Archive

Don’t mess with the hive. You’re bound to bee stung!

“Wow, it’s a bee just chillin’ on my glove,” I thought to myself as I stared at the yellow jacket! I tried not to disturb it while I looked down to find my next stump to spray. By the next time I looked up five more yellow jackets had joined the glove party. I got a little concerned about this gathering once I noticed that they were trying to sting me through my gloves.  Read More

Honeybee education at Bruce Vento

The impact of bees on agriculture, ecosystems and the environment as a whole is a topic with ever-increasing importance. On August 4, the Saint Paul summer youth program EcoRangers, along with the Restoring Relations crew from Conservation Corps, had the opportunity to join executive director and founder of Pollinate Minnesota, Erin Rupp, at Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary for a honeybee education day. Read More

Edgar cemetery

The NPS roving crew had the opportunity to work with the Midwest Archeological Center again this month, using ground-penetrating radar to search for human remains in an old cemetery at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield near Republic, Missouri. The Edgar family used this cemetery to bury their loved ones back in the early 1800s, before the Civil War battle at Wilson’s Creek in August of 1861, and the National Park Service has been eagerly waiting to locate the bodies within the cemetery in case they someday need to reinter the remains. Read More

Crews remove invasive flowering rush in Forest Lake

Though flowering rush produces beautiful flower heads in the summer, a unique strain of this invasive species has been rapidly overtaking the shoreline of Forest Lake and causing headaches for lakeshore homeowners. As three Central crews removed the plants in late July, they were warmly greeted by landowners who were happy to see the immediate results of the work.  Read More

Record number of volunteers clean up Wapsipinicon River

The 13th annual Project AWARE river cleanup set several participation records as hundreds of people paddled all or part of the Wapsipinicon River between the cities of Independence and Olin in Iowa, cleaning up trash along the way.  Read More

Youth-led volunteers clean up historic Boom Site

In late July, two youth crews kicked off the first week of their month-long Summer Youth Corps session by leading over 100 volunteers in cleaning up the historic St. Croix Boom Site near Stillwater. During two half-day events, volunteers from Andersen Corporation and the community raked the beach to remove trash and broken glass, scrubbed cave walls of graffiti, weeded parking lots and a historical marker and cleared invasive species from beautiful overlooks.  Read More