Crow Wing County has installed a permanent AIS Decontamination Station at the Crosslake Joint Highway Maintenance Facility at 13870 Whipple Drive in Crosslake (1/2 mile south of the dam off of County Road 3). The station will be open from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM 7 days a week.

Decontamination at the station will consist of a hot water rinse to kill zebra mussels, and pressure wash to remove plant material from boats, motors, trailers, and other equipment. The station is operated by DNR-trained, certified inspectors who will ensure the process is effective and safe. Decontamination will be provided to boaters free of charge.

County and Level 1 DNR inspectors will be directing boaters to the station for decontamination if it is deemed necessary per the DNR guidelines:

• If AIS or other unknown substances or stuck on plants are discovered during an inspection at the boat landing. 
• If a watercraft has been in infested waters for more than 24 hours.
• If the watercraft is being transported to a new water body within 24 hours.
  
• Water that cannot be drained or verified (i.e. water you cannot see, such as water in ballast tanks).
  
• An inspector or law officer deems it necessary.
  

Any boater can receive a courtesy decontamination at this location, but priority will be given to boaters referred for any of the above situations.

Click here to go to the Crow Wing County website for more information about this and other AIS prevention efforts.

We are excited to announce that A.W. Research Laboratories is under new ownership for the first time in its 43 year history. The new ownership group consists of three long-term employees that have served as the management team since the death of the company’s founder, Alan Cibuzar, last year.

Sara Ahlers joined A.W. Research Laboratories as Laboratory Director in 1999. Originally from Red Lake Falls, Minnesota, Ahlers attended the University of Minnesota where she received her degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Stephanie Kuesel is originally from Little Falls and has been with the company for 14 years. With degrees in Water Resource Technology and Environmental Resources, Kuesel has served as Senior Lab Technician and Laboratory Manager for A.W. Research Laboratories.

Sarah Fogderud, Project Manager and Controller, is originally from Bismarck, North Dakota and has her degree in Biology from Gustavus Adolphus College. Fogderud has been with A.W. Research Laboratories since 2008.

A.W. Research Laboratories will continue to operate out of our current location at the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport providing water testing, onsite sampling and consulting services to clients throughout central Minnesota. The lab offers in-house testing services for drinking water, wastewater, surface water, groundwater, and stormwater.

Nitrate Contamination of Minnesota Groundwater: economic and other implications will take place on Thursday, March 19th, at 3:00 PM. Following the presentation and discussion there will be time for networking with the speaker and audience participants. This event is free of charge and open to the public. It will be held at the Crow Wing County Land Services Building, Meeting Room 2 (lower level), 322 Laurel Street, Brainerd. The Land Services building is located just south of the historic court house. Please park in the Crow Wing County Visitor Parking Lot on the corner of Laurel and 4th Street. 

To secure a long-term sustainable water future, investments are needed in watershed protection and restoration.  However, these investments can be costly and lead to tradeoffs with development and other activities.  In order to evaluate these tradeoffs, we need information on how water quality and quantity is changing, along with how those changes affect our social and economic wellbeing.

To address this need, Dr. Bonnie Keeler, a research scientist at the Institute on the Environment where she oversees the Natural Capital Project, is studying the value of clean water in Minnesota.  Along with colleagues, she recently published research on the costs of nitrate contamination and the value of clean water to lake recreation.  Using tools from ecology and economics, Keeler is understanding the connections between water quality and wellbeing - information that can better inform the design of policy or incentive programs and more efficiently target investments in restoration and protection.  Keeler will discuss her work on water quality valuation, along with related projects led by the Natural Capital Project that are elevating the value of nature in decision-making.

For more information about this event please contact: Kristen Blann, kblann@tnc.org.  

The Brainerd Area Environmental Learning Network (BAELN) is proud to be offering its twelfth year of professional development and timely information on environmental and sustainability issues for professionals and community members. BAELN is a collaborative effort of: Central Lakes College, Central Regional Sustainable Development Partnership, citizen representation, Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District, Initiative Foundation, MN Department of Natural Resources, MN Department of Transportation, MN Pollution Control Agency, The Nature Conservancy, and University of Minnesota Extension.

If you would like to be on the BAELN email list or for general information on BAELN, please contact Stephen Mikkelson at 218-316-3887, toll free at 1-800-657-3864 or stephen.mikkelson@state.mn.us.