Bioregional Trends in the Cannon River Valley
Bioregional Trends in the CRVB
Bioregional Vision for the CRVB
1. To restore and maintain local natural systems
The local natural systems in the Cannon River Valley bioregion include, prairie, oak savannahs, deciduous forest, wetlands, lakes, and rivers. There are many bioregional trends toward eco-system rebuilding in the Cannon River Valley bioregion such as, prairie restorations, reforestation projects, water conservation and restoring native wetlands.
Preservation of the watershed is the first concern for sustaining a bioregion. The Cannon River Watershed Partnership works with many agencies, organizations and individuals to protect and improve the water and natural resources of the watershed. The very foundation of the CRWP demonstrates a grass-roots organizing effort. It was founded in 1990 by a group of concerned local watershed citizens. One of the ongoing projects of the CRWP is a citizen monitoring program where volunteers in different parts of the watershed monitor the water quality of nearby rivers, lakes, and streams.
The former CRWP website uses the caption "We all live upstream from someone." Their mission includes a goal of instilling a sense of pride in our local watershed through education and local events. The River friendly neighbor page suggests ways to take responsibility to care for our waters and positively impact the watershed.
"The importance of wetlands in the natural setting of the Cannon River Basin cannot be overstated. About 90% of the nutrient-rich wetland that was present in the middle of the nineteenth century has been drained for agricultural purposes and commercial and residential development." -Jim Zischke
A wetland in the Carleton Arboretum
Beginning in 1993, St. Olaf began a wetland restoration project. These areas are now under protection with the Federal Wetland Protection Program. The wetlands on the St. Olaf Natural Lands are also connected to the Cannon Valley watershed, and aid in seasonal flood control and run-off prevention. Restoration is also being done throughout the Cannon River Bioregion by local citizens on privately owned land. For example, local professor Mark Allister has a restored wetland on his land.
A Wetland in the St. Olaf Natural Lands
The St. Olaf Natural Lands is an example of several land restoration experiments. St. Olaf has over 50 acres of restored prairies, 13 restored wetlands, and over 20,000 tree seedlings and nursery stock trees have been planted in hardwood forest restoration areas.
According to a study by Charles Umbanhower Jr., approximately one-half of the Cannon River Watershed during the period of European settlement was native prairie. Yet only one percent of the original prairie ecosystem remains in the Cannon River Watershed (Umbanhowar Jr. 1993). A significant part of re-inhabiting the Cannon River Valley Bioregion involves prairie ecosystem restoration.
There is already a bioregional trend toward ecosystem restoration and there are models for this on the St. Olaf Natural Lands and in the Carleton Arboretum. At St. Olaf, over 50 acres of prairie have been restored. It is important that in prairie restoration, the seeds originate locally in order to maintain genetic identity of local grasses. Because fire was an important factor in the creation of our prairies (killing invasive species of trees and shrubs and increasing the diversity of native species), prairie burning is also an important area of research and skill in maintaining the prairie ecosystem of our bioregion (Umbanhowar Jr. 1993).
The goal of the Big Woods Project is to restore and protect the Big Woods habitat. The Big Woods is an area of deciduous forest that borders the prairie ecosystem in our bioregion. They are characterized by dense areas of maple, basswood, American elm, and oak trees. The canopy of these trees provides shade over areas of wildflowers, shrubs, birds and other animals. The endangered dwarf trout lily exists only in this bioregion.
"Our vision will continue to evolve as the citizenry of the Cannon Valley Big Woods area share concerns and participate in the process. We trust that the cooperative efforts of citizens, scientists, farmers and business people, governmental entities and staff, environmental and service organizations, working effectively together to protect and enhance the native plant communities of the Big Woods Project area, will inspire others to similarly cooperate in other watersheds and ecosystems." -The Big Woods Project
Cropland near the Carleton Arb
"Why community works has at least as much to do with the way nature shaped us as with the way agriculture and culture have shaped us." -Wes Jackson
Restoring and maintaining local systems also overlaps into agriculture, as it has been part of the land use in the Cannon River Bioregion since the European settlers came. Restoration projects can also be done alongside agriculture - native trees and shrubs may be planted for windbreaks. There are often border areas around cropland that can easily be restored to native prairie.
Sustainable agriculture practices are also being implemented in the Cannon River Valley Bioregion. In contrast to conventional agriculture, there is an alternative, more sustainable system of a four crop, five year rotation (corn, soybeans, oats/alfalfa, alfalfa, alfalfa). The St. Olaf agricultural lands have recently been rented by a farmer who will use these sustainable method. There is also no-till agriculture that protects topsoil loss. For more information on sustainable agriculture see Megan Gregory's Project.