Eight Martin Lake residents, in collaboration with ACD, are bundling their individual lakeshore improvement efforts into one larger project. By joining efforts, they are hoping to save money while making the work more attractive to contractors. It seems to be working, as 15 contractors joined in the bidding process!

This upcoming project is being coordinated by ACD, who has completed designs and will be providing construction management. ACD has also been able to incorporate three state grants, making the project even more affordable. In exchange, the landowners are installing lakeshore stewardship practices that go above and beyond – utilizing natural materials, native plant buffers, and aquatic vegetation for habitat. Collectively, we'll make a healthier lake.

For a fun & informative 8-minute video about healthy lakeshores, watch ACD's video "Our Lakeshore Connection." For more information contact Jamie Schurbon, Watershed Project Manager, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Minnesota boasts an impressive 12,208 lakes, as classified by the Minnesota DNR. Among them, 8,402, or roughly 69%, are classified as 'natural environment lakes.' Anoka County is home to several natural environment lakes including Fawn, South Coon, and Island Lakes.

What defines a natural environment lake? These are the smaller, shallower lakes, typically less than 150 acres in size and less than 15 feet deep. They come with numerous developmental constraints and are particularly sensitive to disturbance. With lakeshore properties in high demand across Minnesota, many natural environment lakes are now being earmarked for development. However, it's important to note that the lakeshore experience offered by these lakes might not align with the typical desires for boating or swimming that potential buyers often have.

Learn more about natural lakes on November 8th through a webinar featuring Joe Bischoff, an aquatic ecologist at Barr Engineering Co. Joe will delve into the intricacies and benefits of natural environment lakes. Additionally, some of the ongoing local conservation efforts to monitor and protect natural environment lakes will be highlighted.

Register today at tinyurl.com/small-lakes

ACD was awarded a contract with the Anoka County Parks Department to complete 2,500' of cedar tree revetments along the Rum River in Anoka County between 2023 & 2026. This project is being funded through a Clean Legacy Partners grant that was awarded to Anoka County Parks in 2023. The work will be completed through a partnership between ACD, Anoka County Parks, and the Conservation Corps of MN. 

Fall is a great time to manage buckthorn on your property. Common and glossy buckthorn are invasive woody shrubs which aggressively outcompete native plants, disrupting the habitat benefits they provide. Buckthorn chemically alters the soil, creating an inhospitable environment for other plants.
Buckthorn leaves stay green longer than most other Minnesota woodland trees and shrubs so you'll easily notice them in mid to late October.
Common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) can be found in upland forests. Look for the thorn, which can be found at the end of some branches. Glossy buckthorn (Frangula alnus) tends to grow in slightly wetter areas but can be found in a variety of habitats. There are no thorns. Look for the rust colored terminal bud.

New research from the University of MN suggests that buckthorn seeds do not persist in the soil for 6+ years as was previously thought. Their findings suggest that over 97% of seeds germinate in the first year. As you manage buckthorn, aim to prevent seed production on mature plants with mid-summer cutting and follow up with treatment of the small sprouts for the best results.

See ACD's buckthorn fact sheet for tips on identifying buckthorn, to learn about native look-alikes, and compare methods for controlling common and glossy buckthorn. For more information contact Logan Olson, Restoration Technician, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 ACD strives to build resilient pollinator corridors throughout Anoka County. This goal is accomplished by protecting and enhancing existing habitat and creating new habitat. ACD is fortunate to have local partners who also share this vision and are helping identify unused turf areas that can be converted to native plantings. ACD is currently working with the Cities of Fridley and Blaine to convert turf into prairie plantings in public green spaces. Half an acre of turf is being converted in Fridley's Commons Park and 0.3 acres of turf to prairie at Blaine's Laddie Lake Park. Staff from both cities prepared the sites and mowed the sites to prevent weeds from seeding. ACD staff seeded the sites in the spring. Members of the Cities and multiple volunteer groups planted native grasses and wildflowers to add to the seed mix.

These projects are funded by BWSR's Habitat Enhancement Landscape Pilot (HELP) grant. Other ACD HELP turf to pollinator projects are at Coon Lake County Park, Bunker Hills Regional Park and Ramsey River's Bend Park. The BWSR HELP grant also provides funds to enhance native prairies at the Cedar Creek Conservation Area, Bunker Hills Regional Park, Rum River Central Regional Park, Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Park Reserve and Mississippi West Regional Park.

