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Esker
I have published two volumes of a chapbook titled "Esker." The most recent volume, "Nowhere Else But Here," was released in January 2010. It features writings from every day of June 2009 in an old Japanese form called haibun.
I’m glad to hear that money from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment–which Minnesota voters passed in 2008 to increase the statewide sales tax to fund conservation, arts and culture project–is going to make a real impact in the St. Croix River watershed.
Minnesota conservation legend Darby Nelson, who now serves on the Lessard Council which makes recommendations to the Legislature on how to spend the money on habitat projects every year, mentions a couple interesting projects that the council is recommending in a post on TheAmendment.org. The first one addresses a dire need along the Lower St. Croix where development is threatening the river:
A million dollar allocation to Washington County will help preserve fish and wildlife habitat by protecting 253 acres of critical riparian habitat and one mile of shoreland. The work will complete a permanently protected three mile continuous corridor along the lower St. Croix.
Valley Creek, a unique trout stream in Afton and a St. Croix tributary, will benefit from a $1.2 million allocation:
This stream that flows into the St. Croix is one of very few trout streams in Minnesota where trout populations can perpetuate themselves through natural reproduction. According to Tom Waters, retired fisheries professor at the University of Minnesota, not only is this stream one of the best producers of trout in the state but it is believed to be in the top ten percent of trout streams in the world by that measure. More than twenty endangered or at risk wildlife species call the stream’s watershed home.
Here is the full request (PDF). By all accounts, it’s an amazing little stream and the only trout stream of any note within 50 miles of my home. But I’ve never fished it and probably never will, because landowners along the stream are notoriously protective and gaining any access is all but impossible. It grates against the sensibilities of many of us trout fishers who so value public access to public waters.
Maybe this issue speaks to the struggle many conservation organizations–and particularly the secretive trout-fishing community–face : do you publicize and open up a stream to fishing so you build a strong community that will work for its protection? Or is the added pressure not worth the political potential? In this case, it seems like the landowners and a nonprofit were enough to get the job done.
A bit further from the river, but in the watershed, I recently learned that Lake Elmo Park Reserve, a popular destination for cross-country skiing, will be getting some lighted ski trails for nighttime skiing and a beautiful barn on the property will be converted to a chalet/warming house, all with our tax dollars. Edit: D’oh. By my own map of the watershed, it appears the the Park Reserve is actually just outside the watershed.
It’s really great hearing about all this and it’s exactly why I voted “yes.” Let’s hope the legislature respects the Lessard Council’s hard work and approves these projects in the upcoming session!
Related blog posts about the amendment from back when it was being debated:
The National Park Service produced a terrific 20-minute film about the St. Croix River two years ago titled “The St. Croix: A Northwoods Journey.” It’s available for viewing at the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway headquarters in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, and as a loaner DVD from several libraries in the region.
But it has not been available on the Internet … until now! As a citizen who loves the river, I thought I could help and I have taken the liberty of posting it here.
It seems like in this day and age, government agencies ought to make such materials available online, though I understand the bureaucracy and such can be overwhelming. But it is a great flick with beautiful footage of this wonderful river, and unique characters expressing what it is about the St. Croix that is so special. In any case, I think it deserves a wider audience that it is destined to receive with limited physical availability.
Enjoy.
(The video is a large file and make take some time to load. Please be patient.)
Love the river or know someone who does? Use the “ShareThis” link below to easily let your friends and family know about the film through e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, or your choice of social media.
Ryan and I took yesterday to drive around the Minnesota and Wisconsin border, snowshoeing, checking out animal tracks, and otherwise appreciating winter in the St. Croix River watershed.
I’ve been slowly working my way through James Taylor Dunn’s exhaustive history of my favorite river, dubbed “The St. Croix: Midwest Border River” (orginally published in 1965 and revised in 1979). It’s a fun read, though he chooses some strange topics for in-depth focus, sometimes, and it’s inevitably a bit outdated.
Now, I see that there’s a new history of the river coming out in October: “North Woods River: The St. Croix River in Upper Midwest History.” Could be good!
Wow. I didn’t expect to have 1,600 “fans” of the St. Croix River on Facebook when I launched the page a couple weeks ago. I created the page, posted a link on my profile, and invited via Facebook message less than 10 people. Now, the metrics graph showing members is the very image of “exponential.” Just a curve of steadily-increasing steepness. And tons of fan posts of pictures, memories and odes to the river. Good fun.
I did have a morning of worry though, when I went to create a custom username for the page (http://www.facebook.com/StCroixRiver) and suddenly the page was “not found” and it stayed that way for a while. A little research didn’t give me much hope and the response I got from Facebook was unhelpful and noncommittal. It was very frustrating to think that my burgeoning new page was now dead, but suddenly it just started working again after a couple of hours (and after I’d given up hope).
My research did indicate that many others have had this problem, and perhaps using “CamelCase” was to blame. Anyway, if I had known there was any risk, I would have just not created the custom name and I might recommend you don’t do it either until Facebook fixes the bug.
January 8th, 2010
I’m glad to hear that money from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment–which Minnesota voters passed in 2008 to increase the statewide sales tax to fund conservation, arts and culture project–is going to make a real impact in the St. Croix River watershed.
