Mississippi Messages - January 2013

FMR Updates Thank you! We exceeded our match! Wow! The river is gurgling with gratitude, and all of us at FMR are as well. A huge thank you to all of you who became members or increased your membership contribution, gave during Give to the Max Day, made a special year end donation, or gave gift memberships in December. You not only helped us meet the $25,000 challenge, you nearly doubled it! Your generous support means we are starting off 2013, our 20th anniversary year, with more resources to do this work. Stay tuned for ways you can celebrate 20 years of accomplishments with FMR, and ways you can help make this the most successful year to date. Thank you again! Welcome Lindsay and Adam Please welcome two new staff members to the FMR Stewardship Team! Lindsay Hefferan, a former FMR intern, has been hired as the Volunteer and Event Registrar and Adam Flett, a current FMR staff member, is taking over the role of Stewardship Event Coordinator. Read more » Mississippi River Challenge ramps up for 10th run Save the date! Save the River! The 10th Annual Mississippi River Challenge is on July 27-28, 2013. Highlights for this year include team registration, special 10th anniversary items and recognition, the return of the kick-off party, and a new day one launch point. Read more » MN DNR recommends Asian carp barrier at Lock and Dam #1 A recent study commissioned by the Minnesota DNR recommends constructing a high-tech acoustic and bubble barrier at Lock and Dam #1 to deter the passage of Asian carp but the estimated cost is very high. Is this the smartest way to fight the spread of Asian carp? Read more » Above the Falls Master Plan released for public comment The draft updated Above the Falls Master Plan has been released for public comment. The plan moves the vision closer to what Friends of the Mississippi River and neighborhood stewards think those plans need to say. The latest land use plan was released at a December Minneapolis Riverfront Forum; the 45-day public comment on that plan continues through January 24th. Read more » Survey says: 2012 a banner year for FMR volunteers In 2012, over 2,750 volunteers pitched in at 75+ hands-on FMR events. And whether collecting seeds, hauling boats, or picking up litter, they truly enjoyed themselves while making a difference. Nearly half (49%) of volunteers, responded to our 2012 survey. Overall, responses were very positive. Most volunteers deeply appreciated being a part of and being able to see real, beneficial changes in their local landscape, not to mention the company of like-minded people. Many also applied what they learned to their own home, garden, school or community — embarking on invasive species removals and other projects for the river’s health. Read more about the survey here, or see the volunteers in action, as well as many of the important and beautiful places they help protect, in our flickr album of our favorite event pictures of 2012. Read more » Reserve your group service outing! Looking for an educational, active, outdoor service outing that provides a significant community benefit in a short amount of time? Consider a storm drain stenciling outing with FMR for your school, corporate, church or community group. It's a fun, easy team-building activity that helps the Mississippi River and its watershed, and outings can be scheduled according to your group's needs and can take place most anywhere within St. Paul. Reservations are now being taken for April through October. Read more » Vermillion Linear Park Natural Resource Management Plan calls for restoration Vermillion Linear Park is a long, narrow park that follows the path of the Vermillion River for about 3,800 feet on the upstream side of the Highway 61 Bridge in Hastings. This site has seen its share of problems over the years, but if the recommendations of this new management plan are implemented, there is hope of improving water quality of the stream, habitat value of the land, and overall aesthetics of the site for the people of the region. Read more » Restoration roundup Indian burial mounds, rare plant species, river bluff overlooks, sand-gravel prairie remnants, majestic oaks revealed...these are some of the features of the new project sites FMR began working on in 2012. Read more » Mississippi River News Minnesotans pay the price for crop fertilizer at faucet A recent Star Tribune article highlights the impacts of contaminated drinking water, most likely due to excessive nitrogen fertilizer applications on agricultural lands. “Like one out of three wells in Dakota County, hers is so contaminated with nitrates she won't let anyone drink from it -- especially her 8-year-old granddaughter.” Read more » In harnessing land, Iowa farmer preserves it Another recent Star Tribune article highlights a unique, sustainable, and profitable farm operation in Iowa. “Agricultural researchers have now put a decade's worth of numbers to Thompson's style of farming... They found that it's just as profitable and just as productive, if not more so, than relying on chemicals and genetic technology. Plus, over time, it's 200 times less toxic to water.” Read more » Murky Waters: Environmental Working Group’s analysis of Iowa Water Quality has some lessons for Minnesota EWG recently released analysis of Iowa stream monitoring data shows that from 2008 to 2011, water quality was rated “poor” or “very poor” at 60 percent of the 98 stream segments monitored by the Iowa Water Quality Index. “Murky Waters” concludes that four decades after the Clean Water Act became law, continuing degradation of the state’s waters has become a case study on the consequences of the most serious flaw in this otherwise effective federal law: It does little or nothing to address agricultural pollution. Unfortunately, the report notes, Iowa’s water quality regulation almost exclusively addresses municipal and industrial discharges. As in