Several panelists working on preserving the quality of North Shore rivers spoke on the process of forming river associations at a conference called River People – North Shore Stewardship Conference at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center in Finland, Minnesota on May 18, 2013. (L-R) Event organizer Andrew Slade of the Minnesota Environmental Partnership and panelists Mike Schelmeske (Cascade River), Tom Rider (Poplar River), and Eric Mead (Knife River).
Lieutenant Governor Yvonne Prettner Solon spoke to over 40 residents of the North Shore, including Cook County citizens, interested in working together to protect North Shore rivers at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center in Finland on May 18. They were gathered for a one-day event called River People – North Shore Stewardship Conference sponsored by Minnesota Environmental Partnership.
One of Prettner Solon’s top priorities is getting the St. Louis River delisted from 43 Great Lakes “areas of concern” in the next 10 to 15 years. An excess of sediment put the river, which is Lake Superior’s second largest tributary, on the list. She said the plan is to foster trade and industry in the area while preventing degradation to the environment.
“Citizens are critical partners in this entire protection effort,” Prettner Solon said. She commended Rick Schubert of Hovland for his grassroots efforts on the Flute Reed River in Hovland, which include formation of the nonprofit Flute Reed Partnership. “You are an example to all of us about the power of personal conviction,” she said.
We cannot ignore the importance of the rivers leading into the Great Lakes, Prettner Solon said. Prevention efforts need to be made, such as planting more conifers to slow down snow runoff and not mowing all the way to a river’s edge in order to protect the riparian corridor.
Karen Evens of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) talked about the work of the agency. The federal Clean Water Act requires states to establish water quality standards, assess and monitor waters and evaluate the data, and develop plans to restore impaired waters. The MPCA has not had the money to carry out all of its directives, but it has developed a 10-year plan to monitor and assess each of Minnesota’s 81 major watersheds. She said citizen engagement has been strong.
The monitoring will involve collecting data on many aspects of bodies of water, including everything from game fish to microscopic organisms and phosphorus to sediment. “We’ve never collected this much data on streams before,” Evens said.
Where water goes
University of Minnesota-Duluth graduate student Molly Wick talked about the origin of Lake Superior, saying its depth has gone up and down over time from the effects of glaciers and the height of its outlet at Sault Ste. Marie. It once was as high as 1,100 feet above sea level, the height of Skyline Parkway in Duluth.
A lot of things in the forest hold water, Jesse Schomberg of the University of Minnesota Sea Grant said. The tree canopy absorbs one fourth to one third of every rainfall. The rest falls to the moss, leaves, grass, and soil on the forest floor, where some of it settles down into the water table or runs downhill to puddles, streams, ponds and lakes.
Altering this natural process are trails, ditches, roads, farms, golf courses, rooftops, lawns and parking lots, Schomberg said. Water flows differently across the landscape when the land is altered, and this can increase the amount of water that ends up in a given stream, sometimes causing erosion.
To offset negative effects of development, Schomberg said, people can reduce and catch runoff and use care in planning for the future with good site design. Prevention is much cheaper than remediation, he said. Housing developments can be constructed with less road and impervious surface. Less natural area can be disturbed when clearing for a new building, and trees can be left in place around new buildings.
Schomberg said rain gardens are another way to mitigate runoff. He described them as shallow depressions with perennial plants that are designed to dissipate rainfall within 24 hours.
River partnerships
Cook County residents Mike Schelmeske and Tom Rider participated in a panel discussing citizen groups initiating river associations along the North Shore.
Schelmeske would like to form a Cascade River partnership that could encourage preservation of the natural state of the river corridor and public access to it. Over the years he has seen more and more houses pop up along the river bluff. He recognized that change is part of life but some changes are harder to take, he said. He would like to see a hiking trail from Lake Superior up the Cascade River and all the way to Eagle Mountain.
Rider talked about the Poplar River Management Board (PRMB), which was formed in 2005 after the river was listed as impaired for sediment. They have already completed numerous large projects. Rider said they are fortunate that people were willing to work together to find solutions. The group is pursuing studies that could help them decide where to go from here after completing the most obvious projects that they knew would make the biggest impact on reducing sediment.
The conference organizer, Minnesota Environmental Partnership Northeast Program Coordinator Andrew Slade, asked if the PRMB would disband once the river was de-listed from the state’s impaired waterways list. Rider said he things they would probably continue to exist but focus more on maintenance and education.
Slade asked how being an organization has affected their work. Rider said organizing themselves as a nonprofit has helped the river property owners convey seriousness and commitment, obtain funding, and leverage volunteer efforts.
Moving ahead
The group discussed how to solicit involvement from people who do not own property on the North Shore but who value and enjoy its beauty. Visitors may see the beauty of the rivers but not know the problems they are facing from numerous sources including road salts, lawn fertilizers, and erosion from development. Websites, social media, and signs could be used to help disseminate information about what can be done to protect the watersheds.
Jerry Thoreson, owner of Image Design Duluth marketing services, touted the power of social media to spread the word. Facebook has 1.1 billion users every month, up from 900 million just a year ago. Every day, 4.5 billion people click “like” on facebook. People who “like” something on facebook often share it with their facebook friends. The average person has 270 facebook friends, and those friends will share things with their friends. Facebook postings can also generate a lot of money in donations for worthy causes, Thoreson said.
The group discussed ideas on where they could go from there. Suggestions included adopt-a-river initiatives and “Great Lakes Beach Sweep” cleanup projects in which people could start on Lake Superior beaches and work upriver. Andrew Slade is planning a one-day tour of successful North Shore river projects sometime this summer.
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