General Information:
The Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College (FDLTCC) Environmental Study Area (ESA) consists of 2,140 acres of wild land, immediately adjacent to the St. Louis River in Northern Minnesota. The property is owned by the State of Minnesota (2,100 acres) and Carlton County (40 acres) and is administered by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Carlton County Tax Forfeited Land Department.

FDLTCC has entered into a long term cooperative agreement with each agency that allows the College to exclusively coordinate all resource and environmental research and educational activities on the land. The landowners retain managerial rights and the same liability as for other public holdings. All partners resolved to consider the Agreement when conducting projects or planning long-range programs.

FDLTCC is advised by the St. Louis River Integrated Resource Management (IRM) Team from the Minnesota DNR, the Carlton County Land Department, and the St. Louis River Board, with input from others in the community.

Because of the FDLTCC mission regarding education and status as a Federal Land Grant Institution, we are using this property as an outdoor classroom for our students and others in order to intertwine the knowledge of science technology with traditional understandings of the natural world (such as cultural ethnobotany or medicinal plants). The College also conducts relevant research dealing with ecology, water quality, and the natural systems and populations. An emphasis placed on disseminating research results to the community.

Description:

ESA #1: This 1,160 acre tract borders the Eastern edge of the St. Louis River running from the town of Brookston to approximately two (2) miles South of the Highway #2 bridge (ESA maps). The parcel includes the confluence of the Cloquet and St. Louis Rivers as well as an abandoned channel of the St. Louis. It is 15 miles, by road, from the campus in Cloquet; all land immediately across the St. Louis River is within the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation.

The property is an excellent example of semi-pristine river frontage. It has been logged and is used heavily for hunting, but contains no evidence of permanent man-made disturbance, such as farming or buildings. The river immediately upstream from the ESA is also forested. and there is no major settlement or industry. There are riparian and upland ecosystems as well as black spruce peat bogs. The rivers contain mixed aquatic ecosystems from riffles to deep open water.

There is a variety of habitats on the property containing many species of plants and animals. Vegetation ranges from submergent macrophytes to terrestrials; crown layers from low ground cover to full forest canopy. Animals include aquatic macro-invertebrates and upland mammals and birds with American eagles sighted in the treetops.

ESA #2: This 980 acre tract lies East of Carlton County Road # 45 between Interstate #35 and just North of the town of Carlton ( ESA maps). The parcel is 1 mile East of the Cloquet campus and includes both sides of the St. Louis River.

While the property also represents undeveloped wild land of the region, the proximity to urban areas has allowed heavier daily use by hunters, ATV riders, and hikers. However, there are no buildings or permanent structures on the land.

The water column for this section of the river is somewhat in-between the extremes of the other Study Area. This river portion consists of a year-round full flow but not the deep channel or the shallow pools. However, this ESA does contain three small feeder streams and one spring dry-run.

The tract includes a mixture of aquatic, riparian, and terrestrial ecosystems, including an expanse of wetland grasses and a well defined forest stand of older white pine. The area provides habitat for a variety of plants and animals of the region; most representative species may be found

Current projects:
The following projects are being conducted on the ESA:

1. St. Louis River 'River Watch' project.

2. Anuran Study:

3. GIS activity: Students are currently preparing GIS overlays (for both tracts) from boundary survey, topography, soil map, and vegetation description data. The project also includes field inspections by faculty and students.

4. DNR tree planting project for 1999, including 1998 site preparation.

5. Updating plant photographs for FDLTCC Internet image gallery.




For more information contact Andrew Wold: awold@ezigaa.fdl.cc.mn.us