Freshwater Society

	Dave White

Precision conservation effectively and efficiently targets scarce resources to the spots on the landscape where they will do the most good. Learn about the latest technology -- much of it based on LiDAR scanning – that pinpoints “sweet spots” where runoff, erosion and pollution are disproportionately severe and the potential for improvement is disproportionately great.

On Thursday, March 29, the Freshwater Society will sponsor a day-long conference: “Precision Conservation: Technology Redefining Local Water Quality Practices.”  The keynote address will be delivered by Dave White, chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Dr. David Mulla, a University of Soil Scientist and a pioneer in employing modern LiDAR-based technology in the service of conservation, will describe current and emerging strategies.

View a draft agenda.

Associate Pastor Kjell Ferris and youngsters from Christ Lutheran Church in Blaine celebrate with replica of their $500 prize.

Three groups – four fourth-grade classes in Apple Valley, youth from a Lutheran Church’s confirmation program in Blaine and a Boys and Girls Club in St. Cloud – have won $500 apiece for anti-pollution projects aimed at keeping leaves and other organic debris out of lakes and rivers.

The contest was sponsored by Freshwater and InCommons to encourage small neighborhood-based efforts to reduce the phosphorus pollution that leads to excessive algae growth in surface waters throughout Minnesota. The Little Falls-based Initiative Foundation also was a sponsor and contributed the prize for the St. Cloud winner.

Fred Kirschenmann

If you missed the Nov. 10 lecture by organic agriculture leader Fred Kirschenmann, it is available on video. If your internet connection can not support the video, listen to an audio-only or downloadable mp3 version. Or read a short account of Kirschenmann's talk published in edible Twin Cities.

An active, engaged audience of about 200 people heard Kirschenmann speak on “Water and the Challenges Facing U.S. and World Agriculture in the 21^st Century.” The lecture at the University of Minnesota's St. Paul Student Center was sponsored by the Freshwater Society and the university's College of Biological Sciences.

Kirschenmann, who owns a 2,400-acre certified organic farm in North Dakota, is a distinguished fellow at Iowa State University’s Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.

As he spoke, Kirschenmann peppered his talk with references to books and journal articles on environmental sustainability. Check out his recommended reading list.

Three Minnesota experts in sustainable agriculture appeared with him. They were:

• George Boody, executive director of the Land Stewardship Project.
• Mary Jo Forbord, who operates an organic beef farm in Starbuck.
• Dr. David Mulla, a professor in the university's Department of Soil, Water, and Climate who has worked extensively in the fields of precision agriculture and precision conservation.

Asian carp. The future of U.S. and world agriculture. A Gene Merriam column on conservation and crop insurance. Two new books on lakes. Don't miss the latest issue of "Facets of Freshwater," the Freshwater Society's newsletter. Read the entire issue as an electronic magazine. Or read individual articles and columns here:

• A q-and-a interview with Tim Schlagenhaft, the Minnesota DNR's point person in the campaign against Asian carp.
• A column by Freshwater President Gene Merriam urging that the federal Farm Bill be changed to make conservation compliance a requirement for farmers getting subsidized crop insurance.