On November 22 and 23, 2017, The Territorial Planning Unit of Grand Council Treaty #3 hosted Gaanawendagoziwinaan [Planning for 7 Generations: A Conference on Climate and Water] at Seven Generations Education Institute in Kenora, ON. Gaanawendagoziwinaan was attended by many, (70 participants on day 1, over 90 on day 2) representing 20 Treaty #3 First…
Read More >
Cook County hosted a morning of fishing for kids in June 2017 at Mink Lake, as part of the annual Take A Kid Fishing Weekend by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR). In Cook County, it is a collaborative effort with the United States Forest Service (USFS), MNDNR, Cook County Soil and Water Conservation…
Read More >
Over the past several years, scientists from Minnesota and Ontario have been collecting sediment cores from the bottom of Lake of the Woods to help understand how phosphorus loadings have changed over time and why. Cores taken from strategic locations in the lake are dated using radioisotopes and the amount of phosphorus in each depth increment is…
Read More >
It never used to be the norm to pull the drain plug on boats and drain the water and any critters that may be present – everyone just kept them in. But, through education and awareness, this practice has changed. In 2017, Lake of the Woods (LOW) Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) staff reported…
Read More >
The local governments within the Minnesota portion of the Lake of the Woods Watershed are collaborating together on a watershed-based plan known as the One Watershed, One Plan. Those governments include Lake of the Woods County, Lake of the Woods Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), Warroad River Watershed District, Roseau County and Roseau SWCD….
Read More >
For more than two decades, Koochiching and St. Louis Counties worked separately in trying to find a solution to the faulty septic systems along the rocky shores of border waters. Oftentimes, the two northern Minnesota counties competed for money from the same funding agencies. Residents and businesses became frustrated as proposed projects either failed to…
Read More >
The Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians Department of Natural Resources (RL DNR) Water Resources Program has been collecting water quality data from stream sites at the Northwest Angle (NWA) since 2004. In 2009, the Red Lake Band, along with several other entities, signed the Lake of the Woods Multi-Agency Arrangement to coordinate and collaborate…
Read More >
In an effort to expand citizen-driven water quality data collection throughout the basin, a binational effort to recruit volunteers is underway as part of the International Watershed Coordination Program. Ontario and Minnesota have a large network of citizen scientists who collect water clarity and water quality data as part of either the Lake Partner Program…
Read More >
Storm drains in Fort Frances and Kenora, ON and Rainier and International Falls, MN got a face lift over the past few summers! As part of a binational initiative to raise awareness of water quality stewardship in the Rainy-Lake of the Woods Watershed, these communities came together to place messages beside storm drains that drain…
Read More >
In the summer of 2017, the Lake of the Woods District Stewardship Association kicked off a unique partnership with Lake of the Woods Brewing Company in Kenora, Ontario – one that saw 5000 red pine seedlings planted in May 2018. Lake of the Woods Brewing Company brews a beer called Papermaker Pilsner, named in recognition…
Read More >