Paddling Theater and WRA Pilot Trip

Hello WRA friends!

Last weekend we attended the 50th Anniversary of the Minnesota River Water Trail. To celebrate, the DNR, CURE MN, Playspace Productions, Wilderness Inquiry, and the Granite Falls Community put on a 3-day event of speakers, theatrics, and paddling. On Friday night, Anna and I attended a series of talks at City Hall. After I presented on my canoe trip to Hudson Bay and Wild River Academy, we heard a wonderful talk about the benefits of dam removals, pertaining specifically to the removal of the Minnesota Dam. We learned about river hydrology and the importance of free flowing water trails to promote a healthy water system for native fish to spawn and migrate. Some people argue that dams are important barriers to keeping invasive species from extending their reach. Luther, the presenter, told us that this is not true. With all of the flooding in our watersheds, invasive fish species, i.e. asian carp, are able to jump and sometimes even swim around dams. Besides, there are 21 other ways that invasive species can spread into new waterways. Crazy! After the Granite Falls dam, there are 254 miles of free flowing water trail until the Minnesota River flows into the Mississippi River at Fort Snelling State Park. That is more free flowing water than the St.Croix, yet the Minnesota River is rarely known for outdoor recreation. 

Nick, Anna, and I just got off the river from a four-day paddle from Moonstone Farms to Morton. We ran the new Minnesota Falls (just go down the center left, it'll be great) and several other rapids along that stretch of the river. I quickly remembered the beauty of the Minnesota River; despite the cold rain, we enjoyed our short expedition and we were in awe of the jungle birds, pelicans, eagles, beavers, granite outcroppings, and dense forest. We made more connections along the route, including new farmers and potentially someone to talk to us about the geology in the watershed and lead a star-gazing session for our groups. With all there is to do along our route, it is a wonder if we'll even have time to paddle anywhere!

We are leading the WRA Family Expedition next week, June 1-5. We start our excursion at Moonstone Farms where we will tour the farm, have orientation, cook dinner, and get to know everyone around a campfire. We will paddle to Memorial Park in Granite Falls the next morning where we will meet someone from the DNR Fisheries Department who will teach our groups how to fish. The next morning we will visit the WWII museum and then paddle to Upper Sioux State Park where we will tour the park to learn about Dakota history and the war of 1862. We will camp there. The fourth day of our trip we will paddle to Vicksburg County Park where we will meet with a local musician. The last day, we will paddle to Redwood Falls where we will meet with Scott Kudelka from the DNR to learn about healthy water systems and to look for macroinvertibrates in the Redwood River. Then we will depart back to our homes after a reflection session and goodbyes!

If you are interested in participating, there are four open spots on this expedition. Visit www.wildriveracademy.com/registration to sign up. Once you submit your online registration, we will contact you with more information. The cost is $400/person.


Thanks and see you on the river,
Natalie

Paddle for Change Debut!

Under the name Paddle for Change, 7 individuals are preparing for the trip of a lifetime. We are going to paddle the entirety of the Mississippi River from Lake Itasca south to the Gulf of Mexico. Time spent on the river will be around 70 days from September 18th to sometime before Thanksgiving. This trip is a dream of everyone involved and is slowly becoming a reality. Paddle for Change will make stops in communities along the river to show the documentary: Do the Math, created by Bill McKibben and 350.org to highlight the growing dangers of climage change and the causes behind it. Following the showing. we will facilitate a discussion on local issues pertaining to the themes present in the documentary. Our team includes: Erika Gotcher, currently working with Camp Manitowish; Elizabeth Just, working to implement compost systems in schools; Lee Vue, soon to be a graduate of the University of Minnesota; Joseph Snowdon, who just graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in Forestry; of course, Anna Johnson, Natalie Warren, and Nick Ryan will be involved in the trip as well.

Considering our pack out date is a summer away, we are planning a string of fundraisers for the summer months to assist us in purchasing gear and funding our expedition. Our first fundraiser was on May 5th and involved a stunning performance by the Walker Brothers Band, growlers containing delicious Fulton Brew, and additional beverages provided by Surdyk’s liquor store. We prepared a taco bar utilizing gift cards generously donated from Rainbow grocery and the Seward Co-op. This fundraiser is the first of many and if you’re interested in attending a benefit concert at a local venue or a portage parade then visit www.wildriveracademy.com to sign onto the mailing list and receive updates.

WRUpdate!

