Another banner year for our young river stewards!
A big thank you to all the young river stewards who helped us protect and restore the Mighty Mississippi in 2019 — all 2,482 of you!
Students stenciled educational messages alongside storm drains, 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. Plus, students in our new pilot program for exploring the environmental field. >>
Stormwater mural celebrates water at Lake Phalen
Artists Liv Novotny and Violeta Rotstein work on the stormwater mural at Lake Phalen.
On the bridge near the pavilion at Lake Phalen, if you look down, you’ll see a new mural. On June 1 at WaterFest, lead artist Liv Novotny and assistant artist Violeta Rotstein led volunteers to paint this beautiful reminder that all roads lead to our waters. >>
Think spring: Schedule your service and educational programs now
FMR works with many youth and service groups each year. Groups learn about and take care of the river through stenciling outings, cleanups and educational programming. (Photo by Tom Reiter)
Looking forward to warmer weather? We are too! FMR is starting to book spring programs for youth and group outings. If you are interested in a stenciling event, trash cleanup or indoor educational opportunity with FMR staff, we'd love to hear from you soon. >>
Young river stewards hit it out of the park once again
Andersen United Community School students have removed garlic mustard from the Minneapolis gorge for the past three years. This year, they beat the FMR record for amount of plants removed at one event. In two hours, 82 students removed 23 bags of garlic mustard.
A giant thank you to the hundreds of young river stewards who helped us protect and restore the mighty Mississippi this year. >>
Painted turtles and pink lotus flowers help keep our waters from turning green
You can now visit these colorful, water quality-themed mural at Como Lake! This mural is the second design by community members to decorate Como Lake's shores.
Ever wondered why so many metro lakes turn green in the summer?
For St. Paul's Lake Como and many others, one main reason is nutrients that come from neighborhood lawns and streets. After it rains, fertilizer, leaves and grass clippings are directed into our local lakes, creeks and rivers via storm drains, in turn feeding algae and excessive plant growth.
At Como, a pair of murals reminds us of this important connection between our yards, streets, lakes and rivers, and celebrates the community in the process. >>
Volunteers rock spring. Join us this summer!
The DeLaSalle High School Green Team showed garlic mustard whose boss at Nicollet Island, our newest habitat restoration site.
So far this spring, FMR volunteers of all ages have removed truckloads of invasive species, planted hundreds of native wildflowers and trees, stenciled hundreds of storm drains and even "bombed" a prairie-in-progress (we mean seed-bombed, of course).
And we're not even halfway through the outdoor events and outings season! >>
Claim your day: FMR is scheduling summer group outings
A group of students from Neighborhood House summer programs stencil storm drains in a St. Paul neighborhood.
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. >>
Thank you, young river stewards!
Members of the Youth Conservation Corps, one of 56 groups who helped stencil storm drains in St. Paul and Minneapolis with educational messages about how they connect to the Mississippi River.
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. >>
Check out our first mural for water quality!
FMR worked closely with neighborhood groups and local artist Gustavo Lira to design St. Paul's first storm-drain mural. The koi fish represents Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, the music notes Como Dockside and the snapping turtle Como Lake.
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. >>
As featured in the Hmong Times: Earth Club restoring local river habitat
Chao Xiong (left) and Aliya Mohamed (right) enjoy giving back to their community by preserving the river.
We're so excited that the Harding High Earth Club is on the cover of this month's Hmong Times for their work with FMR! These young citizen scientists and habitat restorers have been essential to our work at Indian Mounds Regional Park and at the riverfront forest below it in East St. Paul.