1
00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:13,480
Speaker 1: From mediators World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This is

2
00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:18,560
Speaker 1: Cal's We Can Review with Ryan cal Callahan. Now here's Cal.

3
00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:24,160
Speaker 2: Okay on this week's special edition of Cal's Week in Review,

4
00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,040
Speaker 2: where you get to learn all sorts of extra stuff

5
00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:31,200
Speaker 2: about the great world of conservation. If you feel like

6
00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:34,839
Speaker 2: you'll never know it all, you're correct. But that's what

7
00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,080
Speaker 2: all fun things are about, is constant learning right and

8
00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,720
Speaker 2: helping us on our journey. UH as always the right

9
00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:48,640
Speaker 2: hand man Jordan Sillers, who does most of the heavy

10
00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,159
Speaker 2: lifting here. I just do the lip service.

11
00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:52,640
Speaker 3: You're you're just a pretty face.

12
00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:52,920
Speaker 4: Cal.

13
00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,040
Speaker 3: You know that's Yeah, that's that's your that's your role

14
00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:56,840
Speaker 3: in this endeavor.

15
00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:01,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, eventually I'll age out because we don't.

16
00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,039
Speaker 2: We don't age well here in Montana. We're proud, proud

17
00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:07,560
Speaker 2: of the sun and the wind. But if you want

18
00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:11,000
Speaker 2: to see more from Jordan, you can always go to

19
00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:15,080
Speaker 2: the Meat Eater dot com, uh, where he's gonna challenge

20
00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:19,319
Speaker 2: you on a wide variety of topics. So uh, but

21
00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:22,959
Speaker 2: the real reason we're here today is to learn uh,

22
00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:27,560
Speaker 2: the soil and water conservation districts as this country was formed,

23
00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:35,800
Speaker 2: conservation districts were also formed in order to well, you know,

24
00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:38,440
Speaker 2: I should really just let let the pros handle this.

25
00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:45,640
Speaker 2: So Cameron Gustafson, water resource Coordinator, Soil and Water Conservation District, Carlton, Minnesota,

26
00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:50,880
Speaker 2: and Alyssa Bloss they're conservation specialist at the Soil and

27
00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:55,559
Speaker 2: Water Conservation District Carlton, Minnesota. Thank you so much for

28
00:01:55,640 --> 00:02:05,240
Speaker 2: writing in and getting our wheels turning on conservation districts. So, Alissa,

29
00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:08,520
Speaker 2: why don't you jump in and just let us know

30
00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:10,480
Speaker 2: what you do and why you're here.

31
00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,480
Speaker 4: Yeah. Thanks, cal I'm so happy to be here today.

32
00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:18,960
Speaker 4: Huge fan. I work for the Carleton Soil and Water

33
00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,560
Speaker 4: Conservation District and I've actually been in the soil and

34
00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:27,840
Speaker 4: Water Conservation district world for about fourteen years now. And ultimately,

35
00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,160
Speaker 4: what we do at Stolin Water Conservation Districts is we

36
00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,799
Speaker 4: help restore, enhance protect our Great States natural resources by

37
00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:43,640
Speaker 4: assisting landowners, city schools, you name it. We're there to

38
00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:48,240
Speaker 4: help folks, technical assistants, we have funds available, we do

39
00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:54,120
Speaker 4: education outreach. But my position specifically, I kind of wear

40
00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:57,200
Speaker 4: a lot of hats at the district and I really

41
00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:02,280
Speaker 4: enjoy working especially with folks on shilin and durations, polymeter habitat,

42
00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:07,440
Speaker 4: deer hunting habitat, and yeah, I've been I've been really

43
00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:11,680
Speaker 4: passionate about conservation for forever, pretty much since I could walk.

44
00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:15,240
Speaker 4: I was out hunting, fishing, camping, you name it, out

45
00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:18,160
Speaker 4: there doing it with my dad and my family, and

46
00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:22,240
Speaker 4: just very passionate about our outdoors and very very passionate

47
00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:27,799
Speaker 4: about helping our public, our private folks enjoy hands and

48
00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:29,799
Speaker 4: restore our natural resources too.

49
00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:33,480
Speaker 2: Cameron, how about yourself? What are you up to on

50
00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:36,760
Speaker 2: the Soil and Water Conservation District side of Thanks?

51
00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:40,360
Speaker 5: Yeah, so, I guess compared to a list, I'm relatively

52
00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,440
Speaker 5: new in the SWCD world. I've been working in natural

53
00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:47,840
Speaker 5: resources since since twenty fourteen, so almost ten years now

54
00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:50,720
Speaker 5: in one way, shape or form. But my role as

55
00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:55,200
Speaker 5: a water resource coordinator currently is to manage and direct

56
00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:59,480
Speaker 5: all the watershed planning in our county. So we're a

57
00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:03,480
Speaker 5: part of four watersheds in our county. I managed in

58
00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:08,800
Speaker 5: direct programming based on those watersheds and based on our

59
00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:13,560
Speaker 5: our New Minnesota Newer Minnesota program called One Watershed, One Plan.

60
00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:17,600
Speaker 5: But I also identify identify outside funds that we can

61
00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:21,760
Speaker 5: utilize to address other natural resource concerns that are kind

62
00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:28,760
Speaker 5: of uh, water involved, so stream restoration projects, culvert replacements,

63
00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:33,360
Speaker 5: dam removal projects. But that's kind of my my bread

64
00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,240
Speaker 5: and butter in this position. I came came to this

65
00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:41,160
Speaker 5: position from an outreach and education coordinator position, So prior

66
00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:43,960
Speaker 5: to this position, I was still in the at the

67
00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:47,919
Speaker 5: Carlton s w CD, but uh, my main duty was

68
00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:52,479
Speaker 5: to direct and manage our outreach campaigns. So basically connecting

69
00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:57,040
Speaker 5: landowners uh and members of the public with the conservation

70
00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:01,560
Speaker 5: programs and assistance that we offer in the county excellent.

71
00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,000
Speaker 2: And I think where we should start right is like

72
00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:12,320
Speaker 2: where would the average person bump into someone from the

73
00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:16,760
Speaker 2: Soil and Water Conservation district or have a reason to

74
00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:17,800
Speaker 2: get in touch with one.

75
00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,279
Speaker 4: Yeah, So what's really and I wish I would have

76
00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:24,680
Speaker 4: mentioned this earlier. What's really really great about what Soil

77
00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:27,120
Speaker 4: and Water Conservation districts do is we're kind of your

78
00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:30,599
Speaker 4: next door neighbor, so anybody can bump into us. Where

79
00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:34,720
Speaker 4: we really pride ourselves on being that local unit of government.

