In 2020, Crow Wing County landowners and community groups implemented projects for clean water and habitat. The Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District released the 2020 conservation report to highlight the conservation work being done in the Brainerd lakes area.
“Despite the many challenges that 2020 brought us, many people planted native trees in their yards, repaired shoreline erosion and created pollinator habitats," Melissa Barrick, Crow Wing SWCD district manager, said in a news release. "Large projects that were completed included the Pine River Fish Passage Project and the Island-Loon Runoff Project in the Crosslake area.”
Highlights include:
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- Island-Loon Clean Water Project resulted in approximately 1.5 tons less of algae growth per year to the lake (6 pounds of phosphorous).
- Pine River Rock Dam is finished and fish can now swim upstream. All people can enjoy the tranquil five-rock riffle and weirs structures.
- Landowners are protecting wildlife habitat and critical shoreline through the Reinvest in Minnesota conservation easement program. Since 2012, landowners have protected more than 22 miles of shoreline.
- Individual property owners worked with professional plan writers to develop 14 Forest Stewardship plans for almost 3,000 acres of land and made 15 project improvements to their forest totaling 108 acres.
- Citizens planted more than 29,000 trees and 3,000 plants toward a goal of one million trees for Crow Wing County. For more information, visit https://www.cwswcd.org/nativetreeseedlings .
