Volunteering

Focus on Volunteers Spring 2010

Erskine Man 20 Year Lake Level Reader

A certificate of appreciation including an aerial photo of his lake and a DNR Volunteer certificate were presented to Jack as a sign of the DNR’s gratitude for his past and future contributions.

Jack Bailey of Erskine, MN celebrated his 80th birthday on Feb 23, 2010 and a milestone of 20 years of service to the Lake Level Minnesota Monitoring Program. Since June 2, 1989, Bailey has submitted over 575 lake level gage readings for Lake Sarah, and filled in gaps on Union Lake.

According to Sandy Fecht, Lake Level MN Monitoring Program Coordinator, Division of Waters, St Paul, "Mr. Bailey's reports have included comments on precipitation events that help explain the water budget. Because of his willingness to obtain information and keep records, Lake Sarah was used in the 2009 Hydrological Conditions Monthly Maps. His readings assist decision makers and residents today, and remain a legacy for future generations on our DNR Lake Finder web site."

More information on the Lake Level Minnesota Monitoring Program.

 

Thank you, Jack, for your stewardship of Minnesota's natural resources!

Take Pride in America Volunteer Service Awards

Take Pride in America (TPIA) is a national partnership program authorized by Congress to promote the appreciation and stewardship of public lands. Take Pride is active in all fifty states, has partnerships with public, private and nonprofit organizations. This free award is a way to honor and recognize the many people who have donated their time to our program(s). The volunteers recognized for this past year (2009) come from across the state and have dedicated their time for many years to the Minnesota DNR Division of Ecological Resources.

Presidential Volunteer Service Award: 4000+
Gold Award: 500-999 Hours
Silver Award: 250-499 Hours
Bronze Award: 100-249 Hours

Rolf Dahle
(Presidential Service Award – 6,922 hours)

Retired computer programmer Rolf Dahle of Fridley is the Minnesota DNR’s leading rare plant volunteer. With nearly two decades of experience, Rolf has invested hundreds of hours in the field assisting with monitoring and searching for rare species. In addition to monitoring all three of the state’s monitored federally listed plants: the endemic Federally Endangered Minnesota Dwarf Trout Lily (Erythronium propullans), Federally Threatened Prairie Bush Clover (Lespedeza leptostachya), and Federally Threatened Western Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera praeclara), Rolf is one of the state’s most knowledgeable experts on ferns of the genus Botrychium. He has also discovered or contributed information to nearly 200 rare species observations in our rare features database. Volunteering a day a week for over a decade and a half, Rolf has entered and managed the majority of the state’s rare plant monitoring data, has designed databases for plant labels and species lists, and most recently developed the mapping utility for Smith’s (2008) Trees and Shrubs of Minnesota.

 

Judy Beckman (Gold – 619 hours)

With over a decade of service, Judy Beckman of Fairmont has assisted the DNR with monitoring projects on three federally listed plants. After coming to the program initially to monitor the state’s endemic Federally Endangered Minnesota Dwarf Trout Lily (Erythronium propullans), Judy joined monitoring crews to help count the Federally Threatened Western Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera praeclara) in northwestern Minnesota and monitor the Federally Threatened Prairie Bush Clover (Lespedeza leptostachya) in southwestern Minnesota. Her unique volunteer contribution is 7 years’ of phenological data collection for the orchid at Blue Mounds State Park, the only such data ever collected for this species anywhere in its range. In addition to these efforts, Judy has assisted the DNR with documentation of forests in Martin County and flowering phenology at Kilen Woods State Park.

 

Dennis Hageman (Gold – 600 hours)

Beginning in the late 1980s, Dennis Hageman of Estherville, Iowa (now deceased) invested over a decade and a half searching for the Federally Threatened Prairie Bush Clover (Lespedeza leptostachya) in southwestern Minnesota. He was involved in the discovery or protection of over a third of the state’s known populations of this cryptic rarity, Dennis’ love or prairie resulted in the discovery and documentation of dozens of prairies in Jackson and Cottonwood Counties. His infectious enthusiasm for the prairie acquainted many landowners with their resources, often leading to enrollment in the state’s Prairie Bank Program or protection in the state’s Scientific and Natural System.

Judy Kenney (Gold – 577 hours)

With a decade and a half of service, Judy Kenney of south Minneapolis is one of a small group of volunteers who has assisted the Minnesota DNR’s rare plant monitoring program with all three of the state’s monitored federally listed plants: the endemic Federally Endangered Minnesota Dwarf Trout Lily (Erythronium propullans) in southeastern Minnesota, Federally Threatened Prairie Bush Clover (Lespedeza leptostachya) at Kilen Woods State Park, and Federally Threatened Western Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera praeclara) in northwestern Minnesota. In addition to this monitoring, she is one of a core group of volunteers who have returned repeatedly to augment staff of the Minnesota County Biological Survey in searches for Moonworts, Small White Lady Slippers, and other prairie rarities.

 

Malcolm MacFarlane (Gold – 624 hours)

Over the past two decades, St. Paul amateur botanists Malcolm and Rosemary MacFarlane have assisted with searches and monitoring of all three of the state’s monitored federally listed plants: the endemic Federally Endangered Minnesota Dwarf Trout Lily (Erythronium propullans) and Federally Threatened Prairie Bush Clover (Lespedeza leptostachya) in southeastern Minnesota and the Federally Threatened Western Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera praeclara) in northwestern Minnesota. Among their unique contributions has been their photo documentation of all 42 of the state’s orchid species and their discovery of numerous new locations for rare plants in southeastern and northern Minnesota. Among the state’s select group of amateur botanists who are experts at identifying the state’s rare moonworts (Botrychium spp.), they have contributed or discovered more than 100 locations for these and other rare species in the state’s rare features database.