80
00:05:34,839 --> 00:05:40,280
Speaker 4: We're not necessarily state, we're not county, we're not federal.

81
00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,840
Speaker 4: We just really pride ourselves on being that boots on

82
00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:47,760
Speaker 4: the ground conservation organization where we get to have that

83
00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:50,720
Speaker 4: relationship with the landowner. We get to build that relationship

84
00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:55,840
Speaker 4: from from doing a site visit for free, providing folks

85
00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:59,880
Speaker 4: with expertise on how to implement a conservation practice, and

86
00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:04,000
Speaker 4: if they want, we can help fund that and and

87
00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:07,520
Speaker 4: then maintain that relationship afterwards to make sure that their

88
00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:11,640
Speaker 4: projects are being success or successful. So yeah, I mean

89
00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:15,599
Speaker 4: we do. We're all over the community. We're visiting with farmers, schools,

90
00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:19,640
Speaker 4: like I said before, cities where we try to make

91
00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:23,159
Speaker 4: our presence known as best we can. We're small, we

92
00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:27,400
Speaker 4: have a smaller staff. Every county in Minnesota does have

93
00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:30,800
Speaker 4: a sws cd EX except for I believe Hannapin. I

94
00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:34,960
Speaker 4: think they might have a watershed management organization. But yeah,

95
00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,800
Speaker 4: we just really pride ourselves in being your next door neighbor.

96
00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:41,159
Speaker 4: I think I think that was that pretty good, Cameron.

97
00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:42,520
Speaker 4: We do a lot of stuff.

98
00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:46,000
Speaker 5: Yeah, I guess the only thing I'd add is, you know,

99
00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:49,240
Speaker 5: we're at a lot of the community events, the fun

100
00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:53,600
Speaker 5: days down the street. You know, we're going into schools

101
00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:56,960
Speaker 5: teaching lessons there, try to show up to a lot

102
00:06:56,960 --> 00:06:59,920
Speaker 5: of you know, conservation based meetings, try it unlimited meetings,

103
00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:04,400
Speaker 5: ducks unlimited meetings, Like like Alyssa said, you know, we're

104
00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:06,200
Speaker 5: your next door neighbors, so you can bump into us

105
00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:09,240
Speaker 5: at the grocery store. We might not necessarily give you

106
00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,440
Speaker 5: a little sales pitch on conservation at the grocery store.

107
00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,520
Speaker 5: But but yeah, we try to. We try to get

108
00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,120
Speaker 5: ourselves in everywhere. We've got a Facebook page, we got it.

109
00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:21,400
Speaker 5: We have an Instagram page and all that stuff. But

110
00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:24,440
Speaker 5: the beauty of it is we're right down the street

111
00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:26,880
Speaker 5: from most of the people that we serve in the community.

112
00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:30,160
Speaker 2: And what what are you going to do for us?

113
00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:32,720
Speaker 2: What's soil and Water Conservation district?

114
00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:36,080
Speaker 5: Do you want to take the first stab at this one, Alyssa,

115
00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:37,160
Speaker 5: and then I can fill in the gap.

116
00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:37,600
Speaker 1: Sure?

117
00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:41,880
Speaker 4: Sure, So, man, we do we do so much. And

118
00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:45,400
Speaker 4: I mean, ultimately, what we really try to focus on

119
00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:50,160
Speaker 4: is water quality, soil health, and then habitat so like,

120
00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:53,880
Speaker 4: for instance, right now, I just put together a an

121
00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:56,800
Speaker 4: application for a landowner just down the road to do

122
00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:59,880
Speaker 4: a three acre hail and restoration to a prairie resta.

123
00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:04,120
Speaker 4: So we've got twenty seven plus different species of grasses

124
00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:07,800
Speaker 4: and forbes in there to benefit our pollinators, but all

125
00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:11,480
Speaker 4: show all of our other beneficial insects. They also loved deer,

126
00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:15,040
Speaker 4: so we made that a really nice seat plan for deer.

127
00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:16,720
Speaker 4: Maybe they want to bed down in there. I know

128
00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:22,320
Speaker 4: our husband hunts over that plot every year. Today, actually,

129
00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:24,320
Speaker 4: we're getting ready for our board meeting on Monday.

130
00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:24,880
Speaker 1: Today.

131
00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:28,760
Speaker 4: I actually put together a plan for Aliano that's doing

132
00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:34,400
Speaker 4: how many acres twenty three acres of cover crops and

133
00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:38,920
Speaker 4: then thirteen and a half acres of pasture inhalen interceding

134
00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:43,720
Speaker 4: so and then I think earlier, Yeah, earlier this week

135
00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:48,560
Speaker 4: I attended invasive Species at invasive species meeting with lots

136
00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:52,280
Speaker 4: of different partners. So we're by Duluth Lake Superior folks

137
00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:55,600
Speaker 4: probably know where that is. We had folks from MDA,

138
00:08:55,760 --> 00:09:00,680
Speaker 4: we had folks from DNR, we had folks from where else,

139
00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:07,000
Speaker 4: Superior College, we had folks from some school, some school,

140
00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,760
Speaker 4: other schools. We had monarch buddies, we had other conservation

141
00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:13,720
Speaker 4: groups involved, just to talk about how we want to

142
00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:18,200
Speaker 4: combat address invasive species in our community and in our regions,

143
00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:20,800
Speaker 4: since we are pretty fortunate and that we don't have

144
00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:25,000
Speaker 4: a lot of really established in vases up here except

145
00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:27,760
Speaker 4: for maybe Tancy, But I guess tho. There are just

146
00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:30,760
Speaker 4: a couple examples of what we can do for you.

147
00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:35,679
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'll jump in and fill the gaps too. You know,

148
00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:39,760
Speaker 5: we can help forest land owners. Somebody who's got forest

149
00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:42,960
Speaker 5: property put in a woodland stewardship plan, So it's just

150
00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:45,880
Speaker 5: a plan on how to manage your forests to achieve

151
00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:50,040
Speaker 5: your goals. Part of that is implementing conservation practices in

152
00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:50,800
Speaker 5: your forests.

153
00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:54,600
Speaker 1: So it could be as easy as like a.

154
00:09:54,559 --> 00:09:58,760
Speaker 5: Forest stand improvement or a harvest, a forest harvest out

155
00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:04,880
Speaker 5: of there alyssa touchdown helping agg producers or farmers. And

156
00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:08,120
Speaker 5: then as far as water quality and kind of urban

157
00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:11,680
Speaker 5: conservation goes, if you've got some erosion that's happening in

158
00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:14,679
Speaker 5: your backyard, or you know, an area of your yard

159
00:10:14,679 --> 00:10:17,040
Speaker 5: that's pulling up in water, we can help you put

160
00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:19,960
Speaker 5: put in a rain garden, which is just kind of

161
00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:23,480
Speaker 5: a depression in the ground that's planted with a bunch

162
00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:28,600
Speaker 5: of native flowers and grasses that provides habitat and treats

163
00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:31,600
Speaker 5: that rain water before it enters. You know here, if

164
00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:32,920
Speaker 5: we were to do it at the office, it would

165
00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:36,160
Speaker 5: be the Saint Louis River, which is the largest.

