Donate Native Wildflower Seed!

You can contribute to ACD's efforts to enhance habitats across Anoka County by collecting wildflower seed! You can send us a picture of the plant if you're uncertain of the ID. You can tell that seeds are ready to collect when they are dry and hardened. Milkweed plants produce large seed pods. Their seeds are ready to collect when the pods begin to brown in color and split open with gentle pressure. We prefer that seed is detached from its fluff. See an example of how to clean milkweed seed

Photo: Milkweed seeds collected by ACD staff. Milkweed seeds are ready when the pod turns from green to brown and splits open easily. The seeds should be brown and hardened. Allow the seed to air dry after collecting to prevent mold.

When collecting seed, please follow these guidelines:

  1. Never collect more than 1/3 of available seeds from a given area.
  2. Always have landowner permission before collecting seeds. Do not collect seeds from public lands without a permit!
See the Monarch Joint Venture or Xerces site for more tips and videos. Please include a note listing the species, your name, and where the seed was collected. You can drop off native seed or mail it in to the ACD office: 1318 McKay Drive NE, Suite 300, Ham Lake 55304. Direct any questions to Logan Olson, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Thanks for contributing to habitat enhancement in Anoka County! 
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Monarch Monitoring with ACD!

ACD staff, volunteers and students are collecting data to record milkweed plants, flowering plants, Monarch caterpillars and Monarch butterflies in prairies throughout Anoka County. The data will be entered into a national database, which is utilized to understand how monarchs interact with the environment, and how habitat and monarch populations change over time. The data will also be used to guide management decisions at each prairie. ACD recently applied for BWSR pollinator grant funds, which would provide funding for future habitat enhancement activities with students in the Anoka-Ramsey Community College prairie and to broadcast milkweed and other wildflower seed after Anoka County Parks prescribed prairie burns. Sign up today to volunteer with ACD or for more information contact Carrie Taylor, Restoration Ecologist, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Volunteer Opportunity

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Bringing Adopt-a-Drain to Martin Lake

Martin Lake in Linwood Township has been classified as "impaired" since 2004, with an excess of phosphorus being a leading cause of its degradation. This particular water contaminant often comes from plant material and fertilizer, and it only takes a pound of phosphorus to create up to 500 pounds of algal growth in a lake. The subsequent two decades since 2004 have seen an array of water quality improvement projects implemented on Martin Lake's shores and in its waters. As a result, phosphorus levels have been inching closer and closer to Minnesota's water quality standard over the last few years, and a de-listing may be on the horizon if these trends persist.

Storm drains can be a significant source of leaves, grass clippings, and other pollutants to the lakes that they drain to. Luckily, Minnesota is home to the successful Adopt-a-Drain program which provides a way for people to select local drains to personally keep free of debris and protect local water sources. Up until this summer, the drains leading to Martin Lake had not been mapped and available for adoption on Adopt-a-Drain's website. 

As part of ACD's work to improve Martin Lake's water quality, we have remedied this and created a map and flyer to promote these drains to people who live in the neighborhoods along the lakeshore. Through sharing these resources with the lake association and local Facebook groups, 11 drains leading to the lake have now been adopted! Thanks to the people who have volunteered, less debris will be getting into the lake from the surrounding streets, which will help Martin Lake in its journey to getting de-listed in the future. We hope to see more people along the lake join the cause now that these drains are available for adoption!

If you're interested in supporting your local water bodies by adopting a drain, check out https://mn.adopt-a-drain.org/ to get started. 

A selection of drains along Martin Lake that are now adopted.
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ACD Hard at Work Removing Carp from Martin Lake

The Anoka Conservation District has been hard at work this September removing invasive carp from Martin Lake, located in northeastern Anoka County. Martin Lake has had a large carp population over the years, which can be extremely detrimental to lake water quality if left unmanaged. This type of work isn't possible without strong partnerships between natural resource professionals and residents of the community. This project and the dedicated volunteers on Martin Lake are a shining example of the level of civic engagement that is achievable when these relationships are nurtured. Thank you volunteers!

Updates are also periodically posted here: Carp Harvests

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