What's Up at ECR
Summer enrichment program has begun! Our eight weeks of programming involves themes such as flora, fauna, connecting to our community, outdoor recreation, STEM, working with your hands, local lore and cooking. Our program is designed to promote positive relationships with each other, teamwork, empathy, listening and observation skills, confidence and more.
We are excited for the abundance of activities that this summer has to offer our youth!
To find out if there are open spots for specific weeks,
keep an eye on the newsletter or email
jane@elycommunityresource.org
The first ECR Boundary Waters Trip of the summer was a great time!
Several kids experienced their first times for fish being caught, moose being seen and canoes being paddled. Thanks to Friends of the Boundary Waters for making it possible.
The second Boundary Waters trip was a challenging foray through rainstorms and swamped-out portages. But the participants did a fantastic job staying positive throughout it all. They did a total of 22 portages in 4 days!
ECR Summer Water Project Continues to Make Waves
Students helping with Early Detection Baseline Monitoring on White Iron Lake
Crayfish Trapping on the Burntside River
Collecting Water Samples on Shagawa Lake
Spiny Water Flea Plankton Tow on White Iron Chain of Lakes
Since 2016, ECR has been actively involved in collecting data in order to prevent the introduction or limit the spread of aquatic invasive species in Lake County. Because of the AIS grant through Lake County, ECR has been able to continue working on outreach and education, early detection and monitoring as well as partnering with community members and organizations such as: Lake and St. Louis County Soil and Water Conservation District, WICOLA, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC) in St. Paul.
In summer of 2023, we had two very dedicated high school students who helped with this variety of tasks:
Trapping to monitor the Burntside River crayfish population.
Performing early detection monitoring on various Lake County lakes with Lake County AIS Coordinator Liz Anderson.
Volunteering with WICOLA (White Iron Chain of Lakes Association) to collect water samples that are sent to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
Collecting water samples on Shagawa Lake for the Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC) in St. Paul for early AIS detection using eDNA (environmental DNA) technology.
Helping with the Crayfish Expansion Project to detect rusty crayfish along the South Kawishiwi River.
We also have four middle school students who helped monitor six different sites along the Shagawa and Kawishiwi River. Keeping track of water temperature, water clarity, recreation suitability and stream levels.
We're looking forward to more adventures with Water in the future!