166
00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:40,520
Speaker 1: Estuary to Lake Superior. So I guess those are just

167
00:10:40,559 --> 00:10:42,079
Speaker 1: a couple of little additions there.

168
00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:44,400
Speaker 4: Oh and you know, Cameron, you know what I forgot

169
00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:47,400
Speaker 4: to mention what we were pretty excited to talk with

170
00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:53,080
Speaker 4: you guys about is northeastern Minnesota is really well known

171
00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:56,320
Speaker 4: for our trout, our trout habitat. We've got some really

172
00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:59,079
Speaker 4: amazing trout. I mean, we can literally just go out

173
00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:01,640
Speaker 4: our door here at the disk drip and throw off

174
00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:04,680
Speaker 4: fly in the water or cast cast the line and

175
00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:09,160
Speaker 4: catch some trout. And we've got some really great folks

176
00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:13,320
Speaker 4: that are smart in water quality data sampling habitat around

177
00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:16,640
Speaker 4: these around these streams, and so we're really trying to

178
00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:22,160
Speaker 4: focus on on either restoring that that habitat either by

179
00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:27,600
Speaker 4: easements or planting more riparian buffers to ultimately you know,

180
00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:30,360
Speaker 4: cool down that water, to keep it cold for trout,

181
00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:32,120
Speaker 4: provide shade.

182
00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:32,800
Speaker 1: And then.

183
00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:37,600
Speaker 4: Yeah, any soil erosion that's happening, we want to get

184
00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:41,479
Speaker 4: that under control by buffering that shoreline with either herbaceous

185
00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:45,800
Speaker 4: or woody vegetation. But we've got some really great trout

186
00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:49,600
Speaker 4: habitat up here, and we've got some pretty cool programs

187
00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:54,080
Speaker 4: happening with that, getting rid of culverts that are maybe

188
00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:59,160
Speaker 4: perched or have lost connectivity to other streams. We're trying

189
00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:02,679
Speaker 4: to replace those. That's so that's pretty cool. That's been

190
00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:03,520
Speaker 4: fun to work on.

191
00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:08,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's not a lot of places in the country

192
00:12:08,280 --> 00:12:13,520
Speaker 2: that have more human connectivity to to water than the

193
00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:18,640
Speaker 2: Great Lakes region, right, So, yeah, it's it's amazing. I

194
00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:23,720
Speaker 2: was just down in Florida and we were talking about

195
00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:28,320
Speaker 2: like the construction of the Tammiami Trail and how that

196
00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:35,520
Speaker 2: was punched in with basically zero regard or or local

197
00:12:35,559 --> 00:12:39,640
Speaker 2: knowledge about how water flowed at the time. Right, So,

198
00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:45,119
Speaker 2: what what other examples do you have on on projects

199
00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:47,920
Speaker 2: that that you're currently working on, and and and really

200
00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:53,040
Speaker 2: how soil and water conservation districts may you know, work

201
00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:57,080
Speaker 2: with other groups on on larger projects too.

202
00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:00,000
Speaker 5: I'll take this right off the bat, and I'm sure

203
00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:04,839
Speaker 5: this has got a bunch to add to it. One

204
00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:07,840
Speaker 5: of the most exciting projects to me that we're working on,

205
00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:11,280
Speaker 5: so kind of the eastern portion of our county. We

206
00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:15,280
Speaker 5: have a tributary to Lake Superior called the Namagi River Watershed.

207
00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:19,240
Speaker 5: There's a subwatershed in there called called Skunk Creek, and

208
00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:23,800
Speaker 5: back in the sixties and seventies, a bunch of dams

209
00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:28,400
Speaker 5: were created along this creek, along these series of creeks,

210
00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:32,040
Speaker 5: I should say, to increase it's a really flashy river

211
00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:36,840
Speaker 5: and it's got really fine particulate clay soils, so it's

212
00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:42,040
Speaker 5: really prone to erosion and sediment being distributed, you know,

213
00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:46,559
Speaker 5: being taken from from the soil into the river. And

214
00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:51,840
Speaker 5: so since about their mid nineties, we've been working on

215
00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:59,120
Speaker 5: removing those dams just because that is prime brook trout habitat.

216
00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:02,240
Speaker 5: Some of the best trout streams in Minnesota are actually

217
00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:05,680
Speaker 5: in our county, and so those dams, what they're doing

218
00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:09,520
Speaker 5: is they're preventing you know, both fish but also macro

219
00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:12,000
Speaker 5: and vertebrates from being able to travel up and down

220
00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:15,959
Speaker 5: the stream. They're slowing water down, which is causing those

221
00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:19,000
Speaker 5: temperatures to rise. And so a dam removal is not

222
00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:21,920
Speaker 5: a small project. So partnerships is kind of a key,

223
00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:26,000
Speaker 5: a key thing to leverage when it comes to doing

224
00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:30,160
Speaker 5: those types of large scale projects. So, you know, for

225
00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:33,560
Speaker 5: an SWCD, the land owner is probably the most important

226
00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:37,160
Speaker 5: because those dams are actually on private land. They were

227
00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:39,920
Speaker 5: permitted by the DNR back in the sixties or seventies

228
00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:43,920
Speaker 5: for who knows what reason, but we get in touch

229
00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:47,280
Speaker 5: with the landowner kind of described to them the ramifications

230
00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:50,160
Speaker 5: or the potent the impacts that those dams are having

231
00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,400
Speaker 5: on our aquatic habitat. Then we get in touch with

232
00:14:53,440 --> 00:15:00,360
Speaker 5: the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Trout Unlimited, NRCS, pheasants Forever

233
00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:04,840
Speaker 5: for some habitat improvement projects after the fact Rough Grouse

234
00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:09,360
Speaker 5: Society for Habitat Improvement projects after projects are completed. And

235
00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:14,120
Speaker 5: you know, a series of dams were removed on Skunk

236
00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:16,720
Speaker 5: Creek up just a couple of years ago, about five

237
00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:19,440
Speaker 5: starting five years ago, I think the project ended in

238
00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:23,200
Speaker 5: twenty twenty one. And now we're partnering, you know, we're

239
00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:27,160
Speaker 5: getting local volunteers from partnering with Trout Unlimited to do

240
00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:32,240
Speaker 5: some we're calling it effectiveness Monitoring program. It's and it's

241
00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:36,920
Speaker 5: basically seeing if those dam removal projects you know we're achieved,

242
00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:38,080
Speaker 5: are now achieving the.

