The Stearns Co. chapter of Pheasants Forever (SCPF) will be honoring Lynden Twp. Supervisor Jerry Finch and the Plum Creek Neighborhood Network (PCNN) for their conservation efforts at their 35th annual banquet March 3 in Sauk Centre.
The PCNN recently received the Outstanding Conservationist award for 2017 from the Stearns Co. Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD).
“While wildlife habitat acquisition and enhancement is the trademark of Pheasants Forever, they are also aware that soil and water conservation on private, working lands is critical for wildlife,” said Dennis Fuchs, administrator of the SWCD. “Stearns Co. Pheasants Forever welcomes the opportunity to thank people like Jerry Finch and the PCNN for the hard work they do for water quality.”
After the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) listed Plum Creek, a small stream in Lynden Twp., as impaired by E. coli in 2012, Finch organized the PCNN comprised of the Lynden Twp. Board of Supervisors and 24 local volunteers to identify the source of the bacteria and formulate a plan to address the problem.
They partnered with Dr. Michael Sadowski, from the Biotechnic Institute at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Joe Storlien at St. John’s University, Stearns County SWCD, MPCA, Stearns County Highway Department, and Minnesota SOT to achieve their goal.
Since it was founded, the PCNN has accomplished four years of comprehensive stream sampling data, identified the critical section of stream for the impairment, identified a major source of the bacteria and completed two erosion control projects in the critical section.
The largest of the erosion control projects is a grade stabilization structure with a grassed waterway and a buffer of native vegetation that was completed in 2017. The system was designed by the SWCD and funded by MNDOT and a Board of Water and Soil Resources Clean Water Fund grant. The project stabilized a gully in the stream bank and will reduce sediment entering the stream by an estimated 53 tons per year and phosphorus by an estimated 45 lbs. per year.
A significant source of the bacteria was shown to be naturalized colonies living in the stream sediment.
“The Plum Creek Neighborhood Network of Lynden Twp. greatly appreciates the recognition that the Stearns Co. Pheasants Forever has given us for our work at Plum Creek,” said Finch. “The concern of 24 private landowners and the Lynden Twp. Board of Supervisors supported this project.”
Currently the 2017 water samples are being analyzed by the MPCA; they hope to have an answer this spring. The goal is to delist Plum Creek off the impaired list.
