WE PLANT TREES FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR FISHERY
Two hundred years ago the Knife River watershed was covered with old growth pine, cedar, spruce and tamarack. That majestic forest had a floor covered with thick duff and laced with giant trunks downed by the wind slowly returning to the soil. The river was fed by snowmelt and rainwater from that landscape.
The river system was given structure and life by the giants that grew along the banks and ultimately fell into it.
While growing, trees shade and cool the water, their roots help keep the banks stable. The deep pools forming around fallen giants, are homes for fish and places trapping and storing forest litter feeding the aquatic ecosystem, in our region trout are ultimately made of trees.
Trees that should be providing life and structure in northern stream systems today were taken a hundred years ago to build Midwestern cities. They are not easily replaced. We work to protect those that have taken hold and plant more where they haven’t.
The Minnesota Legacy Act, through the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Fund has provided us with the ability to plant trees along the banks of the Knife River. Volunteers are needed for the 2015 planting.
The river system was given structure and life by the giants that grew along the banks and ultimately fell into it.
While growing, trees shade and cool the water, their roots help keep the banks stable. The deep pools forming around fallen giants, are homes for fish and places trapping and storing forest litter feeding the aquatic ecosystem, in our region trout are ultimately made of trees.
Trees that should be providing life and structure in northern stream systems today were taken a hundred years ago to build Midwestern cities. They are not easily replaced. We work to protect those that have taken hold and plant more where they haven’t.
The Minnesota Legacy Act, through the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Fund has provided us with the ability to plant trees along the banks of the Knife River. Volunteers are needed for the 2015 planting.