243
00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:39,840
Speaker 1: Goals that we thought they would achieve.

244
00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:43,800
Speaker 5: So that's just one example of a project that incorporated

245
00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:46,360
Speaker 5: a whole bunch of partners, and we partnered with local

246
00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:50,560
Speaker 5: schools before the DAMER moved to do like water sampling

247
00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:55,200
Speaker 5: just to get those students connected with with their you know,

248
00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:57,480
Speaker 5: the watershed that's right down the road from their school

249
00:15:58,360 --> 00:15:58,920
Speaker 5: in care.

250
00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:02,640
Speaker 4: Yeah, mentioned that. So then Imagie is actually the biggest

251
00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:06,360
Speaker 4: contributor of sediment to Lake Superior. It's pretty insane. I mean,

252
00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:10,640
Speaker 4: there's lots of streams entering into Lake Superior and it's nuts.

253
00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:15,840
Speaker 4: You drive across the bridge over to Disappearior, Wisconsin after

254
00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:19,040
Speaker 4: a rain event, and even like even from an airplane,

255
00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:23,960
Speaker 4: it's it's wild. There's just this giant, giant clay colored

256
00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:27,640
Speaker 4: orange colored stream going into the lake. So what we're

257
00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:30,080
Speaker 4: really trying to do in that in that I Maggie

258
00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:33,440
Speaker 4: areas create some watershed retention to keep that water on

259
00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:36,720
Speaker 4: the landscape because that clay is just not impervious. It

260
00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:41,000
Speaker 4: doesn't allow any infiltration to happen. But we're making a

261
00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:44,760
Speaker 4: difference in that in that in that watershed by doing

262
00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:47,640
Speaker 4: what Cameron said and a bunch of other different conservation

263
00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:51,040
Speaker 4: practices just to keep the soil in the water on

264
00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:52,120
Speaker 4: the ground somehow.

265
00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:59,320
Speaker 6: And what what's the most common issues you run into

266
00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:02,880
Speaker 6: and in regards cards to keeping that soil on the ground.

267
00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:06,560
Speaker 4: Well, you know, I guess just in general when it

268
00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:10,040
Speaker 4: in general, when we when we work with, you know, farmers,

269
00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:12,479
Speaker 4: we have some really great farmers in the community. Actually

270
00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:15,400
Speaker 4: just felt the here in renshawm Minnesota. They've got lots

271
00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:20,400
Speaker 4: of the community supported agriculture folks are really really into

272
00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:23,440
Speaker 4: being sustainable and soil health. But then there's all the

273
00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:25,960
Speaker 4: farmers too that you know, they're kind of doing with

274
00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:30,560
Speaker 4: their with their what their parents did and and they're

275
00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,679
Speaker 4: they're plowing their chiseling, putting manure on when they probably

276
00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:36,080
Speaker 4: shouldn't be, and so a lot of it is just

277
00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:39,760
Speaker 4: kind of how things have been, how things have just been,

278
00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:43,159
Speaker 4: and it's just what they're used to. So just trying

279
00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:47,760
Speaker 4: to talk to folks on different ways to incorporate soil

280
00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:53,240
Speaker 4: health practices or or conservation practices into their farming routines,

281
00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:57,119
Speaker 4: their tillage practices. And we actually have been we have

282
00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:59,439
Speaker 4: actually and this is kind of a carrot too, you know,

283
00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:04,960
Speaker 4: we we've been we've been recognized nationally by through this

284
00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:09,560
Speaker 4: it's called the Minnesota Egg Water Quality Certification Program. And Cameron,

285
00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:12,800
Speaker 4: what's the what's the total acreages on that? For how

286
00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:15,399
Speaker 4: much has been implemented in at.

287
00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:17,840
Speaker 5: The end of twenty twenty three, we just surpassed a

288
00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:22,480
Speaker 5: million acres in the whole state. I haven't gotten Ryan's

289
00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:24,320
Speaker 5: board report yet, so I don't know what the updated

290
00:18:24,359 --> 00:18:25,679
Speaker 5: numbers for Carlton County is.

291
00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:29,160
Speaker 4: But yeah, so, I mean it's it's great to show

292
00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:32,760
Speaker 4: folks that too. You know, folks are doing it, and

293
00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,680
Speaker 4: and there's challenges all the time in trying to talk

294
00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:39,879
Speaker 4: to folks about conservation. But if you've got programs that

295
00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,840
Speaker 4: can help fund fund these practices, if you've got folks

296
00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:46,840
Speaker 4: like us that just want to help or not regulating,

297
00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:49,960
Speaker 4: I mean, that's that kind of helps us out too.

298
00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:56,399
Speaker 2: What would be like the top three reasons somebody should

299
00:18:56,400 --> 00:19:00,520
Speaker 2: get in touch with their local soil and water conservation district?

300
00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:07,160
Speaker 4: Well, top three, man, I went, I'll give my top

301
00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:10,520
Speaker 4: three camera and maybe you give your top three, because sure,

302
00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:13,960
Speaker 4: we work with a bunch of different folks. So I

303
00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,040
Speaker 4: guess what I've been really excited about recently is we've

304
00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:20,600
Speaker 4: had the opportunity to work with kids in schools. You know,

305
00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:23,720
Speaker 4: so kids need to get outside more in my opinion,

306
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,800
Speaker 4: and outdoors is just great. I think everybody should should

307
00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:30,000
Speaker 4: try to go hiking and hunting and fishing as much

308
00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:31,800
Speaker 4: as they can, because it's it's the best thing to

309
00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:34,800
Speaker 4: do in your free time, right, So, you know, having

310
00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,760
Speaker 4: the opportunity to work with schools. And I just did

311
00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:41,879
Speaker 4: a I just applied for a grant through the Minnesota

312
00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:45,640
Speaker 4: Department of Agriculture to do some invasive species work in

313
00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:49,359
Speaker 4: the Cloque School Forest. So what we did there is,

314
00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:52,240
Speaker 4: I guess just a brief overview. What we did there

315
00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:57,160
Speaker 4: is we went and did a kind of an identification

316
00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:00,280
Speaker 4: class with the kids. I think it was sixth grade grade,

317
00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:04,359
Speaker 4: fifth grade. And then I went out there and and

318
00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:06,920
Speaker 4: taught them how to do some mapping with ed maps

319
00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:11,200
Speaker 4: and then uh, they actually did some removal themselves and

320
00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:13,520
Speaker 4: then watched a contractor do the work. You know, we

321
00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:15,399
Speaker 4: were able to pay for all of that through a grant.

