discussion

By Trey Mewes tmewes@mankatofreepress.com Sep 13, 2018

Eric Miller with the Seven Mile Creek Watershed Partnership discusses how farmers can help improve soil health and increase water quality in the nearby creek through reduced tillage and cover crops Thursday at Oshawa Township Hall. Photo by Trey Mewes

ST. PETER — It takes a little work to make cover crops work for farmers, but Marty Mogensen believes it’s worth the effort.

Mogensen’s family owns and operates a 2,400-acre corn and soybean farm in rural Oshawa Township just north of Seven Mile Creek. They’ve been concerned about soil erosion for years, trying reduced till or strip till practices — in essence trying to minimize how much they disturb the soil when planting and harvesting — for more than a decade.

The Mogensens turned to cover crops in 2016, where they grew grasses and legumes during and after the harvest season to help restore nutrients to the soil and prevent water runoff from their land. Those crops help prevent natural erosion, where wind and water slowly take off the land’s topsoil.

“Keeping the soil in place is a very important thing,” Mogenson said. “If the soil is exposed, especially when tilled, it’s prone to erosion. As expensive as land is, you don’t want it going into the river.”

Mogenson and his brother-in-law, Dan Coffman, were among several farmers who shared their experiences with other area ag producers in an event sponsored by the Seven Mile Creek Watershed Partnership Thursday in Oshawa.

The event is part of the partnership and Nicollet County Soil and Water Conservation District efforts to work with farmers to keep soil in the field and out of the watershed.

Reduced tilling practices and cover crops are more commonly used in the South where the climate allows for longer growing seasons. Though oats, rye, barley and other grasses are common cover crop options in the state, Minnesota’s colder climate doesn’t allow for cover crops to take hold in time to grow from autumn to spring. That means many cover crops need to be planted sometime between mid-July and mid-September, in the middle of the corn and soybean growing season.

“It’s a commitment to dive into doing cover crops and soil health,” said Eric Miller, a watershed technician with the county conservation district. “It’s a complete change in management systems.”

Reduced tilling practices can be difficult for farmers to manage. The Mogensen farm had several springs in recent years where it was difficult to get crops in the ground and turn a profit before they tried cover crops. Yet those cover crops can help bolster profits for farmers, act as a natural fertilizer and help restore organic matter in the soil, which helps retain water. That helps restore the land’s ability to produce crops.

“The no-till, strip till and cover crops, that’s our gateway to sustaining and regenerating the land,” Coffman said.

Minnesota is routinely among the top states in the nation when it comes to agricultural conservation practices. Yet only about 30 percent of farmers use reduced tilling practices on about 6.2 million acres total, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2012 census.

The Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources began projects in 2015 to encourage cover crop use throughout the state, while the Minnesota Corn Growers Association has developed several programs to help farmers with reduced tilling.

Miller said he was pleased about 25 farmers and ag group representatives attended Thursday’s crop cover event. Yet he hopes area farmers reach out to learn more about cover crops. Miller noted the conservation district hopes to expand its agricultural programs across the county in the near future.

“If you’re here in Nicollet County, come in and talk to us,” he told farmers. “We want to know where you guys are at and what you guys are interested in doing.

PHOTO: Dan Coffman (second from right) talks with other farmers about cover crops at the Oshawa Township Hall on Thursday. Photo by Jackson Forderer

PHOTO: Deanna Biehn of Nicollet County emerges from a corn field after taking pictures of rows of feed corn near the Oshawa Township Hall in rural St. Peter on Thursday. Photo by Jackson Forderer

Shoreline restoration project near Elko New Market welcomes volunteers

By MISTY SCHWAB mschwab@lonsdalenewsreview.com

Restoring the shoreline of Doyle-Kennefick, a planned regional park near Elko New Market, is a volunteer opportunity for those who enjoy planting. Great River Greening is looking for around 50 volunteers to help Sept. 15. (Photo courtesy of nimerphoto.com)

An volunteer opportunity Saturday near Elko New Market is open to families throughout Rice and Scott counties, asking them to dig in the dirt and make a difference.

The project takes place in Doyle-Kennefick, a 490-acre planned regional park in Scott County northwest of Elko New Market between St. Catherine and Lennon Lakes.

The last time the nonprofit Great River Greening recruited volunteers for this land restoration project was in the fall of 2015. Welch said around 120 people volunteered, and this time she expects around 50 to participate.

“Most people really have a good time; that’s why they come out,” said Mary Anne Welch, outreach and communications manager for Great River Greening. “Planting is something everyone enjoys doing, even little kids. You can enjoy the gorgeous fall day and make an impact along the way.”

Scott County purchased the farm land in Doyle-Kennefick, which dated back to the 1860s, and granted the original owners’ wish to keep it a natural area. The completed regional park will include over 1,000 acres of landscape – trails, prairie, a recreation area, woodland and lakes.

In 2015, the nonprofit Great River Greening came on board with the project to recruit community volunteers in the restoration process. Great River Greening involves the work of ecologists who both develop a management plan and recruit community members to help with part of the work.

Other partners and funders of the restoration project include Three Rivers Park District, Outdoor Heritage Fund, National Turkey Federation, and Scott-Le Sueur-New Prague Minnesota Waterfowl Association.

Doyle-Kennefick’s date of completion is yet to be determined, so the shoreline restoration offers the community a rare glimpse into the work in progress as they lend a helping hand.

“We make it a point of it being family-friendly, and you don’t need any particular skills,” said Welch.

Volunteers who attend the event help restore the shoreline by pulling buckthorn, planting native shrubs and releasing milkweed seeds. According to Welch, releasing the milkweed seeds is especially fun for children because it’s similar to popping a dandelion.

“Milkweed is an essential pollinator attractor for the monarch butterfly,” said Welch. “Right now we’re facing a crisis with pollinator population, so we want to be mindful about providing pollinator habitats for clean water.”

Welch said restoring the shoreline is essential for improving water quality as it prevents erosion. A clean shoreline means clean water filters into the lake.

A healthy habitat also means clean water. Since buckthorn does nothing for water quality, Welch said removing them from the shoreline creates a healthier environment for diverse plants.

Volunteers are needed from 8 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15 at 4150 235th St. East, Cedar Lake Township. Snacks and lunch will be provided.

Reporter Misty Schwab can be reached at 507-744-2551. Follow her on Twitter @APGmisty.