Dear friends of the river,

What a year to summarize! 2020 used to refer to good vision, but it has now come to mean pandemic. For so many, the year has been one of loss, division and injustice. And yet, as we reflect on the year from FMR’s perspective, we marvel at the positive impact that you — members, volunteers and advocates — have had on water quality, healthy habitat and engaged and equitable communities. Despite the year's pain, we can offer impactful stories of service, generosity and resilience.

The river is the life-affirming strength of our region. Thank you for working with us to heal and nurture our communities, land and waters. Let's continue this essential collaboration.

With genuine gratitude,

Ronnie Brooks, Chair of FMR's Board of Directors

More and more foxes and coyotes have made the metro area home. There's a range of feelings about these neighbors, and habitat managers want to understand more about their behavior. FMR, an outreach partner of the Twin Cities Coyote and Fox Project, has helped researchers gather leads and community science data. Because hundreds of FMR members contributed sightings, this valuable project to demystify wild canines is on its way, and has some intriguing preliminary findings.

Ford Motor Company doesn’t operate in St. Paul anymore, but their massive pile of hazardous waste remains on our capital city's riverfront. “Can I just have a show of hands?” one community member asked attendees of the standing-room-only Ford Area C public meeting. “I assume everybody in here wants it all gone.” Every hand went up. That show of hands from 150 FMR members and friends showed Ford, the MPCA and the city the powerful community will for a clean future at Area C. The process will be long, but our outreach and advocacy have already resulted in expanded monitoring.

When our youth coordinator, Kate, found out schools were closing, she made a makeshift recording studio in her living room and set to work revamping FMR’s educational programs for online learners. Our team tailored curriculum on watersheds, invasive species, wetlands and erosion for creating a virtual classroom accessible to educators and families at home. More than a thousand people viewed these lessons in 2020, and educators offered their gratitude for vital, engaging resources in a difficult time.

Though we had to cancel our annual Earth Day cleanup at the river gorge, you went out of your way to safely pick up trash in your own neighborhoods and greenspaces, and log your volunteer hours with us in April. When our stewardship events picked up again with safety measures in place, our volunteers were eager to get involved. Together, you contributed more than 2,650 hours to improve water quality and steward habitat this year.

2,782

77

723

Hours

volunteered

Volunteer

events

Volunteers

of all ages

At the launch of the Forever Green Partnership in May, farmers, environmental advocates, researchers, state agency reps and agribusiness professionals began collaborating together to advance economically viable clean-water crops. Our network, activities and ambitions have continued to develop in the year since. We’re taking a lead role in this coalition because our water quality, climate challenges and rural development issues can only be solved by making a fundamental shift in what we grow and how we grow it.

During the special legislative session following the Minneapolis Police's murder of George Floyd, we expressed solidarity with communities most impacted by systematic racism by supporting the Minnesota Legislature’s People of Color and Indigenous Caucus' calls for justice reforms. We also advocated that legislators stop investing state dollars in public riverfront projects that displace people of color and instead fund projects that support clean water for all.

At Como Park in mid-July, youth presented their final projects from our Environmental Stewardship Institute: a fishing line receptacle at Hidden Falls Park, a seagull sculpture made of shoreline litter, mapped data around environmental justice issues in the Twin Cities, and more. After a summer of paid job experience and individualized learning with us, these young change-makers are prepared for even deeper engagement in a field that needs their creative perspectives.

At the end of summer, volunteers pulled invasive burdock to begin the next phase of habitat restoration at this Dakota sacred site, also known as Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary. In collaboration with Lower Phalen Creek Project, our new plan prioritizes culturally important plants like prairie sage, and Dakota stewardship practices like prescribed burns. We’re excited to be working at the confluence of FMR’s ecological knowledge and Indigenous ecological and cultural knowledge.

Minnesota’s increasing temperatures and other climatic stressors could threaten our floodplain tree species, leaving openings for invasive plants to take over. Their gain would be water quality and habitat’s loss, fueling erosion and reducing ecosystem resilience. That’s why we’re diversifying our forests now at places like the Minneapolis River Gorge and Settler’s Island, planting climate-adapted trees, like the sycamore pictured here, for the uncertain years ahead.

In the fifth special session of the state Legislature, the Fix the Pipes Alliance we helped establish got what we asked for: more than $302 million to fund much-needed investments in drinking water infrastructure, outdated pipes, wells, water treatment plants and more. As a result of our coalition and River Guardians’ advocacy, we secured clean drinking water for Minnesotans, safeguarded communities from flooding, and protected lakes and rivers from pollution.

Three eight-foot murals depicting scenes of resistance to gentrification traveled from yard to yard in North Minneapolis in November. Resident Sebastian Rivera and organizer Ricardo Perez painted the murals as part of our coordinated effort to ensure that the development, as Rivera puts it, “actually represents this community for now and in the future.” As a result of pressure from FMR and many allies, the city has committed to public ownership of this valuable site, and has postponed final votes on the project’s direction.

New science-based rules we fought for will guide development in the Mississippi River’s designated critical area through the Twin Cities. But as cities adopt those rules, there’s a chance to make them even stronger. Minneapolis was the first to pass their updated river ordinance in December. As a result of our advocacy, the city strengthened requirements about lighting and building materials that will make the migration flyway less disorienting and dangerous for the millions of birds that make their way along the river each year.

The river and all of us at FMR extend our gratitude for all that you made possible and helped achieve. Thank you for helping carry out our shared vision of clean waters, restored habitat and a river for all to enjoy.

Statement of Financial Activities

2020 Expenses: $2,308,945

2020 Revenues: $2,326,474

Our Staff

Whitney Clark, Executive Director

Kate Clayton, Youth Coordinator

Sara DeKok, Associate Director-Development Director

Sophie Downey, Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator

Tessa Enroth, Individual Gifts Officer

Jennifer Schuetz Hadley, Database Coordinator

Barb Heintz, Accountant

Laura Mann Hill, Stewardship & Education Program Director

Peter LaFontaine, Agricultural Policy Manager

Tahera Mamdani, Finance Director

Lisa Mueller, Conservation Director

Ashley O'Neill Prado, Administrative & Programs Assistant

sue rich, Communications Director

Ellie Rogers, Communications Associate

Alex Roth, Ecologist

Trevor Russell, Water Program Director

Karen Schik, Senior Ecologist

Colleen O'Connor Toberman, River Corridor Director

Advisory Board

Our Board

Ronnie Brooks, Chair

Chad Dayton, Vice Chair

Perry McGowan, Treasurer

Peter Gove, Secretary

Jeff Aguy

Dr. John Anfinson

Paul Bauknight

Stewart Crosby

George Dunn

Forrest Flint

Diane Herman

Ryan Mallery

Hokan Miller

Julia Olmstead

Susan Vento

Deanna Wiener

Nou Yang