Posts by heidib
Aghaming Park Management Plan Available for Public Review
The City of Winona, Minnesota (City) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (Refuge) entered into a 25 year Lease Agreement to manage the lands and waters of Aghaming Park in March 2018. Under this agreement, the City maintains ownership of 1,139 acres of lands donated to…
Read MoreSwan Watching on the Upper Mississippi River
The swans are in! The text messages buzz and excited voices relay the information. Friday night, October 23 was a good night for flying if you were a tundra swan. Freezing temperatures turned water to ice at all points north signaling to migrating waterfowl that it was time to move on. Reports from Winona and…
Read MoreFriends of the Refuge Headwaters October Meeting
The next Friends of the Refuge Headwaters (FORH) meeting will be held at the Hiawatha Valley Marine Shelter located at 527 West Lake Street in Winona beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 22. Hopefully it won’t be too cold! Topics will include how to hold future meetings, winter events (kids ice fishing), results of…
Read MoreMississippi River Books for Kids
If you are looking for ways inspire children to love and appreciate the Mississippi River, check out this list of books compiled by Our Mississippi Magazine. The Mighty Mississippi by Marion Dane Bauer. Learn about the river and its role in U.S. history in this level 1 ready-to-read book. (Ages 4-6) Houseboat Girl by…
Read MoreFriends of the Refuge Headwaters September Meeting
The next Friends of the Refuge Headwaters (FORH) meeting will be held at the Hiawatha Valley Marine Shelter located at 527 West Lake Street in Winona beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 24. Topics will include installation of a bike rack at the Aghaming Park kiosk area, the purchase of trees for a reforestation…
Read MoreAvailability of Trapping Permits for the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge
The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (Refuge) announced that Refuge special use permits and trap tags for the 2020-2021 furbearer trapping season will be issued by mail. Trappers who received trap tags and returned their fur catch report for the 2019-2020 season will receive instructions for obtaining their permit and tags at…
Read MoreFall on the Refuge Photo Contest – Call for Entries
The Friends of the Refuge Headwaters are encouraging all amateur photographers to get outside this fall and capture the beauty of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (Refuge) for a Fall Photo Contest. Photos in the following categories will be accepted until December 4, 2020: Scenic Views of the Refuge, Wildlife and…
Read MoreFriends of the Refuge Headwaters August Meeting
The next Friends of the Refuge Headwaters (FORH) meeting will be held at the Hiawatha Valley Marine Shelter located at 527 West Lake Street in Winona beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 27. Topics will include the upcoming advertisement for a fall photo contest, fall activities, and acting President John Lyons promises to show-and-tell…
Read MoreTrempealeau NWR to Hold Sealed Bidding for Trapping Units
This year the trapping auction at the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge will be run a little differently than it has in past years. In the interest and safety of trappers and staff we will not be holding a public gathering to auction the units so we’ll be setting up a bidding process by mail to…
Read MoreWinners Announced in Friends of the Refuge Headwaters 2020 Photo Contest
It took several months but we were finally able to arrange an outdoor judging to select the winners of the 2020 Winter on our Refuge Photo Contest. A big thank you to our judges, Rick Frietsche and John Weiss, both of Rochester, and Heidi Bryant of Winona, for their time and keen eye in selecting the winners.…
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