As Community Stewards with Conservation Minnesota, our role is to build relationships within the community, facilitate service projects, promote learning, and spark conversations about our area's most important conservation issues.
We wanted to share some highlights from our work this fall and thank those of you who have contributed to it. If we haven’t met yet, we invite you to participate in some new volunteer opportunities.
Hope to see you at an event soon!
—Jackson May & Cassidy Lindboe
Highlights from the Fall
Adopting Storm Drains
In September, we adopted 22 storm drains throughout St. Cloud to be cleaned and maintained regularly by our stewards. Adopting storm drains is a great way to get involved in local conservation by keeping pollution from entering our waterways. It’s free, easy, and available to all Minnesotans at adopt-a-drain.org.
St. Cloud & Rockville Farmer’s Market
Conservation Minnesota hosted tables at the St. Cloud Farmer’s Market on October 12th and the Rockville Farmer’s Market on October 20th. We offered snacks and information about our organization to interested market-goers and highlighted upcoming volunteer opportunities in the area. We also provided a fun game for kids to spin a wheel and win prizes by answering Minnesota-based Trivia!
Taking on Invasive Buckthorn
On October 26th, we partnered with the Stearns County Parks Department to organize a buckthorn pull at Rockville County Park. Twenty people attended and pulled countless plants. This impact was seen immediately. We created more room for nutrients and sunlight to reach native plants such as the rare Prickly Pear Cactus which are found around the park.
On January 9th, we presented about buckthorn at the Whitney Senior Center. The presentation outlined how and why buckthorn was brought to the United States, and ways to identify it. Then the effects of buckthorn were examined, showing how native forests are taken over, leaving less food supplies, biodiversity, and other negative effects. And we explained what we can do on an individual level, and what groups around St. Cloud are doing on a larger scale, to remove buckthorn and restore our native forests and prairies.
Wilson Park Litter Clean Up
On November 1st, Conservation Minnesota organized a litter clean up at Wilson Park. Eight local volunteers collected over 50lbs. of trash and debris throughout the park, and at the end, separated the recyclables to be disposed of responsibly. Bags and gloves were provided by St. Cloud Park and Recreation.
WJON Radio Appearance
WJON Radio invited Conservation Minnesota to appear on Kelly Cordes’ “Why It Matters” segment in November. This gave us the opportunity to talk about many different small things we can do to help our environment as individuals. Topics ranged from invasive species like buckthorn to conserving water and choosing metal water bottles over single-use plastics.
Classroom & Cub Scout Environmental Learning
Throughout the fall months Conservation Minnesota attended multiple Cub Scout meetings and public school classrooms throughout greater St. Cloud to teach about different nature topics. One topic that was particularly fun was learning about Minnesota birds that stay for the winter. After learning about these birds and what they eat, the Cub Scouts got the opportunity to create their own bird feeders using pinecones, peanut/sun butter, and birdseed to hang up outside their homes in the winter months. This will allow them to spot some of the birds we learned about!
Additionally, they were read story books that taught them about different environmental issues occurring in our world. One book, Stuff! By Steven Kroll and Steve Cox, taught the students about a pack rat who can’t bring himself to get rid of his stuff that he didn’t need anymore, but once he did, he realized how happy it made others. The students were able to connect this to things they had at their homes they could give to those younger than them so they could enjoy it!
Upcoming Events
Check out our events page for upcoming events in St. Cloud and other areas throughout the state!