322
00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:18,879
Speaker 4: So that was pretty cool just to involve the kids

323
00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:23,560
Speaker 4: like that. And then you know, if you're another reason

324
00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:25,359
Speaker 4: why you want to you might want to involve you

325
00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:28,399
Speaker 4: might want to contract contact us to b CD is

326
00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:33,080
Speaker 4: the erosion. So you've got erosion along your shoreline, your

327
00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:35,760
Speaker 4: mow into the your mon to the shoreline edge, and

328
00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:39,680
Speaker 4: you've got some sluffing going on, You've got some ice

329
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:43,000
Speaker 4: heating going on and uh, we really try to encourage

330
00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:47,080
Speaker 4: planting those really deep ritted, those really deep ritted native plants.

331
00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:50,840
Speaker 4: So like up here we've got cone flowers, black eyed Susans,

332
00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:55,240
Speaker 4: purple prarie clovers, a whole bunch of different native plants.

333
00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:58,399
Speaker 4: And then what's been really fun to do is just habitat.

334
00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:00,879
Speaker 4: We really like, I really love putting habitat back on

335
00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,679
Speaker 4: the landscape. And my previous job down at Scott's Soyland

336
00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:07,439
Speaker 4: Water I was down there for about I don't know,

337
00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:11,560
Speaker 4: eight nine nine years and just converting those large acres

338
00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:16,119
Speaker 4: of corn and beans to to pollinate or habitat doesn't

339
00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,640
Speaker 4: habitat your habitat, And it's just been really fun to do.

340
00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:26,600
Speaker 2: And I imagine you run into landowners who are like, oh,

341
00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:28,960
Speaker 2: the streams eroding my property. I need to put in

342
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,840
Speaker 2: a retaining wall, and you get this opportunity to be like,

343
00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:35,720
Speaker 2: you know that that's an option, but this is the

344
00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:40,359
Speaker 2: downstream effects of what a retaining wall would do. And

345
00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:44,520
Speaker 2: your your water always flows downstream, doesn't stop the three

346
00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:49,600
Speaker 2: strand barb wire fence, right, and you can plant stuff

347
00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:53,439
Speaker 2: at relatively low cost. I imagine there's all sorts of

348
00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:58,760
Speaker 2: matching incentives, even tax incentives to do this as well.

349
00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:05,800
Speaker 2: And then here the byproducts of planting native things that

350
00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:10,680
Speaker 2: retain that soil that you probably didn't even think about,

351
00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:16,159
Speaker 2: which is you know, native bird species, pollinator species, and

352
00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:19,320
Speaker 2: and just something a little prettier to look at. Right.

353
00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:26,199
Speaker 5: Absolutely, yeah, and I'll answer my top three reasons for

354
00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:28,679
Speaker 5: somebody to get in touch with us too. So I

355
00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:30,960
Speaker 5: guess this is kind of hyper local to our portion

356
00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:34,040
Speaker 5: of the state. But let's say you have a property

357
00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:37,119
Speaker 5: on or near water, like you were talking about there, Ryan,

358
00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:41,240
Speaker 5: and you want to do what you can do to

359
00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:44,200
Speaker 5: keep the water quality of your lake or the river

360
00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:47,320
Speaker 5: that's in your backyard in good shape, but you don't

361
00:22:47,359 --> 00:22:50,160
Speaker 5: know what the best way to do that is. We're

362
00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:52,400
Speaker 5: your local experts, So you'd get in touch with us

363
00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:56,040
Speaker 5: and we'd likely come out, and I guess Alyssa would

364
00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:59,600
Speaker 5: likely come out and help you kind of figure out

365
00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:02,280
Speaker 5: how to go about planting a buffer between you know,

366
00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:04,280
Speaker 5: your mode lawn and the lake.

367
00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:05,880
Speaker 1: Number two.

368
00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:10,960
Speaker 5: Another large land used up here is forest. And so

369
00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:13,480
Speaker 5: let's say you have a forested property and you want

370
00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:15,639
Speaker 5: to manage it for trails, you want to manage it

371
00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:19,560
Speaker 5: for bird watching. You want to manage it for rough

372
00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:23,439
Speaker 5: grouse habitat, but again you don't know exactly how to

373
00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:26,280
Speaker 5: do that. You'd like to get some financial assistance because

374
00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:29,480
Speaker 5: some of those practices can be a little spendy. You'd

375
00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:31,840
Speaker 5: get in touch with our forester in our office here

376
00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:34,959
Speaker 5: and he'd come walk the property with you, and and

377
00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:38,199
Speaker 5: you know, potentially righte a woodland stewardship plan for you,

378
00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:40,840
Speaker 5: and and we cost share some of those forestry practices.

379
00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:45,720
Speaker 5: And number three is just let's say that you you're

380
00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:47,879
Speaker 5: a good hearted person and you just or you know,

381
00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,680
Speaker 5: you value bird watching or watching bumblebees in your backyard,

382
00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:53,560
Speaker 5: and you just want to do something that that kind

383
00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:57,440
Speaker 5: of helps, let's say monarch butterflies. You'd get in touch

384
00:23:57,480 --> 00:23:59,960
Speaker 5: with us at the sw CD to get some experted

385
00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:03,600
Speaker 5: vice and get a get a plan written up, and

386
00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:06,160
Speaker 5: we can help cast share most of those practices too,

387
00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:08,160
Speaker 5: so we can help pay for some of those practices.

388
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:14,479
Speaker 5: So I guess the lake shore, you know, river front topic,

389
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:17,760
Speaker 5: the forest topic, and just the general habitat topic are

390
00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:19,920
Speaker 5: kind of the top three that come to my mind.

391
00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:22,760
Speaker 4: And you know, we keep talking about cost here too,

392
00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:26,840
Speaker 4: and I'm sure you guys are familiar with the CRP

393
00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:31,520
Speaker 4: or Conservation Reserve program, familiar with the Environmental Quality and

394
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:35,720
Speaker 4: the Environmental Quality and sid UP program. These are federal programs.

395
00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,880
Speaker 4: And what's really great about I mean, we use those

396
00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:42,440
Speaker 4: funds too. But what we what we again pride ourselves on,

397
00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,639
Speaker 4: is we have lots of local funding. And so with

398
00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:49,119
Speaker 4: a lot of these different programs, you're waiting maybe a

399
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:53,200
Speaker 4: year to know if you're getting funded. Where with stolen

400
00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:56,919
Speaker 4: water districts we have we have monthly board meetings and

401
00:24:57,119 --> 00:25:02,160
Speaker 4: projects are getting approved every month. So a landowner like today,

402
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:04,520
Speaker 4: I have a landowners sent an application today for our

403
00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:07,320
Speaker 4: board meeting that's on Monday, and knocked on wood, they

404
00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:09,720
Speaker 4: make the decision, the board does, but that project is

405
00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:12,800
Speaker 4: going to be funded on Monday, so they can get

406
00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:16,840
Speaker 4: going and get their project going next week if they want.