Minnesota, Iowa agricultural runoff remains largely unregulated. Read more » What’s your favorite view on the Mississippi River? The National Park Service wants YOU to share your favorite view on the Mississippi River! Please respond by February 22, 2013, in order to have your input included. Read more » Calendar of Events Fish Creek’s Minnesotan Get Together Friday, February 22 - 5:30-9:00 pm Maplewood Community Center FMR has been working with the City of Maplewood over the past several years to support their efforts to protect and restore the Fish Creek Natural Area on the bluffs of the Mississippi River. We invite anyone interested in river conservation to join us for an evening of preservation, good food, and great times as we gather to preserve the Fish Creek Natural Area and celebrate all that is Minnesotan. Enjoy naturalist, outdoor author and Minnesota native, Chris Niskanen as he talks about his new book, “The Minnesota Book of Skills,” in which he outlines the true skills all Minnesotans should have! Fill up on a delicious pasta dinner, bid on some great items in our silent auction, and take part in a hands-on Minnesota challenges held throughout the night. All event proceeds will benefit the preservation of Fish Creek Natural Area. Read more » Troubled Waters Screening: REI Bloomington Wednesday, February 27 - 6:00 pm REI Bloomington REI Bloomington will host a screening of “Troubled Waters: A Mississippi River Story” on Wednesday, February 27, 2013. Attendees are invited to arrive at 6:00 p.m. and the program will begin at 6:30 p.m. Following the screening, attendees will participate in an audience discussion a panel of river experts, including the film’s director, experts from the University of Minnesota, and FMR Watershed Program Director Trevor Russell. Read more » The State of the River Report Presentations: Winter 2013 Various dates through May 2013 Various locations As Mississippi Messages readers know, FMR and our partner The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA) recently released the State of the River Report. This groundbreaking report highlights the status and trends of 13 critical indicators of water quality and ecological health in the metro Mississippi River. If you’ve missed out on recent presentations, it’s not too late! We are continuing to host State of the River Report events in partnership with local organizations, resource managers, and educational institutions. For information all our upcoming State of the River Report events, please visit our upcoming events page. Read more » Phenology The life of the river: pee stains or what are you trying to tell me? Everyone’s heard the advice, “don’t eat yellow snow.” Less well-known is the fact that these little marks in the snow actually serve the important role of facilitating communication among animals in the wild. While scent marking occurs throughout the year, winter is probably the best time to recognize and appreciate their visual and odoriferous qualities. Just another reason to wander out and enjoy Mississippi River in winter. Read more » Whose View? From Where? January 2013 Each month in this section, we feature a photo from somewhere along the river corridor in the Twin Cities that is in some way significant, important, or just plain scenic. Individuals may then e-mail us and identify the view and explain why they believe it is significant to the community or important to them personally. Read more » December 2012 Answer Thanks to Eric Otterness, avid Whose View reader and guesser, for last month’s entry. And despite a location right under many of our noses, we didn't get it. Read more » Supporting FMR Raising the volume of the river's voice In 2013 we are celebrating FMR's 20th anniversary, and this year we'd like to make the voice of the river a lot louder. Here's how YOU can help! Read more » Quote of the Month “On the map the delta was dissected by the river, but in fact the river was nowhere and everywhere, for he could not decide which of a hundred green lagoons offered the most pleasant and least speedy path to the Gulf. So he traveled them all, and so did we. He divided and rejoined, he twisted and turned, he meandered in awesome jungles, he all but ran in circles, he dallied with lovely groves, he got lost and was glad of it, and so were we. For the last word in procrastination, go travel with a river reluctant to lose his freedom to the sea.”         - Aldo Leopold, “The Green Lagoons,” A Sand County Almanac   FMR Updates Thank you! We exceeded our match! Welcome Lindsay and Adam Mississippi River Challenge ramps up for 10th run MN DNR recommends Asian carp barrier at Lock and Dam #1 Above the Falls Master Plan released for public comment Survey says: 2012 a banner year for FMR volunteers Reserve your group service outing! Vermillion Linear Park Natural Resource Management Plan calls for restoration Restoration roundup Mississippi River News Minnesotans pay the price for crop fertilizer at faucet In harnessing land, Iowa farmer preserves it Murky Waters: Environmental Working Group’s analysis of Iowa Water Quality has some lessons for Minnesota What’s your favorite view on the Mississippi River? Calendar of Events Fish Creek’s Minnesotan Get Together Troubled Waters Screening: REI Bloomington The State of the River Report Presentations: Winter 2013 Phenology The life of the river: pee stains or what are you trying to tell me? Whose View? From Where? January 2013 December 2012 Answer Supporting FMR Raising the volume of the river's voice Mississippi Messages is a twice-monthly e-mail update distributed by Friends of the Mississippi River to help our members and subscribers stay informed on issues, FMR events, and opportunities related to the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities area. All subscribers' names and e-mail addresses are kept confidential. Original contents copyright 2013, Friends of the Mississippi River http://www.fmr.org