Uncategorized – Great River Greening

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

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.

PHOTO OP: General Mills volunteers hike to Great River…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –

PHOTO OP: General Mills volunteers hike to Great River Greening planting event to celebrate 65 years of giving

[October 7, 2018 Saint Paul] More than 100 General Mills employees will leave the World Headquarters in Golden Valley on Tuesday, hike through campus and down the road to Westwood Hills Nature Center, to plant pollinator friendly plugs and seeds in plots along the lake.

The daylong effort is part of General Mills Foundation 65th anniversary celebration, which is being commemorated by way of a grant series that includes $100,000 to Great River Greening, to create pollinator projects across the state.

WHEN: Tuesday, October 9, 2018. Employees will work in two shifts noon-2:30, 2:00-4:30. Time frame includes walking time from GM campus

WHY: General Mills Foundation 65th anniversary

WHAT:100 General Mills employees will first cross Wayzata Blvd, on foot, and then plant seeds and plugs along Westwood Lake.

WHERE: The farthest northern point of Westwood Lake. Entry is on Wayzata Blvd across from Rudy Luther Toyota (not main park entrance)

According to Great River Greening Executive Director Deborah Karasov, along with the nature center in St. Louis Park, the grant supports pollinator projects in a school forest in Clear Lake, a nature preserve in Chanhassen, and a corridor in Vermillion Township adjacent to a farm managed by the Hmong American Farm Association.

She said:

“We are grateful to General Mills Foundation for this enlightened gift, and to the employees, who, for many years, have been terrific volunteer partners on our restoration work. These pollinator projects truly are a celebration of ‘giving back’. The plants will not only feed our pollinators and create a more beautiful natural area, they will produce seed for generations to come.”

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.”

Not GM employees’ first walk in the park

General Mills’s employees have been working with Great River Greening, in Westwood Hills, since 2014. Hundreds of volunteers have removed acres of buckthorn and other woody invasive species from beneath a canopy that includes bur oak, red oak, white oak, hackberry, and sugar maple.

Westwood Hills Nature Center is a 160-acre natural oasis set in the midst of a busy urban area. Westwood Lake is the focal point of the nature center. The lake is surrounded by a variety of native habitats including cattail marsh, shrub carr, oak savanna, and maple basswood woodlands

About Great River Greening

Great River Greening is a local conservation nonprofit working throughout Minnesota to empower and assist local communities in restoring and conserving the land and water that enrich our lives. Since 1995, we have worked side-by-side with 40,000 volunteers to protect, restore and care for Minnesota’s natural heritage—18,000 acres and counting. Through active participation and acquired expertise, volunteers become advocates with a deep connection to the land and water. www.greatrivergreening.org

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.

KARE11 asks our ecologist: Why so many acorns?

September 13, 2018

KARE 11 meteorologist and reporter Laura Betker asks GRG Ecologist Wiley Buck “Why are there so many acorns this year?”

ASP

Environmental Trifecta at Carlos Avery WMA

Protecting drinking water, enhancing the outdoor experience, and restoring a native grass

Outdoor enthusiasts know firsthand the value of Minnesota’s Wildlife Management Areas (WMA), which total 1.3 million acres of publicly-accessible prairies, wetlands, forests, and brush lands. But, all our state residents, aware or not, have a stake in these undeveloped lands. They are ideal freshwater filtering systems.

This is one reason why wild rice flourishing in Little Coon Lake, in Carlos Avery WMA, is such good news.

“Wild rice is an excellent restoration tool,” said Great River Greening ecologist, Wiley Buck, who managed the two-year restoration. “The dense stalks, sprouting in shallow clear water, maintain good water quality.”

Little Coon Lake had been covered in water lilies, outcompeting wild rice. But it was an ideal location to bring back the aquatic grass, said Wiley. “It is especially beneficial for a popular place like Carlos Avery because it also provides shelter, food, and nesting to a diverse array of waterfowl, migratory birds, muskrats, fish and aquatic invertebrates.”

Carlos Avery spans 24,000 acres, from Forest Lake to Stacy, largely made up of wetlands and small lakes. Its close proximity to the metro area ties it to high visitor numbers, and more: The WMA is part of the Anoka Sand Plain, which filters the aquifers that provide drinking water for the Twin Cities and east-central Minnesota.

Keeping the Anoka Sand Plain healthy has been a longtime focus of the Anoka Sand Plain Partnership, a coalition of 25 conservation stakeholders led by Great River Greening. It is a unique and vulnerable ecological region, characterized by thousands of shallow wetlands, two state Wild and Scenic Rivers, and a rich biodiversity. But, like a giant sponge filled with billions of gallons of water, its high water table and porous sandy soils make it vulnerable to contamination and pollution.

Said Wiley, “healthy land provides a host of water quality benefits – erosion control, flood control, ground water recharge and discharge, and water filtering. Great River Greening is leading the effort to improve water quality in our state by restoring the land through which it flows.”

Partners and Funders: MN DNR, Ramsey County Correctional Facility, Outdoor Heritage Fund, and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation – Monarch Conservation Fund

Great River Greening Site Monitor

Turn your nature walks into a conservation adventure

Great River Greening has worked at hundreds of sites. But we need community help to manage these natural areas. Your eyes can help us keep these sites beautiful.

Job Description
What is a Site Monitor?
Site monitor volunteers observe and track the health of a natural area where Great River Greening has managed an environmental restoration. Examples include parks, forests, wetland and prairies, most within the Seven County Metro Area.

The Site Monitor program provides volunteers the opportunity for deeper engagement with our conservation activities. No experience is necessary. On-site training and electronic materials will be provided. Site Monitors commit to visiting a selected site once a month during the growing season (April – November). They survey vegetation and report assessments to a staff ecologist. Great River Greening will use the valuable data to conduct and make decisions on long-term management in natural areas.

How do I apply?

Anyone 16 years or older that meets the requirements is welcome to apply. Fill out the application below and our Outreach Coordinator will contact you to schedule a meeting and assign a natural area to monitor. Free on-site training is provided and required. Time commitment is four hours. Jul– Nov, with bi-weekly check-ins, via phone and email.

The Site Monitor Program is currently filled and there is a waitlist. Please email May Yang, Community Outreach Coordinator, if you are interested in the program at myang@greatrivergreening.org or call 651-272-3993.

Category: Uncategorized

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

Twin Cities Business: GRG Business Forum

The Happiness Business

The subtle art of leading beyond the bottom line.

2018 Board- staff

Board Retreat 2018 (staff)