balmm currents   
Basin Alliance for the Lower Mississippi in Minnesota
June 17, 2003

BALMM Meeting: PROJECT PREPARATIONS PROCEEDING APACE: The May non-meeting of BALMM operatives gave birth to idea kernels for nine new 319 project proposals. While not all are likely to survive the winnowing process, it's likely that most will continue to be developed for possible funding.  Brief descriptions of the projects will be distributed for comment and discussion at the June 18 BALMM meeting (9-12 am, Rochester MPCA). Other agenda items include: CREP Update from Bev Nordby (RIM Reserve got some funding; several commissioners met with the governor); Joint grant proposal with Minnesota Project to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, presented by Loni Kemp; and "Effects of Cattle in Creek on Water Quality," presented by Robert Nelson, La Crosse County.  

CATTLE IN THE CREEK: UPSTREAM/DOWNSTREAM: A La Crosse County base flow monitoring study was conducted to estimate the impact of cattle in streams on fecal coliform and phosphorus concentrations.  Example. Monitoring data from April 23,1998, showed fecal coliform concentrations upstream of calves in downstream pasture to be 75 organisms/100 ml. Downstream, the concentration was 12,000 organisms/100 ml. Magnitudes varied, but the pattern persists. Robert Nelson, who conducted the study, will describe how the study was designed and conducted, and how La Crosse County is using the data, at the BALMM meeting June 18. 

MINNESOTA PROJECT/BALMM JOINT APPLICATION CLEARS FIRST HURDLE: A project "pre-proposal" to support enrolling farmers in conservation programs in southeast Minnesota has been selected for submission of a full proposal to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation under the organization's General Challenge Grant Program.  The proposal, authored by Loni Kemp, proposes to conduct outreach in 12 counties in southeast Minnesota to inform farmers about conservation incentives available in the 2002 Farm Bill. Working through BALMM and individual county units of government, the project will attempt to promote enrollment in order to make changes in farming practices targeted to improving identified fish and wildlife habitat needs and landscape diversity. The full proposal is due July 15, 2003.  Loni Kemp will lead a discussion of this project at the June 18 BALMM meeting.  

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME, THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME, THERE'S...Your basin coordinator returns from a month in Germany, starts speed-reading about 840 email messages, and stops to read one that says the Upper Mississippi River Basin is one of the 10 most beautiful places to visit in the entire United States.  Says who? Says USA Magazine in their May 18, 2003 edition.  Here's what the magazine wrote: "For third-place honors, we turn to an area less celebrated than others, but nonetheless packed with the unique beauty our nation abounds in. Its low profile makes it all the more charming. To truly appreciate the Mississippi, we leave the familiar territory of Huck and Tom and take a spin on the Great River Road as it runs alongside Old Muddy's upper reaches through Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. One of the nation's most scenic routes, it winds over hills, atop towering bluffs and through one 19th-century river town after another. The sites along the way read like chapters in American history. Ancient Indian burial mounds punctuate rolling parkland, sidewheelers ply the river, and villages on either bank present fine examples of Steamboat Gothic, the ornate architectural style born in the heyday of river travel. In Galena, Ill., 85% of the buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places. At Trempealeau, Wis., the Trempealeau Hotel has offered haven to watermen since 1888. The whole laid-back region's real draw is the river itself. Steady and timeless, it makes one fine traveling companion as it rolls toward the Gulf.

HERBICIDE BMPs AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW: The Minnesota Department of Agriculture determined last year that the herbicides atrazine, metolachlor and metribuzin are present in Minnesota groundwater as a result of normal use of the products and associated practices. Groundwater monitoring data used to reach this conclusion can be found at the MDA web site at <Http://www.mda.state.mn.us/appd/ace/02datareport.pdf>. The MDA is required to develop voluntary Best Management Practices to prevent or minimize pollution for such chemicals. A draft copy of the BMPs is now available for public comments, which will be accepted through July 1, 2003, at the following web site: http.//www.mda.state.mn.us/appd/bmps/bmps/htm, click on Draft: Pesticide-Specific BMPs for Agronomic Crops. Please submit comments by letter or email to Gregg Regimbal, MDA-APPD, 90 West Plato Blvd., St Paul, MN 55107-2094.

CONSERVATION COMPLIANCE COMPROMISED, SAYS GAO: In a new report, USDA Needs to Better Ensure Protection of Highly Erodible Cropland and Wetlands, <http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03418.pdf> the U.S. General Accounting Office finds that USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service has not consistently implemented the conservation provisions of the 1985 Food Security Act.  As a result, some farmers receive federal farm payments even if they convert wetlands to cropland or allow their soil to erode at higher rates than the law allows.  According to the report, almost half of Conservation Service field offices do not implement the conservation provisions.  The report recommends that USDA increase oversight of the field offices' compliance reviews and ensure that all waivers of noncompliance determinations have adequate justification.  For further information, contact Lawrence Dyckman, telephone (202)512-3841 or email dyckmanl@gao.gov. - From Northeast Midwest Institute Agriculture and Nutrition Update.

CANNON RIVER FESTIVAL COMING AUG. 2: The Cannon River Watershed Partnership is hosting its second Cannon River Festival in Bridge Square, in downtown Northfield, August 2, 2003. Organizations are invited to staff informational exhibits at the event at no cost ($10 or $20 charged for table and chairs for non-profits and other types of organizations, respectively). The event, which drew more than 400 visitors last year, will be held from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, with exhibit setup time at 9:00. Please reserve exhibit space no later than July 21. For more information, contact Joey Robinson at 507-645-7094.

