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2715 Upper Afton Road, Ste 100
Maplewood, MN 55119
(651) 209-9900
info@conservationcorps.org
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| Central Crews Educate Preschoolers |
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 Throughout May, Central District Young Adult Crews have been volunteering with Gale Woods Farm to teach youth about sustainable farming. Gale Woods Farm is a working farm, an education center and is a part of the Three Rivers Park District. Their goal is to connect youth with the food they eat as well as educate adults on modern farming techniques. The farm is open to the public and is perfect for groups. Visitors can learn about agriculture as well as enjoy fishing, canoeing and the farm’s many recreational trails.
The Metro Roving Crew (pictured), worked with Gale Woods to teach preschoolers about animals, where their food comes from and sustainable farming. Corpsmembers rotated through various stations showing children chickens, cows, planting, wood-crafts, calf petting and of course, hay rides. Everyone had a great time as well as an educational experience.
MCC would like to thank the Gale Woods farm and Three Rivers Park District for this fun opportunity.
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Great Mississippi Riverboat Cleanup |
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 Nearly 90 volunteers gathered June 14th for the 16th annual Great Mississippi Riverboat Cleanup. The fun started at 8:00 am where six crews boarded the Anson Northrup Riverboat and were dropped of at various sites along the Mississippi River. Volunteers worked until noon and then ate lunch while enjoying music from the tuneful trio, Route 3. Participants had a rewarding experience and so did the Mississippi.
The efforts were coordinated by the Adopt-a-River Program’s Paul Nordell of the DNR as well as MCC Specialist Megan Godbold. Each year MCC hires a specialist to work on the Adopt-a-river Program, giving young adults the opportunity to learn about water management. Megan was proud to be a part of the event, “The great thing about this event is that it gives people a sense of accomplishment as well as a sense of ownership of their natural resources. It is a chance for likeminded people to meet and know that there are others who care about these issues.”
While cleaning debris, volunteers were encouraged to save their strangest finds to enter into a contest. Some of the winning entries were an unopened 1970s Hamm’s Beer can, a table leg and a doll! Other objects have been collected by artist Mary Johnson who will use these pieces to create a sculpture which can be seen at the DNR booth at the State Fair.
Years ago, the Mississippi River was a dumping ground. Today, pollution restrictions and the efforts of volunteers like those of the Adopt-a-river Program and the Friends of the Mississippi, keep this mighty river clean for our drinking water as well as for our wildlife. To find out more about the Adopt-a-River program visit their website at www.dnr.state.mn.us.
MCC would like to thank Paul Nordell of the DNR, the Crew of the Anson Northrup Riverboat and all of the volunteers, for making this tradition possible. We look forward to next year’s cleanup!
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| Youth Arrive at St. Croix State Park |
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 On June 17th, MCC Staff welcomed 89 youth to the Summer Program at St. Croix State Park. Many arrived and reconnected with old friends, while others met for the first time. Within their first few days, youth received tool training, studied environmental awareness and learned about deaf culture. Crews will be working in St. Croix State Park through the end of this week and will depart for their first spike trips on Monday June 25th. This is a great start to a fluberant summer!
For more information on this program, contact the Youth Programs Manager Pete Bonk.
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| New Corpsmembers Survey Trails |
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  If you are traveling on the Heartland State Trail or the Paul Bunyan State Trail, you just might be surveyed by one of two new MCC Corpsmembers: Van Amenya or Miranda Dube. Both of them joined MCC in May and have been hard at work for the last few weeks surveying trail users.
In order to understand the usage of these trails, the DNR has created surveys to collect user data such as: how many people are using these trails, how they are using these trails and who is using these trails. Van and Miranda will be surveying the trails by observing trail users as well as asking people to participate in the DNR study.
Corpsmember Miranda Dube will be surveying those using the Paul Bunyan State Trail. She grew up in Clearwater, Minnesota and comes to us from Central Lakes College in Brainerd. Miranda hopes to attend the College of St. Scholastica, majoring in the Natural Sciences program, and someday work for the DNR in wildlife management.
Van Amenya will be surveying those on the Heartland State Trail in Bemidji and Park Rapids. He grew up in Nairobi, Kenya and graduated from St. Thomas with a degree in Elementary Education. Before joining MCC, Van worked in I.T. for Cargill. “I love the independence of this work. I also am taking every opportunity to read about and experience the local habitat.”
Miranda and Van will be working on the survey until early September.
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Left to right
Jeremy Blomberg
Henry Stroud
Christine Severson
Matt Kohn
Paul Goodmanson
The Rochester Pines crew as had plenty to do so far this year. Timber stand improvement, buckthorn cutting, river clean-up and tree planting are amongst the regular activities of this crew. In addition, they have put in seven weeks of prescribed burns this spring, improving the habitat for Timber Rattle Snakes and Karner Blue Butterflies. One interesting fact about this crew is that they found several Morel Mushrooms (MN’s official state mushroom) while cutting Buckthorn. This mushroom has a growing season of 2-3 weeks and is somewhat of a rare sight.
Summer Youth Program
Crew Staff
Lance Keenan, a returning Crew Leader, is pursuing his Undergraduate Degree in Agriculture Education and Technology Education at University of Wisconsin Platteville. Upon completing the major, he plans to teach and pursue a Masters Degree.
Carolyn Leedham returns to MCC this summer as an Assistant Crew Leader, having previously been a corpsmember. She recently completed a term of service in AmeriCorps*NCCC in Charleston, SC. She is studying Outdoor Recreation, Leadership & Management at Northern Michigan University.
Rudy Goldstein, Crew Leader, hails from Hutchinson, MN. Rudy is studying at University of Minnesota Duluth. This Fall, he will be attending Vaxjo University in Sweden.
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Alumni Question
of the Month
What is the name of Minnesota’s highest point of elevation at 2,301 feet?
The winners of this challenge will be entered into a drawing to win a prize!
Submit your answer to:
alumni@conservationcorps.org
The answer to last months question was pulaski.
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