Posts by Sophia Patane

Finding Phragmites Imagine a grass that can grow to heights of 12 to 20 feet. For invasive phragmites, the sky might seem to be the limit, which makes monitoring efforts essential to stopping their spread. Katie Sickmann, SCRA’s Invasive Species Coordinator, and Jeremiah Walters, SCRA’s Naturalist, have been conducting monitoring efforts as part of a…

Written by Bethany Cox, Director of Development.   Getting out safely during a global pandemic to have a family adventure seems unrealistic. And yet, the Cox family needed to get out, so we used my 1st grader’s MEA break to do just that. As the book, Do Princesses and Super Heroes Hit the Trails? says,…

In the 1960s, “Save Our St. Croix” was a rallying cry for those who cherished the river that forms the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin. This cry, together with the actions of concerned residents and river lovers, led to the St. Croix becoming one of the first eight federally protected Wild and Scenic Rivers under…

In honor of the launch of the new My St. Croix Woods website, we sat down with the St. Croix River Association’s Forestry Program Coordinator Nikki Henger to learn more about the work of MSCW and how technology has helped to foster a sense of community across the watershed for woodland owners over the past…

Zebra mussels are a common aquatic invasive species (AIS) discussed around the SCRA office, but what exactly is a zebra mussel and why does it matter? Recognizable for their distinctive D-shaped bodies and stripes, zebra mussels are filter feeders that take away food from native species and colonize hard surfaces or vegetation in lakes or…

The St. Croix River Association contributed $40,000 to the city of Lakeland’s efforts in Sally Arneson’s neighborhood to stop stormwater erosion and plant native vegetation, all as part of a larger project—one that reduced over 3,000 lbs. of sediment to the Riverway.   Imagine buying a quaint cabin with a sloping bank down to the…

What do you think of when you hear the word ‘oak’? For me, the name is synonymous with a sense of security—every house I have lived in has had an oak nearby, and so I associate them with feeling at home. Each autumn, the sound of acorns plinking down the eaves is a reminder of…

The St. Croix River Association has been following the possible expansion of the old Rybak Mine, now owned by North 40 Resources in Farmington Township near Osceola, Wisconsin. We feel it is important to share this letter here, which expresses our concerns to President Buberl and the Village Board of Osceola.   July 20, 2020…