One way to help these projects is to donate your native prairie seeds, including milkweed seed. See ACD's previous post about milkweed seed collection. Watch this short video to see butterfly milkweed seed cleaning. 

For more information contact Carrie Taylor, Restoration Ecologist, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Construction is set to take place in October along 630-feet of eroding Rum Riverbank at Dellwood River Park in St. Francis. Erosion of the riverbank is causing numerous trees to fall into the river and is threatening a popular local walking trail. The project design features three primary protection measures;

• 1)Two severely eroding zones of riverbank encroaching on the trail will be built back out, armored with rock riprap, and have large tree rootwads added as in-stream habitat elements. The riprapped length of bank will total approximately 180-feet in length. Large boulders will be strategically placed within the riprap to allow enhanced shore fishing opportunity.
• 2)Three bendway weirs constructed of rock will protrude at 45° into the river. These low-lying, linear features will be submerged under the water (except during very low flows), and will push flow and erosive scour back toward the middle of the channel, rather than along the outer bank. They will also add variable flow areas and habitat value in the channel. These will be great features to cast around for any fisher folks from shore!
• 3)And finally, the less severely eroding areas of riverbank will be armored with anchored cut cedar trees in a technique called a "cedar tree revetment". Cut eastern red cedars will be cabled together in a shingled fashion along the bank and secured with earth anchors driven into the soil. This is a softer armoring approach than rock which should help the bank stabilize, vegetate, and heal over time naturally before the cedar trees eventually rot away.

For more information contact Jared Wagner, Water Resource Specialist, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Do you have native milkweed plants on your property? If so, early fall is a great time to collect seed. Seeds are mature and ready for collection once they are darker brown. Milkweed pods will turn from green to brown, start to open up and reveal the brown seeds inside. Pods will continue to open up and the seed will fly out and disperse. However, it's ideal to collect seed before the pods fully open up and the seed fluff/silk develops. It is best to remove the fluff from the seed for storage. To separate the seed from the fluff, remove the entire stalk of seeds and fluff/silk from the seed pod, hold the end of the fluff/silk and gently push and pull the seeds off the fluff/silk. Watch this short video to see butterfly milkweed seed cleaning. Once the seed is "cleaned" (the fluff is removed), lay it out to dry completely, label the seed with the plant species name (common or butterfly milkweed), and write the date and location the seed was collected. Store dry seed in paper or mesh plastic bags.

ACD collaborates with Anoka County Parks and cities within Anoka County to enhance local native habitats. If you have native milkweed seed you would like to donate, ACD staff will happily take it and spread seed at appropriate locations. Contact Carrie Taylor, Restoration Ecologist, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. There will be a waterproof box outside the ACD office for seed drop off. Be sure to label the milkweed species. ACD office address: 1318 McKay Dr NE Suite 300, Ham Lake, MN 55304. 

Meet The Milkweeds 

Monarch caterpillars feed exclusively on the leaves of milkweed. Let's help feed these hungry caterpillars!

A rain garden at the Coon Lake Beach Community Center needed a little help. Originally constructed in 2015, maintenance had reached a point where a group effort was needed to reclaim the garden from weeds and silt overload. The Community Center leaders enlisted a local boy scout troop, their parents, and ACD to help.

The rain garden has an important function in the neighborhood as it is positioned near the bottom of a hill to collect street runoff. Instead of going into the lake at the bottom of the hill, the water and associated pollutants are treated by infiltration. The reduction in volume of water running towards the lake also helps alleviate shoreline erosion in specific problem spots.

In one-hour the scouts completed several renovations to bring back much of the original beauty and function. They removed four trailer loads of invasive trees including many thorny black locust. They removed sediment that had collected and was damming the rain garden entrance. Rocks and retaining walls were cleared of debris, leaving the garden with a more formal appearance and ready for the next rainfall. Great job scouts! 

Minnesota is rich in wetlands which provide numerous benefits such as flood mitigation, groundwater recharge, water quality improvement, recreation, and high-quality habitat for a wide variety of fish and wildlife species. However, many wetlands exist in a degraded state due to decades of human disturbances such as drainage and filling to increase usable land for agriculture and urban development.