Here comes a much needed update on all things Wild River Academy and some things Paddle for Change. We left you in late March, Anna had not yet joined us in Minneapolis and the weather continued to look bleak. Now it is the middle of May and we have acquired vital equipment and helpful partnerships in our race to the pilot trip on May 19th, 5 days from this posting! A huge thank you goes out to all those wonderful companies and individuals that have helped us along the way. Natalie was able to give a presentation at the Bloomington, MN REI on Tuesday May 7th. The presentation was excellent and REI will be a huge support throughout our summer and into the future. GSI will be providing us with a cookware set and Wilderness Medical Systems, LLC has sponsored us with 2 large first aid kits. Thomas Barry, an active member of the MN outdoor community, avid paddler, and white water rafter, generously donated 8 Watershed Colorado dry bags as well as a Watershed camera bag. These sponsored items, alongside support from companies and individuals, boost our ability to efficiently run trips this summer, while also building our network in the outdoor industry and community.

Wild River Academy tabled at Midwest Mountaineering’s annual meeting April 26th through the 28th. The exposure to like minded individuals at expos through conversations made with participants and our fellow table neighbors facilitates lasting friendships and partnerships. Midwest Mountaineering was brilliant in their planning and managed to organize a host of presenters that rivaled the line-up at the recent Canoecopia event in Madison, WI. Organizing the basic expo with presentations, manufacturers, and tabling organizations is a massive undertaking in and of itself, that being said Midwest Mountaineering went above and beyond by orchestrating a fantastic dinner and gathering with the employees, volunteers, manufacturers, and organizations; basically, thank you so much for a wonderful expo Midwest Mountaineering.

Among Wild River Academy’s partnerships, our relationship with River’s Edge Academy has proven to be a wonderful opportunity for Wild River Academy to pursue our mission of outdoor experience and education for all. River’s Edge Academy aims to reduce the drop-out rate, increase the graduation rate of Minnesota’s urban youth, and reduce the achievement gap between white and non-white students. They envision using the natural environment to engage students in work that is hands-on, standards-based and college preparatory. Wild River Academy will be organizing a fully sponsored, free trip for River’s Edge Academy students... wait a second guys, how can we fully sponsor up to 14 students to attend one of our trips?! That’s where you, the blog reader and Wild River Academy enthusiast come in. We need donations, as low as $10, that will allow us to provide this life changing opportunity to the maximum number of students. Our goal is to raise $8000 dollars before June 23rd. The donation page can be found here: http://givemn.razoo.com/story/River-S-Edge-Academy-River-Trip. Thank you in advance for making this expedition a reality for these awesome students!

Forward On Climate Rally

On February 17, I was lucky enough to sleep in and enjoy my breakfast before making the 15-minute Metro journey to the Washington Monument for the Forward on Climate rally. But thousands of people travelled from all over the country for this moment—the biggest climate rally in history—to protest the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline and to let President Obama know that we expect bold climate leadership.

It was a bitterly cold day (by D.C. standards at least), but the energy was palpable. Volunteers passed out buttons and posters as participants emerged by the dozens from the Metro tunnel onto the National Mall. People from all walks of life, including some dressed as polar bears, migrated to the stage near the Washington Monument, where Hip Hop Caucus’s Reverend Yearwood was acting as MC for the event, getting the crowd to jump and wave their arms for the climate, as well as their core temperatures.

Despite the cold, more than 40,000 people crowded together, all willing to ignore their temporary discomfort in the name of acting on behalf of an issue that has a far greater timeline, scope, and potential to inflict suffering much worse than being chilly for a few hours. A diverse group of people spoke to show solidarity with the crowd. Crystal Lameman of the Beaver Lake Cree tribe of Alberta, told the crowd how her community was already being affected by the horrifying process of extracting tar sands oil in Alberta. High cancer rates plague the communities adjacent to the operation. She reminded us of this certainty: “If this pipeline goes through, it will be at the cost of human life, air life, water life.”

We also heard from Tom Steyer, a member of the financial community and a clean energy investor. “For the last thirty years I have been a professional investor, and I am here to tell you one thing: the Keystone XL pipeline is not a good investment.” The speeches were impassioned, clear, and concise.

The Keystone XL Pipeline does not make sense. The pipeline will be transporting oil from tar sands in Canada to the Gulf Coast. At the source, tar sands extraction requires clear cutting Boreal forest in Alberta, which completely devastates this rich ecosystem and poisons the waterways and adjacent communities. Although the companies responsible for this destruction are required under Canadian law to restore the area to a condition similar to what was there originally, evidence suggests this very well could be an impossible task. In order to separate the sand from the oil requires large amounts of hot water—which relies on fossil fuels to heat—adding to the already atrociously high environmental impact.

This oil will then be transported through the Keystone XL pipeline, which runs through America’s heartland: over rivers, aquifers, and precious farmland. When it comes to oil pipelines, it is not a matter of if a spill occurs, it is a matter of when. The pipeline will put our water, food, and diverse prairie ecosystems at risk.