DNR STREAM ASSESSMENT AND MONITORING WORKSHOP AUG. 25-29 AT WHITEWATER RIVER:  A stream assessment and monitoring workshop is being offered by the Minnesota Chapter of the American Fisheries Society and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The workshop is designed to teach natural resource staff to effectively determine a stream's health, or condition, and to monitor it over time. Concepts taught will include sediment transport, causes and rates of erosion, the use of biological indicators, and understanding riparian vegetation, using techniques such as surveying, Pfankuch's Stability Rating, biological sampling, Bank Erosion Hazard Index, suspended and bedload sediment sampling, and various channel monitoring techniques including bank pins and bed chains. The workshop will be a combination of lecture and field exercises. Workshop presenters will include Luther Aadland, Ian Chisholm, Karen Terry, and Kevin Zytkovicz, all with the MN DNR/Division of Ecological Services, Jason Moeckel with the MN DNR/Division of Fisheries, and Sandy Verry with the U.S. Forest Service/North Central Research Station.

Attendees are required to have a solid understanding of Rosgen's stream classification method and basic fluvial geomorphology; completion of a stream classification course taught by MN DNR/Ecological Services, Dave Rosgen, or Lyle Steffen is a prerequisite for this workshop.

The workshop will be held 25-29 August at Whitewater State Park near Elba, MN, from 1 p.m. on Monday through noon on Friday. The registration fee is $500, which includes all classroom materials and field equipment, three lunches, and one dinner. Students will be on their own for all other meals. The class is limited to 40 students; spaces will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Students should bring appropriate field attire (e.g., chest waders and rain gear), expect to get dirty during field work, and come prepared to actively participate in problem-solving lessons.

To register or to get more information, call Karen Terry at 218-739-7449 or email karen.terry@dnr.state.mn.us.

WATERSHED HEROES CORE4 CONFERENCE TO BE HELD JUNE 18-20TH Farmers, natural resource specialists, certified crop advisers, school teachers and others from across the nation are invited to attend the three-day Watershed Heroes Core4 Conference at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter and nearby field sites from June 18 - 20.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA), the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) are co-sponsoring the conference.

Those in attendance will have the opportunity to tour a cheese plant in Le Sueur, hear a presentation on dairy nutrient management and methane to energy production, visit a drainage research site in Waseca, participate in in-field activities on the Eckberg Farm near Norseland, and visit a wetland site with Mueller Habitat Restoration.  They'll have the chance to attend workshops about reducing nitrates in tile drainage, various aspects of manure management, streambank erosion and pesticide effects on both humans and wildlife.  Various learning stations will offer equipment demonstrations, a field-scouting remote control airplane, a device to measure compaction forces in the soil, and an engine running on biodiesel made from hog manure.  Speakers will discuss conservation, the Farm Bill, biological control of leafy spurge and a plan to restore waters impaired by fecal coliform in southeast Minnesota (presented by Norman Senjem from MPCA), among many other topics.

Regular registration is $200 and will be taken until May 31.  Late registration is $250 and will be taken after June 1 or until full.  Single day registration and a special fee for college students and certified crop advisers are also available.  A complete conference agenda, registration form, and sponsorship information are available on-line at www.fb.org/programs/waterheroes or by calling the AFBF at 847-685-8782.

SINKER SWAPS SCHEDULED: St. Paul, Minnesota, June 12, 2003 - The Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance (OEA) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are partnering with retailers, conservation, and outdoors groups to offer lead tackle exchanges across the state this summer. Over 17 lead tackle exchange events are scheduled beginning this month. Anglers can bring lead sinkers and jigs to the event to trade for non-lead ones.

"We want to offer anglers throughout Minnesota the chance to try out and compare non-lead tackle made from metals such as bitsmuth, tin, and stainless steel," said Kevin McDonald, coordinator of the OEA's non-lead tackle program.

Lead is a toxic metal that has adverse effects on the nervous and reproductive systems of mammals and birds. Found in most fishing jigs and sinkers, this metal is poisoning wildlife such as loons and eagles.

Carrol Henderson, supervisor of the DNR's Nongame Wildlife Program, is enthusiastic about the lead exchange program. "This is an excellent opportunity for people who care about wildlife to cooperate with the fishing tackle industry and reduce the amount of lead being deposited in Minnesota's lakes."

Schedule of Exchanges: For updates, visit http://www.moea.state.mn.us/reduce/sinkers.cfm.

1     Sat., June 21, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Cabela's, 3900 Cabela Drive, Owatonna
2     Fri., July 11, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Gander Mountain - Rochester
3     Fri., July 25, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Gander Mountain - Minnetonka
4     Fri.-Sat., August 1-2, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Upper Mississippi National Wildlife Refuge Celebrating a Century of Conservation at Eagle Days - Wabasha
5     Fri., August 8, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Gander Mountain - Woodbury
6     Sat., August 9, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dakota County Fair Grounds, Farmington
7     Fri., August 15, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Gander Mountain - Bloomington

This session, the Legislature considered banning the sale and use of lead tackle. But after a series of stakeholder discussions, the groups involved agreed that a better approach was to educate anglers about the alternatives to lead tackle and to offer opportunities to try out non-lead sinkers and jigs.

Along with the OEA and DNR, other partners in this summer's lead tackle exchanges include Audubon Minnesota, Cabela's, Duluth Audubon, Gander Mountain, Duluth Chapter of the Izaak Walton League, Joe's Sporting Goods, Minnesota Lakes Association and several individual lake associations, National Eagle Center, and Voyageurs National Park Association.

BEARS REPEATING: "True merit, like a river, the deeper it is, the less noise it makes."  Edward Frederick Halifax

Send comments and items for future editions to:
balmm currents editor: Norman Senjem, MPCA
Phone: 507/280-3592
Fax: 507/280-5513
norman.senjem@pca.state.mn.us