Recognizing their importance, many federal, state, and local agencies have developed programs to provide technical expertise and funding for wetland restoration projects. The goal of wetland restoration is to return a wetland to its natural functions, and the nature of each project depends on the wetland's unique location, hydrology, soils, vegetation, and impacts (historic and current).

Restoring wetlands on your property adds to its ecological value and can often be financially beneficial. Understanding your options can be complicated, which is why ACD – on behalf of, and with funding from, the Rum River Watershed Partnership – created a new wetland restoration brochure. In it, you will find information on benefits, approaches, processes, and funding options common for wetland restoration projects. Click here to access the brochure below.

Anoka County Residents: ACD currently has funding to support wetland restorations benefitting the Rum River! If you live near the Rum River, believe that you have impacted wetlands on your property, and are interested in restoring them, please contact Breanna Keith, Water Resources Technician, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to learn more. 

Knotweed is a species of increasing concern with several new populations across Anoka County. Knotweeds are herbaceous shrubs characterized by a sturdy, bamboo-like stalk which can grow to over 10 feet in a single season. They grow aggressively, especially along riparian areas where they outcompete native vegetation and create bare ground which enhances erosion damage. Knotweed can also grow through sidewalks and concrete foundations, damaging infrastructure.

There are three species of knotweed in MN: Giant, Japanese, and Bohemian which is a hybrid of the first two. All three Knotweed species are on the state noxious weed list as Prohibited Control species. Efforts must be made to stop their spread and propagation. Late August into September is the easiest time to spot Knotweed infestations due to their showy white flowers. You can help keep this species under control by entering sightings into EDDMaps or reporting them to ACD staff.

See links for Giant, Japanese, and Bohemian knotweed ID and knotweed management guidance from the MDA. 

For more information contact Logan Olson, Restoration Technician, at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

The Rum River is home to unique treasures and this summer's drought has created low, clear water, ideal for treasure hunting. Seizing this opportunity, local teenage brothers Eli and Ethan are finding a myriad of historic items on the river bottom. The boys have been scouring the river by canoe. River currents push their craft at just the right pace to allow for a good scanning of the river bottom for anything out of the ordinary. They can see up to five feet down, which isn't the norm for a river that does often have the color of rum. Sightings include thousands of clam shells, rocks (some as big as refrigerators), and fish of all sorts (bass, northern, bluegill, redhorse suckers, and more). The real excitement is spotting something brown, aged, and not a natural shape. 

A few of the items found include…

• A 1950's Ford pickup tailgate. The boys disappointedly reported they were unable to find the rest of the truck.
• Four Weymann's smokeless tobacco ceramic jars from the early 1900's or maybe late 1800's. This company was the predecessor to Copenhagen. Why the jars were so abundant in the river is unknown.
• There's a Burnett's Cocoaine bottle, likely from 1900-05. This product contained no opiates but instead was a hair treatment apparently trying to capitalize on the success of "coco-" named products like Coca-Cola.
• They found a small bottle emblazoned "Sperm Sewing Machine Oil." It dates from sometime before 1970, when sperm whale hunting was outlawed. Sperm whale oil production was huge in the 1850's, and it was expensive stuff.
• There's a glass Palmolive shampoo bottle from sometime between 1898 and 1916. Other assorted bottles without clear markings are in the mix.

For more information contact Jamie Schurbon, Watershed Projects Manager, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Root boring weevils are a method of biocontrol that target knapweed without affecting surrounding native plants. As larvae, root weevils burrow into the roots of spotted knapweed and feed on them throughout winter and spring, leaving the plants dead or weakened. The weevils we released at ANP were adults who will lay their eggs at the base of the plants through early fall and hopefully begin to weaken the population of spotted knapweed within the preserve.

ANP was a promising candidate for root weevils biocontrol because the site has a large, dense population of spotted knapweed, and the weevils will not be disturbed by mowing or other land management activities. It can take several years to see the effects of the weevils, and the site will be monitored to see if they have been established. The weevils were provided by Monika Chandler from the MN Department of Agriculture, who delivered them in a sealed paper cup where they were kept refrigerated or in a portable cooler until the time of their release later in the afternoon. 

Article and photos provided by Sally Herman, Seasonal Technician with ACD