Stewardship

Pick your project: Pledge to Pull garlic mustard or critical cut buckthorn at Crosby Farm Park [FULL]

February 19, 2018

Volunteer to pull garlic mustard and do critical period buckthorn cutting at Crosby Farm Regional Park! Read more

Volunteer pulls garlic mustard in forest

Claim your day: FMR is scheduling summer group outings

by Kate Clayton

February 6, 2018

If you're looking for a service outing that's educational, active, outdoors and provides a tangible community benefit, consider storm drain stenciling in St. Paul with FMR.

Reservations for outings, as well as classroom presentations and litter cleanups, are now being taken for summer and fall 2018. >>

Students stencil storm drains in St. Paul neighborhoods

Shovels in the ground for three new river destinations

by Irene Jones

November 16, 2017

Three new destinations are beginning to take shape along the river north of St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, each with something different to offer. Coming up: a reclaimed island (image above), a destination riverfront restaurant, and one fully featured playground. >>

A shocking, long-awaited outing — The 2017 volunteer trout survey

November 14, 2017

“It’s been three years of cancellations with high water in the river and getting rained out," said volunteer Tom Ziegler with a smile. "They [FMR] dangle this carrot when we do the buckthorn removal across the road, that if we did that job, we would get to do this event.”

Well, 2017 was finally the year. >>

Thank you, young river stewards!

by Kate Clayton

November 7, 2017

Together, they stenciled over 2,000 storm drains with educational messages, collected trash throughout Twin Cities parks, and helped not only restore habitat along the river but research the best ways to keep it healthy in the future. They are FMR's youth volunteers, and their contributions are legion. >>

Stenciling drains for the Mississippi River!

Check out our first mural for water quality!

by Kate Clayton

October 7, 2017

When you think of a storm drain, what do you see? The concrete of the street, perhaps a metal grate. How about a pathway to our local lakes or the Mighty Mississippi? Or a large beautiful painting that helps illustrate this connection with our local waters?

Now you can check out such a work of art along Como Lake in St. Paul. The result of an 18-month collaborative partnership, the new mural is the first of its kind in St. Paul, possibly in the metro. >>

A virtual invasive plant species walk with FMR ecologists

by Alex Roth

August 7, 2017

Ever wonder what keeps FMR ecologists up at night? Buckthorn and crown vetch may have pretty glossy leaves or flowers, but for anyone who cares about wildlife, they're a serious threat to forest and prairie habitat in the metro river corridor.

Join FMR ecologist Alex Roth for a walk through our most common invasives: buckthorn, bush honeysuckle, garlic mustard, burdock, spotted knapweed and crown vetch. Along the way, you'll learn why they matter and how to identify and remove them in your own back yard. All in two minutes!

Thank you Tom Reiter and Will Stock for creating this wonderful video!