407
00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:19,639
Speaker 2: How many soil and Water conservation districts are there? How

408
00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:22,560
Speaker 2: do people find their local.

409
00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:25,800
Speaker 5: I believe there's eighty nine in the state. We have

410
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:29,280
Speaker 5: eighty seven counties. Every county's got one. We just have

411
00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:31,520
Speaker 5: a couple huge counties in the states. So Saint Louis

412
00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:33,639
Speaker 5: County just to our north is like the size of

413
00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:36,200
Speaker 5: Rhode Island. So they've split that county up into two.

414
00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:39,200
Speaker 5: And I'm not sure what other counties split into two,

415
00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:42,879
Speaker 5: but there's eighty nine of them in Minnesota and a

416
00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:44,959
Speaker 5: bunch more across the United States.

417
00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:47,000
Speaker 1: So I would just type.

418
00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:50,720
Speaker 5: In your county name Soil and Water Conservation District, and

419
00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:53,520
Speaker 5: I'd imagine, you know, most if not all of them

420
00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:55,600
Speaker 5: have a website with some phone numbers that you can

421
00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:56,240
Speaker 5: give a call to.

422
00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:57,760
Speaker 2: That's great.

423
00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:02,040
Speaker 3: I have a quick question here. As you're describing a

424
00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:05,600
Speaker 3: lot of these things. It seems like these are things

425
00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:09,760
Speaker 3: I imagine a state DNR would do. So what is

426
00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:14,720
Speaker 3: your relationship with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources do you?

427
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:16,840
Speaker 3: I imagine you work with them very closely, But how

428
00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:18,840
Speaker 3: exactly are you related to them?

429
00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:23,320
Speaker 4: Well, they're uh, I mean we partner with them, like you,

430
00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:26,960
Speaker 4: like you said, on on lots of different on lots

431
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:31,639
Speaker 4: of different things. Actually, So like for instance, I in Minnesota,

432
00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:35,000
Speaker 4: we have this really really amazing some folks think it's amazing.

433
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:37,639
Speaker 4: It's called the Wetland Conservation Act. It was established in

434
00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:42,360
Speaker 4: nineteen ninety one, and we ultimately, you know, we want

435
00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:47,680
Speaker 4: to protect our wetlands. So but the Wetland Conservation Act.

436
00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:50,640
Speaker 4: The folks that administer that are either is your local

437
00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:53,800
Speaker 4: government unit, so here in Carlton it's the county and

438
00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:56,800
Speaker 4: then the Board of Water and Solar Resources, which is

439
00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:00,280
Speaker 4: state and the Soil and Water Conservation districts, and then

440
00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:03,480
Speaker 4: the Department of Natural Resources, so we work with them

441
00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:08,960
Speaker 4: monthly with wetlands and then, uh, you know, if we're

442
00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:11,280
Speaker 4: doing a trout if we're doing a project on a

443
00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:15,399
Speaker 4: trout stream, we'll have to get some some permitting through DNR.

444
00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:19,000
Speaker 4: Like I said the other yesterday, I was at a

445
00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:22,040
Speaker 4: invasis species meeting in DNR was present for that too.

446
00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:25,080
Speaker 4: And then you know, I don't think Cameron has really

447
00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:27,560
Speaker 4: talked about this much, but our one watershed one plans

448
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:31,399
Speaker 4: we just received, man, I think like two million dollars

449
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:34,560
Speaker 4: to do conservation projects in the Saint Louis River watershed,

450
00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:39,280
Speaker 4: and dn R was really involved in helping plan and

451
00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:42,920
Speaker 4: this is kind of Cameron's Cameron's deal, but DNR was

452
00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:45,080
Speaker 4: involved in planning that too.

453
00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:49,200
Speaker 5: Yeah, So I guess Dionar touches on a couple of

454
00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:53,040
Speaker 5: different side of things. Lisa mentioned the permitting and the

455
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:59,679
Speaker 5: Wetland Conservation Act side of things, but Minnesota just recently

456
00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:03,800
Speaker 5: has started within the last ten years, has started this

457
00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:07,280
Speaker 5: program called One Watershed One Plan and it's it's a

458
00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:13,800
Speaker 5: natural resource management program that focuses on watersheds instead of

459
00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:18,720
Speaker 5: jurisdictional boundaries. And so towards the beginning of the plan

460
00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:22,399
Speaker 5: development process, the DNR actually comes up with what they

461
00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:27,600
Speaker 5: call a Landscape steward or yeah, Landscape Stewardship Plan LSP,

462
00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:33,159
Speaker 5: and that includes all this different data about our natural

463
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:37,840
Speaker 5: resources from forestry to egg to water quality to you know,

464
00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:43,400
Speaker 5: outstanding resources like wild rice and and trout habitat and

465
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,200
Speaker 5: sturgeon habitat. And that is the kind of the foundational

466
00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:52,040
Speaker 5: data that we build our One Watershed One Plan off

467
00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:55,440
Speaker 5: of what comes out of One Watershed One Plan planning

468
00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:59,800
Speaker 5: process is called a Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, which is

469
00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:04,040
Speaker 5: a ten year plan that is very intensive and it

470
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:06,800
Speaker 5: kind of gets down to every two years, we have

471
00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:09,600
Speaker 5: a set of goals we want to achieve in each

472
00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:14,160
Speaker 5: or one of these specific topics from wetlands to storm water,

473
00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:19,760
Speaker 5: to forests to rivers and streams to lakes, and yeah,

474
00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:23,160
Speaker 5: the DNR is very involved with that, especially upfront when

475
00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:27,440
Speaker 5: with data acquisition and some mapping that they provide us

476
00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:30,560
Speaker 5: to kind of build that plan off of what.

477
00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:35,000
Speaker 2: I guess, what are the biggest threats that Soil and

478
00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:41,280
Speaker 2: Water Conservation District sees when even when these planning periods

479
00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:46,080
Speaker 2: come up, the different interests involved, What do you what

480
00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:48,160
Speaker 2: do folks need to be aware of and why why

481
00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:49,280
Speaker 2: should they be engaged?

482
00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:51,400
Speaker 1: I'll jump in on that one.

