Map page

Wild River Audubon, along with co-sponsor Chisago Lake Lutheran Church, is showing “An Inconvenient Truth” on November 13th at the church in Center City, at 7:00 p.m. This historic documentary has generated rave reviews from critics when it came out this summer. The film discusses the issue of climate change in layman’s terms, with computer-generated graphics that superbly illustrate the concepts. You will come away with a clearer understanding of what steps need to be taken to avert the worst consequences of global warming, a sense of urgency, and a feeling that much can be done, especially in America, that would cost us very little, but have a big impact.

This film has not been shown widely in local theaters. You’d have to drive into the Cities to see it. Paramount Pictures is allowing groups like ours to show the film free of charge, so we won’t sell tickets, but there will be an opportunity for a free will donation to offset the cost of publicizing the event. And yes, there will be popcorn!

Please mark your calendars and be there! Come early for a good seat!

Perhaps like me, you have avoided seeing “An Inconvenient Truth.” You think: why would I want to spend an evening thinking about something so depressing? What could the film possibly tell me that I don’t know already? Or even, “It’s all a bogus political ploy.”

Tom and I saw the film last month when our Audubon chapter helped seventh graders at Chisago Lakes Middle School plant trees one afternoon. Wild River donated money for the trees, and we were invited to go to the theater and see the film with the kids. I felt I had to know what the kids were told, so we agreed to attend.

It is a landmark film. The topic is extremely well laid out, with good science conveyed in easy to understand terms. The graphics are phenomenal. Did I learn anything new? No. Was it overwhelmingly depressing? No—my imagination is so great, I had already considered every angle the film covered. I was pleasantly surprised to feel a surge of energy and determination at the end of the film: this is our generation’s challenge. Let’s get crackin’!

As election month, November is a time of civic duty. I feel I can appeal to Auduboners’ sense of civic duty, since merely by being a member you demonstrate that you feel responsible for the state of the world. Climate change is every bird lover’s greatest threat, since every species is dependent on a stable climate. Please—join us on November 13th for a viewing of “An Inconvenient Truth.” You will not regret that you did.

North Branch – stoplight at Hwy 95 and old 61

Dave Crawford, naturalist at Wild River State Park will present an evening of images and stories of the prairie restoration efforts at the park on Monday, October 16, 2006 at 7:00 pm at Chisago Lake Lutheran Church in Center City.

Here's a link to Wild River State Park.

In 1993, Crawford launched the Prairie Care Project at the park with the goal of restoring the native prairie and oak savannah ecosystems that flourished there prior to European settlement. From modest beginnings involving the sowing of native grass seed and prescriptive burning, the program has blossomed to involve scores of volunteers who spend hundreds of hours in the field, monitoring native species and hand-collecting their seed. In 2005, these Prairie Care Stewards brought in $50,000 worth of native seed from 200 species of flowers. The program has become a model for restoration work in the country.

It is easy to see with your own eyes the results. The park’s prairie, once only large stands of Indian grass now hosts a much greater plant diversity. Volunteers have identified 25 species of butterflies, as well as snakes, squirrels, gophers, badgers and an amazing array of insects. The past two years, the rare Henslow’s Sparrow made an appearance and perhaps bred there.

Crawford’s Prairie Care Project is a true ecological success story and it happened in our own back yard. Please join us for a wonderful evening.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/07/17/morefire/

http://www.ra.dnr.state.mn.us/bwca/maps/

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/561534.html  Report of the firefirers + map

* All meetings are at Chisago Lake Lutheran Church in Center City unless otherwise noted. Call 2651 257-6044 for more information.

http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/  Official National Audubon Society bird count page.

One of the data pages. http://cbc.audubon.org/cbccurrent/current_table.html

Click Minnesota, then the region on the right side of the page, which is Wild River, not Chisago.