My internship highlight: Planting hundreds of native trees on a tiny metro river island
In this piece by fall-winter 2019 intern Phuong Nguyen, she describes her favorite FMR experience: Canoeing to a small metro Mississippi island to plant 350 native trees. >>
Thank you, River Stewards!
In 2019, volunteers of all ages got their hands dirty with FMR at community volunteer events. Together over 1,400 individuals gave a combined 4,916 hours of service to help protect, enhance and restore the health of the river and our local communities. We're so grateful to our amazing River Stewards! >>
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. >>
Volunteers create piles for habitat in the Minneapolis river gorge
Facing a steep climb up tall stairs, FMR staff and River Gorge Stewards opted for a creative way to dispose of invasive buckthorn at a recent volunteer event along the river: create habitat piles. >>
Spring Lake regional park master plan open house Oct. 14
What's next for this special place (and FMR restoration site) on our great river? You can help decide. >>
'Land conservation key to bringing back Minnesota bird population'
We didn't pay MPR to write that headline, but it's exactly the message we want people to understand. >>
Collect them all: Invasive species identification cards
At this field season's volunteer events, we handed out invasive species collector's cards as a guide (and a thank you) for our intrepid, invasive-busting volunteers. Now that the field season is drawing to a close, we're sharing them with everybody. >>
The first Youth Empowerment Program's final projects
Our first Youth Empowerment Program participants worked on capstone projects this summer. From butterfly booths to videography, their projects were impressive and impactful.
In 2019, we debuted our Youth Empowerment Program, an 8-week summer program aiming to bridge the gap between passion and accessible experience for metro youth who care about our environment. Together with our education program staff, 11 high school students explored environmental work and created their own independent projects. On their final project presentation day, our office hosted monarch butterflies, jars of Mississippi and Minnesota river water, and even a baby painted turtle nestled in a yogurt container. We were a little blown away and wanted to share a glimpse into their excellent work. >>
FMR graduates its first Youth Empowerment Program participants
Naomi Nickel, one of the participants in the Youth Empowerment Program, removes invasive species on a rainy day at Trout Brook Nature Sanctuary. The program features a mix of hands-on experiences, guest speakers, discussions and projects to help students learn more and build skills in the environmental field.
Through canoe trips, guest speakers, pollinator surveys and more this summer, we worked with high-school aged youth from the metro area to explore career possibilities and build skills in the environmental field. Learn more about our new Youth Empowerment Program and see these leaders' capstone projects (which included monarchs, jars of river water, and even a baby painted turtle). >>
Thanks Akia, our shared summer intern
Akia Vang, our Green Team Alumni summer intern, did a little bit of everything in our office and out in the field, all in two short weeks. (Photo: Tom Reiter and Will Stock for FMR)
Akia Vang, our Green Team Alumni summer intern, woke up early to survey breeding birds and stayed late to assist at volunteer planting events. Akia stayed busy during his two short weeks with us. >>