Member Stories
Conserving through Generations: A Hard Day’s Work is Never Do
This month I trekked up to the Minnesota History Museum in Saint Paul to tour their exhibit, “Minnesota’s Greatest Generation” and peruse historical files for information on my grandfather. While wandering through the exhibit, I found myself reflecting on the value of hard work in our society. In my memories, my grandfather is almost never standing still. Except for the few times I caught him in his big armchair reading a book, it was normal to find him out in the yard, or doing chores around the his house, or the house of a neighbor. My dad told me that the day before he died he was putting in a fence, at the age of 90. Read More
Bloodthirsty Villian
Some like to kill them in cold blood at first sight. Still few let them go unharmed, mostly due to a squeamish reaction to distance themselves as far and as quickly as possible. But have you ever stopped to ponder this monster, the tick? Read More
Beyond Buckthorn: A discussion with garden curator Susan Wilkin
Back when the snow piled at least two-feet high and winter refused to give way to spring, our Youth Outdoors Crew (YO5) was assigned a vast buckthorn removal project at Theodore Wirth Park. We spent a few days working alongside Susan Wilkins, Curator of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden, whose enthusiasm for the landscape was contagious. I was curious to learn more about the natural history of the area, so I arranged a meeting with Susan. Read More
Eco Rangers as told by David Rittenhouse
Interviewee: David Rittenhouse (Pictured in top right photo)AmeriCorps Youth Crew Leader Youth Outdoors/Eco Rangers Read More
Little Fork Blood Drive
“So you guys are here for the Little Fork blood drive.” Andrew, our project host, said as he led us back to his office to go over river maps with us. “The bugs are really bad at this time of year, and the Little Fork is about as remote as anything.” Read More
Snakes and Buckthorn in Southeastern Minnesota
Lately my crew has been given the task of pulling garlic mustard. Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is from the mustard family (Brassicaceae) which is related to cabbage, horseradish, broccoli, ect. You can tell it is the right plant because when you rub its leaves between your fingers it smells like garlic. Garlic Mustard is an invasive species that is detrimental to the species richness of the area because it out competes all of the native plants. Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources have made great strides in removing garlic mustard by manually pulling in the spring and spraying them in the fall. They are easy to spot in the fall because they stay green after most things turn brown. Read More