When the oil finally arrives in the Gulf, it is not for American consumption, and it will not reduce domestic oil prices. Period. After its journey across the U.S., the oil will be shipped abroad. Sure, the construction of the pipeline may create some jobs. But a pipeline only gets built once. And then these jobs will end. And then where will we be? With a long, metal straw, transporting a dirty fuel source out of the U.S. in the name of corporate profits and maintaining the status quo. Why not invest in creating long-term, skilled jobs that make us globally competitive? Building wind turbines and solar panels, operating wind turbines, and installing solar panels are part of the solution. Investing in a destructive, finite, greenhouse gas-producing fuel source is not.

Van Jones, President Obama’s former advisor on green jobs and a climate activist put it this way: “This is the last minute, in the last quarter, of the biggest, most important game humanity has ever played. President Obama, all the good that you have done, all the good you can imagine doing, will be wiped out by floods, by fires, by superstorms, if you fail to act now to deal with this crisis, that is a gun…pointed at the head of the future.”   

Climate change is the most complex and urgent conundrum the human race has ever faced. The Keystone XL pipeline, the development of Canada’s tar sands are simply not part of the solution. What is part of the solution is education. At Wild River Academy, I am excited to engage with high school students about what climate change is, what it means, and how we as individuals and as a community and as a movement we can create a hopeful, bright future for ourselves.

40,000 people gathered to speak truth to power on February 17, to let President Obama know that the climate simply cannot wait. And it will not wait. We must act now because every moment lost is another child with asthma, another home flooded by a superstorm, and another species gone extinct. The sooner we act, the faster we create good, green jobs, increase our quality of life with more livable communities, and create a viable, bright future for ourselves. On February 17, the American people said peacefully, but forcefully, that climate change mitigation must be a priority, and we will not stand aside and let our future go up in smoke.

A Canoecopia Utopia

On Thursday March 7th Wild River Academy began the trek to Canoecopia in Madison, Wisconsin. Excitement was in the air as we consolidated our presentable materials and overnight bags into the trunk of my car. We had spent the last week gathering blown up pictures in the form of: posters depicting scenes from our pilot trip on the Potomac River with quotes superimposed, beautifully designed postcards all thanks to Alyssa Phanitdasack and her designing prowess. We printed a banner depicting our logo and motto in all its 5' x 3' glory. This was Wild River Academy's first experience tabling at an outdoor expo and we did our best to get our ducks in a row. A major player in our success with booth materials was The Print Shop in Bloomington, MN which worked with us to stylize and complete on time all of our masterpieces.

We entered the Alliant Energy Convention Center with about 4 hours of set-up time and beautified our booth to be an eye-catching showcase of Wild River Academy. They opened the doors at 4:00pm and our day began. We were able to meet with a multitude of interested people. Some teachers, throughout the weekend, showed interest in programming through their science and history departments and grabbed multiple brochures. We met with the Bending Branches representatives and picked up our three intricate, efficient, and gorgeous paddles sponsored to Natalie, Anna, and myself as Wild River Academy Guides. Thanks Bending Branches! You guys ROCK! We met many people who showed interest and talked with us about our route, equipment, and plans for the future. Talking with people about our organization helps us to put the plans we have in our minds into conversational and easily understood words which improves our vision of the future and our ability to convey our ideas.

We debuted our idea for a trip-based group called Paddle for Change which uses long paddling trips throughout the USA to bring global environmental concerns to the public by meeting with community organizations, talking with individuals, and spreading information through local media. Specifically, we made connections with potential sponsors for a trip down the entirety of the Mississippi River from Lake Itasca to Port Eads, Louisiana. This Mississippi trip will focus on exposing the truth behind surface mining of bitumen in the Athabasca Region of Northeastern Alberta, Canada specifically from the Athabasca River. These surface mining operations leave behind ponds of excess, unusable product which often leak and are extremely harmful to the native wildlife. Ducks landing on these ponds die upon contact with the toxic contents. Our goal is to use the trip to bring awareness to a wider swath of conscientious Americans who might not have previously known about these environmental atrocities.

Natalie and I both spoke with many people, and found time to listen to some very informative and captivating speakers. I had the opportunity to listen to a representative from Big River Magazine, which focuses on the Mississippi, speak about the river itself, how much it has changed, and the paddlers who enjoy it. I also got to hear a presentation from Jon Turk who circumnavigated Ellesmere Island with Erik Boomer in 2011. Jon Turk was a great speaker and his presentation was inspiring and incredibly interesting. Being exposed to such a wide array of all things canoeing improved my knowledge of the intricacies involved in this amazing industry. The access to a wide variety of canoeing experts, outfitters and suppliers, and experienced paddlers made Canoecopia an incredible opportunity for Wild River Academy.

