Tips and tales about keeping water clean
Over the past decade, Smitten has acted as a connector and motivator within her community and has led stewardship efforts not only on the protected natural areas within Jackson Meadows, but also on adjacent properties that are owned by the City of Marine.
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In a native planting or restored prairie, however, gophers should be considered a friend. Yes, the prairie will be bumpy instead of flat, but nature tends to be that way.
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This summer, Friends of Sunfish Lake Park secured a $139,000 grant from the Minnesota Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council Conservation Partners Legacy Grant Program to remove buckthorn and restore native plants in 40 acres of the park. The City of Lake Elmo will contribute $10,000 to the project and volunteers will provide at least 300 hours of in-kind support as well.
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As I rounded the corner, I hit the gas and pedaled harder knowing the other bike was probably close behind. Perhaps he’d seen pigtails sticking out from beneath my helmet and thought it would be easy to catch a girl. Little did he know that I am quick like a rabbit.
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Driving down a country road last week, I turned to gaze at a lone tree in the west that always stands so firmly, silhouetted against the evening sky. On this night, however, one half of the tree lay sprawled across a nearby farm field, toppled over by wind or age. “How sad,” I thought to…
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Three days in Malaysian Borneo “I think that we are the luckiest people in the world,” my son announced as he tossed me an impish smile from the front of our boat. Yesterday, we’d been thrilled to find a pygmy elephant down by the river’s edge – our guide said it was the first he’d…
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Two years ago, before my family embarked on a trip-of-a-lifetime to Australia, we sat down for a frank discussion around the dinner table. “Here’s the deal,” I announced, as I looked at my mother, my husband, and especially my then 4-year old son. “There are saltwater crocodiles in tropical northern Queensland, and we need to…
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You know that voice in your head that’s always nagging and never satisfied? It’s the one reminding you to make your bed because, God forbid, the burglars find a mess of blankets and sheets when they break into your house in the middle of the day. The voice reminds you to put on a jacket…
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Sometimes ignorance is bliss. I have a faint (ever-so-faint) recollection of the carefree joy I used to feel while hiking in the woods. “Aren’t these woods pretty?” I would think. “Look at all those pretty wildflowers along the roadside. Isn’t life grand?” My bliss was permanently disrupted, though, when I took my first ecology class…
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For a big river, the Mississippi can be awfully hard to find. Though it traverses 21 miles of Washington County, from the City of Newport to the St. Croix River confluence in Hastings-Prescott, there are precious few places to access the water as it flows. To find the river here requires a road map and…
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East Metro Water 