by Judi Lee At the swim camp for nine kids recently housed at the Lakes Crisis and Resource Center, our focus was not only on the improvement of their swimming skills but also on the development of an environmentally conscious mindset. Those three weeks were jam-packed with art projects, field trips, and outdoor adventures, many… Read more »
Tag: Shoreline protection
Basic Loon Rescue and Transport Strategies Webinar
Guest article by Sheila Farrell Johnston There are about 12,000 loons in Minnesota, our land of 10,000 lakes, so it is no surprise that some of them fall victim to illness and injury. The three leading causes of loon deaths are human caused: lead poisoning, boat and jet ski strikes, and fishing line entanglement or… Read more »
Significant Shift in DNR Roundtable With More Lake Advocate Voices in the Rooms
Lake Steward and Natural Shoreline Break Out Session Highlights On Friday, January 19th, more than 400 people, 75 of them DNR personnel, gathered at the DNR Roundtable to have conversations with other leaders in conservation, strengthen partnerships, and define challenges and opportunities in conservation efforts in fisheries, wildlife, and ecological and water resources in Minnesota.… Read more »
MLR’s Stop Starry & AIS Efforts to expand in 2024 & 2025
In late August of 2015 the invasive algae, Starry Stonewort (Nitellopsis obtusa) was confirmed in Lake Koronis at the Highway 55 public boat access. It was the first time that this Aquatic Invasive Species was confirmed in Minnesota. Starry stonewort is a stringy algae that can grow from two to twenty-five feet deep, can overwhelm… Read more »
How Grass Roots Advocates Built a Statewide Movement to Protect Lakes – A Case Study of the Keep It Clean Effort
by Robyn Dwight, Upper Red lake Association Up at Lake of the Woods, straddling the Minnesota-Canadian border, concerned local residents have spent over a decade looking for sustainable solutions to a human waste problem that occurs every winter because of leftovers of human activity. More recently, advocates from Upper Red Lake and Mille Lacs Lake… Read more »
Case Study: Square Lake Conservancy, May Township, MN – 2022-23
October 6, 2023 Jim Seidl This is the story of an all-volunteer team of committed conservationists who mobilized our community to rise-up and take action to protect & preserve a beloved lake and surrounding forest from commercialization, development, and environmental degradation. It’s an important, much-needed, example of successful conservation and community action – for other lake associations… Read more »
Emily Mining Group Providing Information on Proposed Manganese Mine in Cass County
Emily Mine Information Group meets By Joan Hasskamp – Crosby-Ironton Courier Approximately 30 people attended the Emily Mine Information Group’s listening session and letter-writing event on Monday, Oct. 16 at the Outing Crooked Lake Township Townhall. Dan Brennan, one of the group’s founders, explained a primary purpose of the group is to gather and share information… Read more »
“Adopt a harbor” program launches on Leech Lake
Lake advocates working with resorts to prevent starry stonewort spread. An important aspect of dealing with aquatic invasive species is monitoring their prevalence or absence in as many lakes and streams as possible. In the summer of 2022 two volunteers and the Cass County AIS technician took on that task: sampling nearly 40 resort harbors… Read more »
3 Years of Lake Steward
As we move through the 3rd summer of the Lake Stewardship program we want to acknowledge the work that has been done and celebrate the progress that has been made. We now have a total of 23 Lake Associations that have adopted the program through MLR, with two more joining just this week. Each Lake… Read more »
MLR Awards its first Lake Steward
Lake Steward sign goes up on Lawrence Lake Lloyd Thyen’s grandparents originally purchased 100’ of lakeshore on Lawrence Lake in Cass County in the 1940’s with a vertical log cabin on site. Some believe it to have been the oldest structure on Lawrence Lake. Eventually the cabin had to be torn down and the family… Read more »










