2025 Habitat Recap

by Doug Moran, Habitat Coordinator
Volunteers had a HUGE impact on TCTU’s 2025 habitat efforts & had a positive impact on our coldwater streams and the wild places we all love. 
Because of your generosity of time, Here’s what TCTU volunteers did:

• Donated 826 hours (that’s 103 eight hour days)!
• Worked at 29 different habitat events!
• Positively impacted 11 streams!
• Partnered with 12 different organizations for habitat work!
• Ate +275 sub sandwiches, pizzas, brats & cheeseburgers!

Who did TCTU partner with?
●      Dakota Parks
●      The Vermillion Watershed Joint Powers Organization
●      Boy Scouts of America
●      Red Wing High School
●      City of Red Wing
●      City of Farmington
●      Multiple private landowners
●      Friends of the Mississippi River
●      Brown’s Creek Watershed District
●      MNTU
●      US Fish & Wildlife Service
●      Hiawatha, Win-Cres and Kiap Tu Wish TU Chapters
●      MN DNR
 
What type of work did we do?
●      Cut, stacked, treated buckthorn, boxelder
●      Pulled fencing
●      Helped safely eradicate wild parsnips
●      Pulled garlic mustard
●      Picked up lots of trash
●      Did streamwalks to scout out winter damage
●      Electrofished and moved trout for in-stream work
●      Assisted in landowner assessments
●      Planted natives on a stream restoration project
●      Participated in a 2 day rare plants survey
●      Adopted a parcel to help eradicate buckthorn and other invasives
●      Strengthened relationships w/multiple partners
●      Participated in park department planning
●      Participated in forming a 10 yr plan for a watershed
●      Project MACHETE-a buckthorn experiment
●      Project REPEATER-a macroinvertebrate survey
 
What streams did we positively impact?
●      Brown’s Creek
●      Bullard Creek
●      Eagle Creek
●      Hay Creek
●      Ike’s/Mall of America Creek
●      Little Pickwick
●      Trout Brook-Miesville
●      Whitewater-South Fork
●      Vermillion-Cambodia Pond
●      Vermillion-Mainstem
●      Vermillion-South Branch
●      Vermillion-South Creek
 
 
What’s coming up in 2026?
Plenty. We have 15 events in development and more to come! Keep clicking the  TCTU Events page to learn more!
 
Thank you to all volunteers for your generosity!