 

Rosemary MacFarlane (Gold – 516 hours)

Over the past two decades, St. Paul amateur botanists Malcolm and Rosemary MacFarlane have assisted with searches and monitoring of all three of the state’s monitored federally listed plants: the endemic Federally Endangered Minnesota Dwarf Trout Lily (Erythronium propullans) and Federally Threatened Prairie Bush Clover (Lespedeza leptostachya) in southeastern Minnesota and the Federally Threatened Western Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera praeclara) in northwestern Minnesota. Among their unique contributions has been their photo documentation of all 42 of the state’s orchid species and their discovery of numerous new locations for rare plants in southeastern and northern Minnesota. Among the state’s select group of amateur botanists who are experts at identifying the state’s rare moonworts (Botrychium spp.), they have contributed or discovered more than 100 locations for these and other rare species in the state’s rare features database.

 

Marcia Richards (Gold – 800 hours)

For nearly a decade and a half, Marcia Richards of Mankato has helped the DNR with monitoring projects on three federally listed plants: the state’s endemic Federally Endangered Minnesota Dwarf Trout Lily (Erythronium propullans), the Federally Threatened Western Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera praeclara) and Prairie Bush Clover (Lespedeza leptostachya). In addition to her unique contribution in searching for Snow Trillium (Trillium nivale) in south-central Minnesota, Marcia has joined crews assisting the Minnesota County Biological Survey in rare plant searches for several other species. Marcia is unique among the DNR’s rare plant volunteers in the number of times she has been pressed into service as a field assistant for University researchers studying Dwarf Trout Lily and Western Prairie Fringed Orchid life history and genetics.

 

Alice Sather (Silver – 287 hours)

Alice Sather of Viking is unique in the length of time she has monitored the federally threatened Western Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera praeclara). Beginning in the late 1980s, Alice has assisted with, and sometimes conducted, demographic monitoring at Lake Bronson Parkland SNA, Pembina WMA, Crookston Prairie SNA, Pembina Trail Preserve and Burnham WMA. In the early 1990s, she was one of the crew who established The Nature Conservancy’s first study plots for a long-term experimental orchid management study at Pembina Trail Preserve. She has also served as a volunteer naturalist at Lake Bronson State Park.

 

Sarah Tufford (Silver – 272 hours)

Retired DNR hydrologist Sarah Tufford of Warsaw, Minnesota became engaged in the DNR’s rare plant monitoring efforts because of her hobby of raising orchids. Over the past decade, her monitoring horizon has expanded from the federally threatened Western Prairie Fringed Orchid to the endemic, federally endangered Minnesota Dwarf Trout Lily. As a member of the Minnesota Orchid Society, one of her unique contributions is the bridge she builds between native orchid conservation and the horticultural orchid community.

 

Russ Schaffenberg (Bronze – 119 hours)

For several years now, nature enthusiast Russ Schaffenberg, a retired chemist of Bloomington, has contributed to the rare plant monitoring and surveying conducted by the DNR. He has assisted with both the Federally Endangered Minnesota Dwarf Trout Lily (Erythronium propullans) and the Federally Threatened Western Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera praeclara). Russ has provided assistance not only on the ground but also by water. He assisted with a Dwarf Trout Lily survey by canoe recently that led to the discovery of a new population in the plant’s native range. He has also contributed an article to our volunteer newsletter and has helped with other rare plant surveys for the Minnesota County Biological Survey.

Clifford Steinhauer (Bronze – 179 hours)

In addition to his numerous activities as a birder in the Thief River Falls area, Holt farmer Clifford Steinhauer has assisted the DNR’s rare plant monitoring program for a decade and a half. During this time, he has not only assisted with counts in the state’s northernmost sites, but has made a unique contribution by serving as the advance scout to check flowering times in Polk and Pennington Counties. In response to a call by the Minnesota County Biological Survey for sightings of Cooper’s Milk Vetch (Astragalus neglectus), he was also responsible for the 1996 documentation of approximately ¼ of the state’s known locations for this species.

 

Eileen Adams (Bronze – 135 hours)

With over 8 years’ of experience monitoring and searching for the state’s endemic Federally Endangered Minnesota Dwarf Trout Lily (Erythronium propullans), Eileen Adams of St. Paul is one of a core group of volunteers who anchor the DNR’s rare plant monitoring program at Nerstrand Big Woods State Park and River Bend Nature Center. She has typically volunteered several days a year for 7 or the last 8 years.

 

Mary Brown (Bronze – 152 hours)

Over the last decade, Mary Brown of Marine has assisted the DNR both with monitoring of the state’s endemic Federally Endangered Minnesota Dwarf Trout Lily (Erythronium propullans) in southeastern Minnesota and Federally Threatened Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera praeclara) in northwestern Minnesota, where she has assisted at all but two of the species northernmost populations.

 

Jay Hutchinson (Bronze – 182 hours)

Over the last decade and a half, retired forestry professor Jay Hutchinson of St. Paul has enlivened the DNR’s rare plant search crews with his unforgettable mnemonic devices for tree identification. Jay is one of several volunteers who have searched for both the endemic Federally Endangered Minnesota Dwarf Trout Lily (Erythronium propullans) in southeastern Minnesota and Federally Threatened Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera praeclara) in northwestern Minnesota.

 

Rich Peet (Bronze – 137 hours)

Freelance naturalist and outdoor sound engineer Rich Peet of Golden Valley is one of a core group of volunteers familiar with nearly every orchid site in the northwestern part of the state. In addition to his role as a key searcher in the most impenetrably brushy sites, Rich has enlivened the Minnesota DNR’s orchid monitoring crews in northwestern Minnesota for nearly a decade through his familiarity with prairie birds and interest in nocturnal prairie biology.