In September, we welcomed coldwater conservationists from across the country for a firsthand look at our trout stream habitat work in the Driftless Area of Minnesota. Held as part of Trout Unlimited’s annual CX3 gathering in St. Paul, the tour was an incredible opportunity to showcase our restoration projects, share what we’ve learned with fellow conservationists and practitioners and highlight the special partnerships that make this work successful.

Our day began at Trout Brook in Miesville Ravine County Park near Cannon Falls with a hay wagon ride down to the stream where we have completed more than one mile of stream habitat restoration since 2017. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources staff and Win-Cres Chapter of Trout Unlimited member, Neal Mundahl, led an electrofishing demonstration that showed off wild, native brook trout with spawning color to boot.

The tour also looked at the design features typical of our restoration projects – including the restoration of riffles and pool habitat and the addition of boulders, toewood, native vegetation and non-game habitat features like snag trees, wetland scrapes and turtle basking logs. Mike Majeski, our design consultant from Emmons & Olivier Resources, Inc. (EOR) explained the design approach while contractors from Barth Construction, Inc. offered insight into the construction side of habitat restoration.

After a barbecue and walleye lunch at the Anderson Center in Red Wing, we went on to visit nearby Hay Creek to walk a recent 3,900’ft restoration project. Jim Sauter, of the Twin Cities Chapter of Trout Unlimited’s Streamkeeper program, demonstrated water quality testing and aquatic macroinvertebrate sampling to highlight how water chemistry and stream-dwelling insects provide important clues about stream health. Both water quality testing and aquatic insect sampling are opportunities to measure the success of restoration work.

For us at Minnesota Trout Unlimited, this tour was an opportunity to put our habitat program in front of a nationwide audience in the most meaningful way – by spending time on the streams themselves. We hope that by seeing the work, meeting the people and partners behind it, those who attended can better connect restoration practices with the fish and aquatic life that benefit. We were proud to share this work and grateful to the DNR, Twin Cities Trout Unlimited, our hosts and the partners and volunteers who made the day possible.

We appreciate the many volunteers and partners that made this habitat tour possible: Blake Abdella (HTU), Mark Resister (Win-Cres), Doug Moran (TCTU), Tony Nelson (TCTU), Mark Reisetter (Win-Cres), Jim Sauter (TCTU), Dustan Hoffman (MNDNR), Mark Nemeth (MNDNR), Dakota County Parks, Mike Majeski (EOR, Inc) and Barth Construction.