Nick's First Week in MN

Between chili-cook offs, musical jam sessions, meetings with interesting people, and general exploration of the city, my first week in Minneapolis sold me on the area and was an affirmation for the decision to move Wild River Academy to Minneapolis. Upon arrival I was whisked from the bus station and headed straight to a chili cook-off. The four different chilis were delicious and later that night we all ventured into the basement for a jam session. So far so good, Minneapolis was wooing me right out of the gate. Throughout the week I hit it off with new found family members through various dinner and coffee shop meet-ups. My second uncle offered me a place to live for the summer, at his house in Long Lake, MN. I am constantly surprised by the hospitality exhibited by family members, friends, and strangers alike. On Monday, Anna flew in and we commenced meeting with potential partners and advice givers. Paul Thompson from MN 350 over viewed the mission of the 350 organization. They are working towards cleaner energy and fighting against global warming skeptics with facts and examples of the effects. The town of Granite Falls is in the process of removing an unused damn which will allow for easier recreation access to that part of the river and return the river to a more natural state. We got a chance to observe the progress of the removal and take pictures. CURE Minnesota instilled their confidence in us and offered support for our coming first year; they have offices in Montevideo, MN and Granite Falls, MN. Getting to know the area and finding support for our ideas gets me excited about bringing this unique outdoor experience to high school students. February 9^th is CURE Minnesota’s annual convention, Wild River Academy will have a table there and I expect to meet many more amazing individuals.

-Nick Ryan

Partner and Director of Operations

The Move to Minneapolis

Friends,

New logo. Kudos to Alyssa Phanitdasack

Great news! Due to connections and an abundance of support from people, organizations, and outfitters in Minnesota, WRA is relocating operations to Minneapolis in 2013. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time here in DC and, once things are running smoothly in Minnesota, we have every intention of returning the area to lead trips. I want to thank all of you here for the support we have received in the last few months. The outfitters, paddling clubs, and schools have shown that DC is ready for a program like this, and we can't wait to return operations to the Potomac River in a few years.

These last couple months have been very exciting for the WRA team. Nick and I have been working on grants, sponsorships, business operations, and our business model. We crossed paths with a wonderful young woman named Anna Johnson, who came on our first Wild River Academy trip in October and has agreed to join our efforts in Minnesota. Her role is to build curriculum about the land, water, wildlife, communities, and history surrounding the Minnesota River, coupled with outdoor and interpersonal skills. Anna, Nick, and I will all lead trips during the summer months.

To better fit our audience in Minnesota, we have changed our business model. Our new slogan is:

 Know the land. Know the water. Know yourself. 

Wild River Academy now provides an opportunity for high school girls to get to know where they are from through the medium of a wilderness adventure. We will take girls ages 14-18 out to paddle the Minnesota River from Montevideo to Minneapolis, stopping to talk with environmental organizations, farmers, state park rangers, and community members to learn about environmental and social issues along Minnesota's waterways. Girls will not only learn about the land and its people, but will gain invaluable life skills through the physical and emotional challenges inherent in wilderness trips. 

When Ann and I paddled the Minnesota River in 2011, (www.hudsonbaybound.com) we were surprised by the rich wildlife and vibrant communities present along the route. We learned about the Great Sioux Wars and German POW Camps from our stops at State Parks, which Ann had learned about in school but did not fully comprehend until we visited the sites. I grew up in Miami, FL, but after paddling the Minnesota River and connecting with the communities along the river valley, my heart now resides in the Midwest. Ann and I talked to farmers and organizations about life on the river, the practices and systems that harm it, and what is being done to ensure cleaner water and healthier communities for future generations.  I hope to share these connections and experiences with women at a younger age so that they have an understanding of environmental issues, the difference between faulty and effective systems, and the importance of community, coupled with a sense of place and a better understanding of their beautiful home: Minnesota.

Groups will paddle, cook, and converse in a group to build relationships, communication skills, and encourage creative problem solving. At night we will enjoy each other's company around the fire with lively conversation and musical instruments. We might even play a little capture the flag during the day... ;)

To help build our presence in Minnesota, we would appreciate any connections to network, build partnerships, and gain sponsorships. If you would like to donate canoes, trailer hitches, life jackets, paddles, etc., we would greatly appreciate your support. Simply connecting us with people in the outdoor world would be a great help! Email Paddle@Wildriveracademy.com with any suggestions. Thanks for your support, and we are looking forward to the move in February.


See you soon,

The WRA Team
Natalie, Nick, and Anna