Refuge Updates – May 2022
The fishing platform replacement project has begun at the Halfmoon Landing! This means the landing is closed until construction is complete, hopefully just a couple of weeks and it will open back up.
The LaCrosse District is offering spring bird walks at Goose Island (south of LaCrosse) lead by a Refuge Ranger and Minnesota Audubon forest ecologist through the floodplain forest to look and listen for colorful warblers and other spring songbirds! The walk will be about one mile during this free, informal program open to birders of all experience levels. There will be binoculars available please let Katie know if you’d like to reserve a pair. Registration is required and participation is limited. Please call Ranger Katie at 608-779-2391 to sign up.
Where: Shady Maple Interpretive Trail located within Goose Island County Park, W6488 County Rd GI, Stoddard, WI
When: Tuesday, May 10, 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. OR Thursday, May 12, 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
The program will take place rain or shine but will be cancelled if there’s a high probability of thunderstorms.
THANK YOU to everyone who was able to participate in the April 23 River Cleanup on Pool 6! Due to the predicted weather we switched to a walking cleanup of the Aghaming Unit. Twenty-six volunteers participated in the cleanup sponsored by Living Lands and Waters, Friends of the Refuge Headwaters and the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The volunteers and five Refuge staff scoured 100 acres of the Aghaming Unit near Winona, MN to pick-up litter. The team pulled 34 bags of trash, seven five-gallon buckets of broken glass, four plastic barrels, three tires, and large blocks of styrofoam from the floodplain forest. (Photos below).
And on Wednesday, April 27, sixteen volunteers from WinCraft (owned by Fanatics) participated in the first Global Impact Day by Fanatics by picking up litter from the Prairie Island Dike. The crew spent four hours and collected two pickup loads of trash from the three-mile stretch. The team collected 30 bags of trash, an old car seat, eight tires, rolls of carpet, many empty bottles of Atomic Fireball vodka, entertainment center, and other assorted trash. (Photo below).
