Ottawa Bluffs Workdays

Spend your afternoon volunteering with TNC and help restore this important remnant of the Minnesota River bluffs. You’ll be rewarded with brag-worthy views of the river valley and the great company of fellow conservationists.

Upcoming Workdays

Saturday, March 29

Saturday, May 17

Saturday, June 14

Saturday, July 12

Saturday, August 16

Saturday, September 13

All workdays start at 10 a.m. and end around 3 p.m. Please bring a lunch, plenty of water and work gloves–leather work best. Be sure to wear appropriate (sturdy) footwear and dress in layers, particularly layers that are well-worn and that you wouldn’t mind a few extra holes in. Rain, snow or shine, volunteers will be out there!

While we have done a lot of tree thinning over the years, there is still more to do.  The savanna areas of the preserve are recovering nicely as we've gotten more sunlight to reach the ground, promoting the growth of partial sun-loving grasses and forbs.  Some of the plants that are benefiting include the rye grasses (particularly silky rye), black-seeded rice grass, white grass, moon seed, green briar, germander, American spikenard, and several sunflower species. The sunflowers are noteworthy because they were difficult to find at Ottawa when this work started in 1990, but now large clones can be found blooming in late summer.  Still, some areas don't receive much sunlight and we aim to change that. Tree removal generates a lot of slash, which we can always use help piling.  Once we have a good amount of snow cover, we can start burning those piles.

For information about upcoming Ottawa Bluffs workdays, contact Bill Ramsden at ottawabluffs@gmail.com.