Nine Mile Creek restoration

The Hopkins stretch of Nine Mile Creek is about to get twisted. The creek, which was dug into  a straight channel in the 1960s and '70s, is going to be reformed to look more like it did before and redirected to follow its original course.

I don't know why anyone ever thought straightening rivers was a good idea, but it used to happen a lot in the U.S. Wikipedia lists a few advantages of channelization. Unfortunately, straight rivers flow much faster (try running in a straight line and then meandering along the same stretch--you'll see what I mean). This dramatically increases erosion and completely alters the ecosystem of the river or stream.

The goal of this restoration is to enhance the ecology of this section of stream. Erosion will be slower, fish will breathe easier, and birds will have fuller bellies. Hopkins is taking a small but important step toward protecting natural habitat, and Edina wants to follow suit with its section of Nine Mile Creek. Yay for my hometown!

This Star Tribune article will give you good information on the project.

Emerald ash borer in Falcon Heights

Inspectors from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture found a tree infested with the emerald ash borer on the campus of the University of Minnesota Tuesday. The tree appeared healthy, suggesting that the infestation is recent. But the ash borer has actually been in the state since 2006, according to testing done in May by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Since the infested tree is only a mile away from the first confirmed infestation, it's safe to say that the ash borer doesn't move very fast, which is good news. A quarantine is already in place in Hennepin, Ramsey, and Houston counties. But this discovery does indicate that the bugs are on the move, a bad sign for Minnesota's ash trees. The city of Falcon Heights may now begin using a $1 million fund for emergency eradication situations.

The emerald ash borer is a tiny beetle native to Asia and first discovered in the U.S. (Michigan, to be exact) in 2002. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture estimates that Minnesota is home to 867 million forestland ash trees, one of the highest concentrations in the U.S. This figure does not include our substantial number of urban ash trees.


I'm worried this little bug is going to cause even more harm than Dutch Elm disease did a few years ago. We've lost way too many trees in this state. But so far all we can do is sit back and watch helplessly.

Keep a close eye on the movement of emerald ash borers around Minnesota. They may not have speed, but they leave unmistakable destruction in their wake.


Here's the Star Tribune article on this discovery.

Christmas light recycling program

Beginning today, Snyders Drug Stores around the Twin Cities will be collecting old strings of lights to be recycled. They will even offer coupons to those who use the recycling program. Other Minnesota cities will set up recycling centers as well, including Duluth, Mankato, St. Cloud, Pine City, Pelican Rapids, Staples, Park Rapids, Crookston, and Ely. The program will continue through January 10.

This free program, "Recycle Your Holidays," is a great way to reduce waste and encourage Minnesotans to upgrade to more energy efficient LED lights. Recycling copper uses far less energy than extracting new copper, and copper is a fairly expensive metal, so this program will almost certainly pay for itself. Every part of the light strings will be recycled, so nothing will end up in a landfill.

I never knew that holiday light recycling programs existed, even though I try hard to stay on top of what can and can't be recycled. In the past, you had to mail the lights to a recycling center, so this is a big step in making recycling easier and more accessible to the general public.

The Recycling Association of Minnesota organized the program with the goal of saving energy and the hope that this idea will spread nationwide. So please take your old, broken Christmas lights to Snyders (or the nearest recycling center) and do something good for Minnesota!

Check out this MPR article for more in depth coverage. And this Whole Foods blog has some good things to say too.