A few days ago I was out conducting field work and met a landowner who had recently made the move to Minnesota from California. When I asked what prompted the change of scenery he replied climate change. We got to talking and I was troubled to hear his story.

A few decades ago this gentleman built his families dream home, nestled away in the Sierra Mountains of northern California. This was the property where they planned to retire. They constructed the home having a strong understanding of wild fires in the area and the natural role fires play within the ecosystem. Once construction was complete conditions only worsened. Every year would bring a longer and more severe fire season, slowly becoming more and more unmanageable. The home would be encased in smoke for months at a time, making it unsafe to go outside. Private insurers stopped providing fire insurance due to the increased demand and unprecedented payouts.

New levels of stress were introduced from constantly worrying about losing the home or much worse a family member or friend. What was supposed to be paradise now felt more like a prison. Eventually they reached a personal breaking point and decided to sell the home. Even this aspect was now incredibly difficult and resulted in a large financial loss.

This conversation stuck with me as his experiences were a firsthand account of the realities of climate change. In the future more citizens will have to relocate due to extreme weather conditions such as fires, hurricanes, excessive rainfall and drought. Minnesota could become a northern climate safe haven. The issue of climate change is something we are going to have to try and tackle together as a country. By working together and combining our individual efforts we still have the ability to shift the direction of things and help ensure a healthy planet for future generations. 

The Anoka County Parks Department recently received a grant to implement conservation practices along the Rum River. Landowners on the Rum have access to funding to address riverbank erosion with a unique method known as cedar tree revetments. Cedar tree revetments are a low cost, but effective, means to address minor to moderate bank erosion before it gets worse and more expensive to fix. The technique involves cable-anchoring cut cedar trees alongside the bank. Cedar tree's dense branches are naturally rot-resistant and can provide many years of bank protection. This armoring technique helps protect property value, improves water quality in the river, and provides quality fish habitat.

Residents interested in having their riverbank evaluated for a cedar tree revetment should contact Kris Larson at the Anoka Conservation District (763-434-2030 ext. 110; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). Installation of revetments will occur throughout the summer in 2021-2022. Most projects cost $5,000-$10,000. Landowners must provide 10% of the total project cost; the remaining 90% is grant-funded.

Even though it is January, ice conditions on local lakes can vary and still pose a high safety risk. The last several winters have shown above average temperatures and this winter season, both November and December, recorded averages that were nearly 5 degrees higher than the 30-year average for the area. In December of 2020, 18 days throughout the month had temperatures above freezing and even had some rain events. These types of conditions have the ability to quickly change the thickness of the ice on your favorite lake. Use caution when navigating ice throughout the season especially earlier in the winter. Every year in Minnesota, people, ATVs, and vehicles go through ice that is too thin. The Minnesota DNR provides safety guidelines at: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/safety/ice/index.html

Remember, no fish is worth swimming with the fishes for.

The Anoka Conservation District would like to thank our hardworking water monitoring volunteers for all the work they did throughout the 2020 monitoring season. Local volunteers install monitoring equipment near where they live and then take readings throughout the year. Water levels on a large number of lakes are recorded as well as tracking daily rain totals. This type of data is used in analysis and when making other natural resource management decisions. Data networks like these are not possible without the help of local residents. All of the data is available to the public through online databases operated by State of Minnesota.

Thank you Volunteers!

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/climate/climate_monitor/precipcharts.html

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/index.html