January 2014 Quarterly Meeting and Potluck

The campaign promoting the designation of the Minnesota River as a national Blueway likely will be among the top agenda items at the Minnesota River Watershed Alliance meeting Tuesday, Jan. 21 at Ridgewater College in Hutchinson. Other topics at the meeting may include the future of Minnesota River basin organization in the wake of the Minnesota River Board pending dissolution, and consideration of other possible projects for the Alliance in the coming year. The meeting begins at 7 p.m., preceded by a potluck meal at 6 p.m. All are welcome! Bring a potluck item to share.

The Alliance has sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell reaffirming its support of the Blueway nomination. Hundreds of postcards with the same message have been distributed around the basin, and are being mailed to Jewell and the Dept. of Interior. For anyone wishing to send them, post cards are still available at these locations: Clean Up the River Environment in Montevideo, DNR in New Ulm, Friends of the Minnesota Valley, Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Bloomington, Redwood Area Development Corp., Granite Falls Chamber of Commerce, MPCA in Willmar, and from individuals including Scott Sparlin, Cathi Fouchi, and Ted Suss. On Dec. 23 Scott placed nearly 200 postcards in the mail to the DOI. You can also download postcards from the Minnesota River Blueway News and Events webpage, to be signed and mailed.

On the social media scene, the Minnesota River Blueway Photo Contest is posted on the Minnesota River Blueway Facebook page (426 Likes so far and counting). The Minnesota River Watershed Alliance is a citizen-led network that has created and held a space for watershed wide interaction for the past eight years. The National Blueways System seeks to align the programs and efforts of national government agencies with the work and priorities set by grassroots citizens, non-profit organizations and state agencies that have learned how to work together on a watershed scale.