|
Volunteer Opportunities with Great River Greening
March 02, 2010
Please note the following volunteer announcement is posted for your reference. While these are not official MLAA volunteer event, they are wonderful opportunities for members to volunteer if they are able.
Great River Greening
Spring 2010 Restoration Events
Please join Great River Greening as we continue our efforts to restore native landscapes throughout the state! Individuals of all ages, families with supervised school-age children, and community and corporate groups of any size are welcome to participate in Greening’s volunteer restoration events. See below for our complete spring 2010 events schedule. Pre-registration is required, so sign up today! You will receive a confirmation prior to the event with directions and event details.
Register online at www.greatrivergreening.org under “Volunteer” or contact Mark Turbak, Volunteer Programs and Events Manager, at mturbak@greatrivergreening.org or 651-665-9500 ext. 11.
Major operating support for all Great River Greening programs is provided by McKnight Foundation.
Become a fan of Great River Greening on Facebook!
Date: 4/10
Great River Greening Basic Supervisor Training
St. Paul, MN
8:30am-12:30pm
Fee: $20.00
Great River Greening’s Volunteer Supervisors are the gears of our events. They are the motivators and initiators leading work groups at restoration events. Supervisors provide on the job training to work groups consisting of 5-15 restoration volunteers. Work includes, but is not limited to, planting, exotic species removal, and native seed collection propagation. In addition, Volunteer Supervisors lead smaller projects throughout the year and educate community groups on issues related to ecological conservation and restoration.
Completion of the Basic Supervisor Training session will allow participants to operate in this very vital capacity. Spring event sign-up sheets will be available at the training. Sign-up today and help Great River Greening revitalize one of our state’s most important treasures, our precious native landscapes!
Date: 4/17
Uncas Dunes Brush Hauling Event
Big Lake, MN
8:30am – 12:30pm
Volunteers: 100
Supervisors: 20
Volunteers are needed to help restore Uncas Dunes Scientific and Natural Area to its pristine glory. Natural plant communities found here include oak savanna, oak forest, and wetland. The rare Uncas Skipper gives this site its name; this is one of only two sites in the state where this species is found. Other rare species here include sea-beach needle grass and annual skeleton-weed. The dunes are remnants from the retreat of glaciers in Minnesota thousands of years ago. The Uncas Dunes Scientific and Natural Area is one of the most pristine and untouched native wildernesses in our state. Volunteers’ efforts will help protect and preserve this important site for future generations. Volunteers will haul brush at the site and perform general maintenance in order to help prepare for a large seeding event in the near future.
This project is made possible by support from the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR), the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Date: 4/24
Lost Valley Scientific and Natural Area (SNA) Restoration Event
Cottage Grove, MN
8:30am – 12:30pm
Volunteers: 20
Supervisors: 4
Scientific and Natural Areas are the biopreserves of our state: an invaluable legacy of land in all its biological diversity. To work on these sensitive sites is a very special treat, and space is limited! The bluff prairies at Lost Valley contain a series of limestone ridges and dry swales, or lowlands, where a rich collection of native prairie grasses thrives on the ridge crests and upper slopes. This prairie remnant is on the verge of being lost unless timely action is taken. Restoration activities include removing invading trees and shrubs. Efforts at this site will help future generations enjoy the many prairie wildflowers, including prairie smoke, puccoon, bird's foot violets, yellow star grass, blue-eyed grass, and beard-tongue.
This project is made possible by support from the Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Nash Foundation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) through Great River Greening’s membership in the Metro Conservation Corridors partnership.
Date: 4/24
Arbor Day Tree and Shrub Potting Event
35 W. Water St.
St. Paul, MN
8:30am – 12:30pm
Volunteers: 30
Supervisors: 6
Great River Greening seeks individuals and families to help prepare bare root shrubs and trees donated by Bailey’s Nursery. This is a great forum to ask questions about specific native plants and their suitable habitat. Shrubs and trees will then be planted at sights throughout the Twin Cities metro area during the year. An untold number of community members will enjoy these trees for generations to come. There is no doubt that Volunteers’ efforts will help make the Twin Cities a shade better! Come and help make the promise of Arbor Day a reality at this fun and enriching community event.
Support for this project is made possible by Bailey’s Nursery.
Date: 5/15
Pond Dakota Mission Restoration Event
Bloomington, MN
8:30am – 12:30pm
Volunteers: 150
Supervisors: 25
Pond-Dakota Mission Park is the site of the historic Oak Grove Mission and the 1856 Gideon and Agnes Pond House. Located along the bluffs of the Minnesota River, the site was founded by Gideon and Samuel Pond – missionaries to the Dakota Indians and farmers, and ministers in Bloomington. Historic buildings and educational signage explain and interpret the Native American and early European settlement of the site. Volunteers will now help restore the historic landscape as well. Volunteers of all ages, skills, and abilities are welcome to “step back in time,” while also participating in this fun and rewarding project. Tours will be provided as part of the volunteer event.
This project is made possible by support from the City of Bloomington and by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) through Great River Greening’s membership in the Metro Conservation Corridors partnership.
Date: 6/5
Spring Lake Regional Park Buckthorn Removal Event
Prior Lake, MN
8:30am – 12:30pm
Volunteers: 100
Supervisors: 20
Great River Greening is seeking volunteers to help protect the high-quality Maple Basswood Forest plant communities at Spring Lake Park, located in the heart of Scott County, near Prior Lake. The “Big Woods” Forests of elm, sugar maple, basswood, and oak once covered more than 2,000 square miles and were central characters in regional literature and imagery. Today, very few remnants of the forest are larger than 40-80 acres in size, and this is a prime example.
Volunteers are needed to help remove buckthorn at Spring Lake Regional Park. First introduced in the late nineteenth century as an ornamental shrub and windbreak, buckthorn today has become one of the most destructive invasive species in the State of Minnesota. This project will greatly contribute to protecting the biodiversity of the park as well as enhancing the water quality of beautiful Spring Lake.
Funding for this project is made possible by Scott County and the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) through Great River Greening’s membership in the Metro Conservation Corridors partnership.
Date: 6/12
Grey Cloud Island Restoration Event
Cottage Grove, MN
8:30am – 12:30pm
Volunteers: 250
Supervisors: 25
Great River Greening seeks 250 volunteers to help clear woody invasive species as a part of its efforts to restore native oak savanna on Grey Cloud Island near Cottage Grove. Gaining special access to this private site, volunteers will assist with the removal of non-native brush, such as buckthorn, honeysuckle and other non-native trees.
Lower Grey Cloud Island rests in the Mississippi floodplain and is surrounded by its waters. All of its resources—historical and ecological—are inextricably linked to the river. This was the home of Medicine Bottle and his tribe of Mdewakanton Sioux and the site of the historic village of Grey Cloud. Frontiersmen and traders, Joseph R. Brown and Hazen Mooers, were among the early Euro-Americans living here. Historically, the Island supported a broad expanse of oak savanna, a natural ecosystem now globally imperiled. Even though past land uses have eliminated much of this native habitat from the island, the opportunity exists to restore – at a grand scale – this oak savanna ecosystem and many of the species for which it was home.
Join us today to preserve this important part of Minnesota’s heritage! Individuals, community organizations and corporate groups are welcome to participate in Greening’s restoration event. Lunch will be provided for pre-registered volunteers, so sign up today! You will receive a confirmation one week prior to the event with directions and event details.
This project is made possible by support from the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources and by Aggregate Industries.
|
