Land & Water​

Southeast Minnesota's karst topography–and its network of sinkholes, caves and streams–exacerbate well contamination issues. There are more than 10,000 sinkholes in Fillmore County alone. (Photo Julie Little)

State Officials’ January 2024 Plan Addresses Nitrate Contamination Issues

Minnesota updated its response to EPA on nitrate contamination in ground water.

The author, Don Bell, is pictured by Amish Experience in Lanesboro—his grandfather’s leather shop was located on the ground floor in the 1950s. The building at one time housed the Odd Fellows Lodge.

Essay | I’m Changing My Ways with Water

Julie Little is inspired to save life-giving water at home.

Paul Wotzka, hydrologist and co-founder of the Minnesota Well Owners Organization, speaks about the challenges karst geology presents to water quality in Fillmore County during a Water Quality Forum at Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center, Lanesboro, on November 16. (Photo by John Torgrimson)

Local Forums, EPA Raise Questions About SE Minnesota Water Quality | State Agencies Respond

John Torgrimson reports on local, state, and federal action on water quality in karst country.

The Historic Forestville bridge, built in 1899, before it was hoisted off its abutments and placed on the south side of the Root River. (Photo by John Torgrimson)

Moving Day for a 19th Century Bridge at Historic Forestville

Dave Shaffer and John Torgrimson chronicle the first phase in the restoration of the Historic Forestville bridge.

Grand Champion honey at the Fillmore County Fair. (All photos by Renee Bergstrom)

Swan Lake — Thousands of Tundra Swans Migrate Each Autumn

John Weiss takes readers on a journey to visit the Tundra Swans near Brownsville.

A family explores Cave of the Mounds, located in Dane County Wisconsin (link in article below). Cave of the Mounds takes its name from the Blue Mounds, two large hill landmarks. The main cavern began forming over a million years ago as water dissolved the limestone bedrock below the surface. (Photo courtesy of DARK Trail)

Explore the Driftless Area Via the DARK Trail

John Torgrimson looks into the DARK Trail connecting 69 dramatic landscape and discovery sites in the Driftless Area.

Reid Wintersteen, accompanied by his nine-month old son Clayton, helps with river cleanup on the Root River near Lanesboro. His wife Laura picks up trash nearby. (Photo by John Weiss)

Root River Cleanup Has Become an Annual Tradition

John Weiss joins river enthusiasts as they cleanup the Root River.

Fiddlehead ferns, ramps and nettles are readily available in the Spring in Southeast Minnesota. (All photos by Loni Kemp unless noted)

Learning to Forage in Minnesota

UM Extension Educator Katie Drewitz discusses foraging workshops and information sources.

Summer, winter, spring and fall, these boathouses along Lawrence Lake, near Brownsville, are ‘home’ to dozens of river dwellers. (Photos by Nancy North unless otherwise noted).

Life Afloat on the Big Muddy

John Gaddo introduces us to the Lawrence Lake boathouse community just below the Root River’s confluence with the Mississippi River near Brownsville.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is restoring floodplain forest habitat on Mississippi River islands throughout the Reno Bottoms area, east of Houston County, with trees such as river birch, hackberry, cottonwood, silver maple and swamp white oak. Above, Corps forester Sara Rother drives a boat full of trees to be planted on an island south of La Crosse. (Photo by Mark Hoffman, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

The Mississippi River’s Floodplain Forests are Dying | The Race is on to Bring Them Back

Madeline Heim reports on efforts at restoring forests along the Mississippi at Reno Bottoms, south of LaCrosse, Wisconsin

From Mound Prairie, you can see a landscape of fields and bluffs many miles away. (Photos by John Weiss)

Mound Prairie is a Refuge for Rare Native Plants

John Weiss visits a Scientific and Natural Area “goat prairie” in Houston County.

Recent improvements to the Lanesboro Dam on the South Branch of the Root River will give better access to canoes, kayaks, drift boats and other small craft. (Photo by Luke Pfeffer)

Fishing Access Upgraded at Lanesboro’s Historic Dam

Dave Shaffer reports on improvements at the Lanesboro Dam

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