483
00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:54,360
Speaker 5: So one thing, I wouldn't call it a threat, but

484
00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:57,760
Speaker 5: it is absolutely a barrier to you know, implementing these

485
00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:01,000
Speaker 5: conservation practices. Is folks just aren't aware of what an

486
00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:03,720
Speaker 5: sw CD is. We mentioned it a little bit earlier,

487
00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:07,360
Speaker 5: but we are not a regulatory entity. We are strictly

488
00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:10,920
Speaker 5: here for voluntary purposes. And that's what I see a

489
00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:14,200
Speaker 5: lot of beauty in that you can choose to work

490
00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:18,080
Speaker 5: with us or not. And so just understanding that sw

491
00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:20,760
Speaker 5: CDs are here to help. We're here to give advice,

492
00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:22,560
Speaker 5: We're not here to tell you what to do, and

493
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:24,880
Speaker 5: we're not here to to give you a fine if

494
00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:29,280
Speaker 5: you're doing something wrong. So I guess you know that

495
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,640
Speaker 5: kind of public awareness is I wouldn't call it a threat,

496
00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:34,480
Speaker 5: but it's a it's definitely a barrier.

497
00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:38,960
Speaker 1: ALYSSA, do you have any anything to add, I would

498
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:39,360
Speaker 1: say that.

499
00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:43,240
Speaker 4: Is the biggest barrier for sure. Folks just you know,

500
00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:45,800
Speaker 4: we're a government in a way, you know, so people

501
00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:49,200
Speaker 4: are just some folks are wearing government, which is okay.

502
00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:50,400
Speaker 6: You know.

503
00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:55,600
Speaker 2: So what's the education step, the easy education step. Does

504
00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:59,520
Speaker 2: the soil and water conservation districts have newsletters that they

505
00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:05,800
Speaker 2: send out? How to how do folks get educated in

506
00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:06,800
Speaker 2: their local areas?

507
00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:11,160
Speaker 4: What's been really fun is, uh we do. So what

508
00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:14,840
Speaker 4: our jam has been lately is sending out these letters

509
00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,040
Speaker 4: to folks. So, for instance, we just did a targeted

510
00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:20,280
Speaker 4: mailing to folks that live along the Midway River, which

511
00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:23,840
Speaker 4: is excellent trout trout stream, and we want to we

512
00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:25,960
Speaker 4: don't want folks to be mowing. We don't want folks

513
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,320
Speaker 4: to be you know, doing all this stuff to affect

514
00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:31,360
Speaker 4: the water quality there and the habitat. So we sent

515
00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:34,560
Speaker 4: out some targeted letters to these folks and then we

516
00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:37,959
Speaker 4: put on a workshop and unfortunately that workshop was closed.

517
00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:40,080
Speaker 4: It was last week and man, we got like two

518
00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:43,920
Speaker 4: feet of snow I think last Monday. But uh, we.

519
00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:44,360
Speaker 1: Do, we do.

520
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:46,320
Speaker 4: We do things like that. We'll put on workshops, like

521
00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:49,640
Speaker 4: for instance, we just did two ring guard to creator

522
00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:52,480
Speaker 4: ring garden workshops where we made it super simple. Folks

523
00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:55,040
Speaker 4: can come and learn how to put in and put

524
00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:57,400
Speaker 4: in a ring garden. I'll buy themselves on their own property.

525
00:31:57,720 --> 00:31:59,640
Speaker 4: They're about an hour and a half long. In the evening,

526
00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:02,880
Speaker 4: we provide cookies, snacks, streets. Who doesn't like treats, and

527
00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:05,640
Speaker 4: so we do lots of work. We do lots of

528
00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:08,760
Speaker 4: different workshops, and we will do some educational mailings like

529
00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:11,080
Speaker 4: flyers and brochures and things like that.

530
00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:12,640
Speaker 1: I'll add too.

531
00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:17,360
Speaker 5: In Minnesota, lake associations are kind of a big thing.

532
00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:18,400
Speaker 1: You know.

533
00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:20,240
Speaker 5: It's kind of a group of people that all live

534
00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:24,560
Speaker 5: or own property around a lake. And I attend a

535
00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:27,680
Speaker 5: few of those lake Association meetings every month or quarter

536
00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:32,080
Speaker 5: or twice a year bi annually. I attend some of

537
00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:35,000
Speaker 5: those just to sit in. If people have questions they

538
00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:37,800
Speaker 5: can ask. I like to hear kind of what what

539
00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:40,120
Speaker 5: the you know, the current topic of conversation is. And

540
00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:42,640
Speaker 5: it's always interesting to me and it's very cool to

541
00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:44,959
Speaker 5: see what people kind of do on their own. So

542
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:48,160
Speaker 5: we attend kind of those local group meetings lake lake

543
00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:52,200
Speaker 5: associations different you know, local conservation organization meetings.

544
00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:55,840
Speaker 1: We do write a write and send.

545
00:32:55,600 --> 00:33:00,840
Speaker 5: Out a monthly email newsletter to to folks who subscribe.

546
00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:04,480
Speaker 5: You can type in Carlton sw CD dot org and

547
00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:06,840
Speaker 5: scroll down to the bottom of the homepage and sign

548
00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:10,480
Speaker 5: up for our newsletter if you're interested. We try to

549
00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:12,520
Speaker 5: get on the local news stations every now and then

550
00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:15,000
Speaker 5: if we're doing something interesting, we'll always you know, send

551
00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:17,120
Speaker 5: an email like I sent out to you guys saying, hey,

552
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:19,360
Speaker 5: we're doing this cool thing. Yeah, it might be cool,

553
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:22,000
Speaker 5: it might be a of interest to you to to

554
00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:25,400
Speaker 5: do a little you know, thirty second, one minute clip

555
00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:26,800
Speaker 5: on it on the evening news.

556
00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:27,560
Speaker 3: Uh.

557
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:30,600
Speaker 5: We get on the radio stations every now and then. Yeah,

558
00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:33,280
Speaker 5: and those events are big. We get pretty good turnout

559
00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:36,320
Speaker 5: to those things because kind of like Alyssa said, we

560
00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:37,960
Speaker 5: we go through a lot of this data and we're like,

561
00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:39,680
Speaker 5: all right, what's the best bang for our buck?

562
00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:41,200
Speaker 1: Who should we send these invites out to.

563
00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:45,840
Speaker 5: So we send paper invitations to, you know, our targeted audience,

564
00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:48,120
Speaker 5: but we also open those up to the public and

565
00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:51,480
Speaker 5: they're they're in the newspaper. We we pay for ads

566
00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:54,120
Speaker 5: to put in the newspaper. We we get those ads

567
00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:58,000
Speaker 5: aired on the radio, put it on Facebook and Instagram

568
00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:00,600
Speaker 5: and all that all that good stuff for we're getting

569
00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:02,680
Speaker 5: kind of creative with our outreach strategies.

