Public Invited To Comment On Proposal To Remove Impairment In St. Louis River Area of Concern | The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources are seeking public comments on their recommendation to remove the Degraded Fish and Wildlife Populations Beneficial Use Impairment from the St. Louis River Area of Concern.

The public comment period is open until April 26 and there will be a public open house on Thursday, April 14, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. at the Lake Superior Reserve Estuarium located at 3 Marina Drive, Superior, Wisconsin. A presentation about the impairment proposed for removal will begin at 5:30 p.m.

Join the St. Louis River Alliance as we welcome Ricky DeFoe for our first installment of 'Water Wednesdays', a series of talks and events revolving around deepening understandings, connections, and stewardship of the land and our beloved River.

THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED ON MARCH 23, 2022: https://youtu.be/Z1hv0NcXCxw

During 'An Indigenous World View', Ricky will discuss cosmology, philosophy, and values and actions that lead to institutions, and the challenges to re-spiritualize a de-spiritualized community. He will also bring to light barriers to collective change in worldviews.

The St. Louis River Alliance is excited to introduce Water Wednesdays, a series of talks and events revolving around deepening understandings, connections, and stewardship of the land and our beloved St. Louis River.

Water Wednesdays will be held the 4th Wednesday of each month, March-August 2022. All virtual sessions will be free and open to the public, though registration is necessary.

A lot of field work is planned for the St. Louis River Area of Concern (SLRAOC) project sites and is explained in the attached 2022 Field Work. 

PADDLERS: It is important to know what projects are happening as you explore the St. Louis River Estuary National Water Trail! Check out the attached Paddlers Awareness handout to know where current project efforts could impede your paddling plans. Be sure to reference it before you launch so you can be sure to avoid active construction sites.

****Due to the start of the Munger Landing remediation project, the Clyde Avenue boat launch will be closed for two years, starting in June of 2022.

Due to high demand, the St. Louis River Alliance will be printing another 5,000 St. Louis River Estuary National Water Trail maps which will be distributed regionally and available online this coming May/June.

We are currently looking for map sponsors to support this project! Sponsorships start at $100 and there are limited spaces available, so claim your spot today.

The Water Trail map is a free, valuable resource for river enthusiasts and promotes the incredible local businesses of the Twin Ports!

ST. LOUIS RIVER AREA OF CONCERN UPDATES:

The 2021 Remedial Action Plan (RAP) has been posted!

The RAP describes the remaining impairments, targets to remove them, actions to achieve the removal targets, and the anticipated timelines for each action. Multiple local, state, federal, and tribal partners coordinate the implementation activities.

You can find the full document here: https://www.pca.state.mn.us/sit…/default/files/wq-ws1-37.pdf

Thank you to all of our staff, board members, volunteers, event participants, social media followers, donors and supporters for making 2021 another great year of growth. We couldn't do this work without you! Click ‘Read More’ to learn about a few of our accomplishments from the past year.

You are invited to a virtual public meeting about the Munger Landing sediment cleanup at the Clyde Ave. boat launch in Duluth, Minnesota. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 6 p.m. online. This is a great opportunity for the public to learn more about the cleanup and to ask questions about the project.

Free, but registration is necessary: https://bit.ly/3q1YHUv

We want to welcome our current intern, Sienna Prom! Sienna is helping the Alliance with events, memberships, and office organization. Hopefully in the spring she will have the opportunity for some field work. Click to learn more about Sienna!

Pickle Pond is getting cleaned up and we need your help deciding the future of the project! Please take the 15-minute survey to let us know how you use Pickle Pond, how the restoration efforts would affect you and what improvements should be considered at the pond. All results will be considered to improve this and future projects.

Learn more and take the survey at: https://arcg.is/1aaiqv

84,660 cubic yards of contaminated sediments were removed from Howards Bay and the three slips within it: Hughitt Slip; Cummings Slip; and Fraser Slip. Maintenance dredging in the Federal Navigational Channel removed approximately 34,000 cubic yards of material.

The project leaves behind a healthier aquatic habitat that will improve the overall health of the St. Louis River. It also clears the way for future maintenance dredging, which had previously been restricted due to contamination in Howards Bay.

Thank you to Duluth J.F. Brennan group for becoming ‘River Guardian’ Partners and donating $5,000 to the St. Louis River Alliance. This contribution will allow us to continue our important work of protecting, restoring and enhancing the St. Louis River!

Thank you to everyone who came to our River Ally Appreciation Party on December 14, 2021. Check out the incredible pictures that Michael Anderson took for us!

A draft of the St. Louis River Area of Concern (AOC) Remedial Action Plan is available for public review and comments until noon on Monday, Dec. 20, 2021, on the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) website. 

Questions and comments can be sent to Matt Steiger, Wisconsin DNR St. Louis River AOC Coordinator, at matthew.steiger@wisconsin.gov or 715-559-9523.

After stakeholder comments are reviewed, a final Remedial Action Plan will be shared and posted on the St. Louis River AOC website.

The St. Louis River Alliance (SLRA) is excited to invite you to our River Ally Appreciation Party that is being held to cap off a six-week Sustainability Drive.

The party will be held Tuesday, December 14 from 5-8 p.m. at Ursa Minor. The SLRA would like to thank all the people who have supported the St. Louis River restoration and bring awareness to all the ways we can continue that progress. This event is indoor/outdoor, open to the public and is family friendly.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) today released its environmental assessment of a project to remove decades-old legacy pollution from the Munger Landing area. The public is invited to review the environmental assessment worksheet (EAW) and provide comments. The EAW describes the project’s potential effects on the environment, including its impact on nearby land uses, geography, habitat, and historic sites. The EAW also details air and vehicle emissions, dust, traffic, and odors that the project might produce and describes the potential for temporary indirect impacts to sensitive ecological areas from operational noise and increased turbidity.

Throughout 2021, the St. Louis River Alliance (SLRA) hosted a photo contest to celebrate the seasons and beauty of the largest U.S. river that flows into Lake Superior. The SLRA went on a mission to find striking digital images that highlight the diverse flora, wildlife and recreational activities that connect people to their natural habitat. Here are the winning photographs….

RECORDED ON 11/10/21

Learn about the progress made this past year toward delisting the St. Louis River Area of Concern at this year's virtual, annual Celebration of Progress. Recorded on: Wednesday, November 10 from 6-8 p.m.

This year's focus was on how habitat was created for Piping Plover and the Common Tern. Our special speakers were Matt Steiger (St. Louis River Area of Concern Coordinator for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources), Gini Breidenbach (Restoration Program Manager for the Minnesota Land Trust) and Natalie White (Senior Biologist/Botanist Project Manager for SEH).

Recorded on November 3rd, 2021 as a part of the Twin Ports Freshwater Folk (TPFF) webinar Series, hosted by Minnesota Sea Grant (MNSG).

Have you heard about the St. Louis River Estuary NATIONAL Water Trail? It's kind of a big deal! Executive Director of the St. Louis River Alliance, Kris Eilers, presents 'Exploring an Urban Treasure: The St. Louis River Estuary National Water Trail'. During this presentation she shares the progress being made on the trail and future goals!