570
00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:05,680
Speaker 4: So and you know, we like to think that we're smart,

571
00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:08,719
Speaker 4: but there are some smarter folks out there in the

572
00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:13,280
Speaker 4: conservation world. And we'll do these education events with with

573
00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:16,200
Speaker 4: with partners that like, for instance, you have them Extension.

574
00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:20,360
Speaker 4: We work closely with them too. This guy from PCA

575
00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:22,640
Speaker 4: was supposed to come and present at this trailer and

576
00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:25,400
Speaker 4: restoration workshop we were supposed to put on last week.

577
00:34:26,200 --> 00:34:29,439
Speaker 4: So and like in our Natural Resources Conservation Service, they've

578
00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:31,920
Speaker 4: got to office up in Duluth. We work a lot

579
00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:36,520
Speaker 4: with them with agriculture, with engineering, designing things like that,

580
00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:39,799
Speaker 4: and so we're bringing in our partners. We just we've

581
00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:43,120
Speaker 4: got this endless list of partners where we're all supporting

582
00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:46,319
Speaker 4: each other, we support them and it's just really great.

583
00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:49,280
Speaker 4: And especially up here in northern Minnesota, we have smaller

584
00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:53,120
Speaker 4: communities and we just really value that the culture up here.

585
00:34:53,680 --> 00:34:59,040
Speaker 4: Folks are really into into the environment. And so yeah,

586
00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:01,680
Speaker 4: we're you know, we're doing we're doing all these workshops,

587
00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:04,560
Speaker 4: not just us where we're come with other folks too.

588
00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:08,680
Speaker 5: And I got to add to one really creative way

589
00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:11,080
Speaker 5: of doing some outreach and providing a service for the

590
00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:14,600
Speaker 5: community that Lissa is spearheaded. I want to say twenty

591
00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:17,040
Speaker 5: nineteen or twenty twenty was our native plant kit and

592
00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:22,399
Speaker 5: seed mixed sale. So we partner with a company kind

593
00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:25,360
Speaker 5: of west in the western part of Minnesota, Minnesota or

594
00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:30,000
Speaker 5: they're called MNL and they grow native plants, plant kits

595
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:34,520
Speaker 5: and seed mix and they sell seed mixes. So we

596
00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:38,400
Speaker 5: feature we kind of host a sale through the district

597
00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:41,799
Speaker 5: up here. You know, there's kind of a demand out

598
00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:45,920
Speaker 5: there for people that want high quality native plants, and

599
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:49,880
Speaker 5: we are kind of just a middleman between MNL and

600
00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:52,640
Speaker 5: the folks up here that want those plant kits and

601
00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:56,480
Speaker 5: seed mixes. So although it's a sale, it's you know,

602
00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:59,399
Speaker 5: we're selling them at a discount. You know, we don't

603
00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:01,440
Speaker 5: really make any money off of it. We just want

604
00:36:01,719 --> 00:36:05,640
Speaker 5: voluntary conservation to take place and slapping up those flyers

605
00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:09,080
Speaker 5: everywhere and people walking down the street saying, oh, you've

606
00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:11,000
Speaker 5: got some you got some really nice flowers in your

607
00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:13,879
Speaker 5: front yard. Where'd you get those? That's I guess free

608
00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:16,879
Speaker 5: marketing for the SWCD. I don't know if you want

609
00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:19,240
Speaker 5: to add anything to that. Alyssa, since that's kind of

610
00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:20,560
Speaker 5: your brainchild.

611
00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:24,960
Speaker 4: We've been the largest sale in Minnesota with this community

612
00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:27,680
Speaker 4: have a TAP partnership program for about four years now.

613
00:36:28,239 --> 00:36:31,600
Speaker 4: We sold two hundred twenty kits. Our record was two

614
00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:35,840
Speaker 4: hunder twenty kits two years ago and we're already past

615
00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:39,480
Speaker 4: that as of today, and our sale goes through July

616
00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:43,760
Speaker 4: fourteenth or June fourteenth. And I mean that puts acres

617
00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:46,520
Speaker 4: and acres of habitat on the ground with voluntary conservation.

618
00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:48,799
Speaker 4: We're not paying folks to do this. They just want

619
00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:51,959
Speaker 4: to do it by themselves. So it's just really cool

620
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:54,359
Speaker 4: to see. And ultimately that's our goal as the Soil

621
00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:58,120
Speaker 4: and Water Conservation District is that we want folks to

622
00:36:58,120 --> 00:36:59,920
Speaker 4: do this stuff by themselves. You know, we can prove

623
00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:03,520
Speaker 4: the knowledge, we can provide the engineering, the design, the serving,

624
00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:06,919
Speaker 4: we can do all of that for free and then

625
00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:11,120
Speaker 4: hopefully that landowner, that entity will just implement this project

626
00:37:11,239 --> 00:37:13,839
Speaker 4: or this practice on their own on their own dime.

627
00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:19,000
Speaker 2: Absolutely, let's put us all out of jobs, right, But

628
00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:22,160
Speaker 2: it is. It's word of mouth. It's having that awesome

629
00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:29,640
Speaker 2: flower bed out on the street, or that nice cool

630
00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:35,240
Speaker 2: corner where all the brook trout collect because the neighbor

631
00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:38,000
Speaker 2: next doors doesn't have any of that, right, it doesn't

632
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:40,840
Speaker 2: have any overhead cover. So a lot of looking across

633
00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:45,040
Speaker 2: the fence can be healthy sometimes, right. So in this

634
00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:48,719
Speaker 2: modern age, you can find your local Soil and Water

635
00:37:48,719 --> 00:37:53,320
Speaker 2: Conservation district. There's a lot of help and resources there,

636
00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:57,920
Speaker 2: and ultimately it's going to make your place, your property

637
00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:03,600
Speaker 2: values go up, your peace of mind is going to

638
00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:07,040
Speaker 2: be much more healthy, and it's probably gonna be a

639
00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:10,239
Speaker 2: place that the kids or grandkids want to come back

640
00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:13,640
Speaker 2: to and hang out because you put in that work

641
00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:16,720
Speaker 2: ahead of time. So thank you very much for coming

642
00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:19,319
Speaker 2: on and shedding some light on the Soil and Water

643
00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:23,160
Speaker 2: Conservation District. And we'll circle back up with you if

644
00:38:23,239 --> 00:38:26,640
Speaker 2: we get folks you write in to ask c A L.

645
00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:30,759
Speaker 2: Let's askcal at the meeteater dot com. Uh you have questions,

646
00:38:31,280 --> 00:38:34,279
Speaker 2: let us know and we'll talk to you next week.

647
00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:45,080
Speaker 5: Thanks again, thanks for having us you