2023

In person at Como Park in St. Paul — picnic area northwest of Estabrook Drive & Midway Parkway (near the zoo).

Tanner  Barnharst will share the basics of mycology (the study of fungi, including mushrooms) using preserved and fresh mushroom specimens. He will share what makes Minnesota a unique environment particularly suited to the mushrooming hobby. Tanner will provide additional resources to learn more about the hobby and concrete steps for how you too can get out there and enjoy the world of mushrooming! Tanner encourages you to come prepared with questions and a readiness to get your hands on some mushrooms! He will leave plenty of time for questions, sample handling, and audience participation.

Tanner is a board member of the Minnesota Mycological Society (MMS) and has been leading mushroom forays and performing identification for the last seven (7) years. Tanner holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree where he used fungi for environmental remediation. Tanner grew up in the SE part of the metro Twin Cities and has been a lover of the outdoors since childhood. He currently resides in Minneapolis and enjoys spending his time hiking, camping, mushrooming, and reading.

In person at Como Park in St. Paul — picnic area northwest of Estabrook Drive & Midway Parkway (near the zoo).

No presentation – come to the Gear Swap! Twice a year the Minnesota Rovers host a gear swap at one of the regular Tuesday night meetings. Anyone who has any type of gear that they are no longer using can bring it to the swap and either sell it outright or make a trade with someone else. The gear is in good shape, and usually, the owners have simply chosen to upgrade or no longer have a need for that particular piece of equipment. It is a great way to get your hands on some gear if you just want to try it out without having to make a huge investment in brand new equipment.

Welcome Back to the Park Potluck

In person at Como Park in St. Paul — picnic area northwest of Estabrook Drive & Midway Parkway (near the zoo). Bring an appetizer to share. Come see all of your Rover friends in person and welcome new people to our Como meetings.

We return to in-person meetings at Como Park. There will not be a regular presentation, just a chance to get together outside with fellow Rovers. bring an appetizer, dessert, or beverages to share, enough for about 6 people. We will have some activities including a slackline. It will be great to see old and new friends in person. Of course, there is always the concern about a rainout. For this first outdoor meeting, we will rent a pavilion so there is protection and we can still meet even if it rains.

Online via Zoom

This is the Rover twice a year program to inform prospective members who we are and what we do. There will be a presentation initially about the club, then the famous slide show of various Rover trips and activities. See if you are in a picture from that trail clearing trip or the Extravaganza. Look for your Rover friends. After the slide show, we will set up breakout rooms focused on various activities so you can check out your specific outdoor interests. Talk to members and ask specific questions about biking or climbing or paddling or whatever other activity you enjoy.

More info

Online via Zoom

Each fall and spring, millions of birds migrate via the Central corridor, one of the premier flyways of North America. An average of 90,000 raptors and hundreds of thousands of other migratory birds are counted annually during the fall and spring counts conducted by Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory.  These phenomenal natural events are amazing to observe! A single day can easily yield thousands to tens of thousands in single species counts. Why do we see such huge numbers? What are we learning from these birds who fly by twice annually? This presentation will teach you about the science of migration, such as the differences between fall and spring migrations, what species are observed and when is the best time to see them, trends observed in nearly 50 years of data, as well as research and education efforts underway at Hawk Ridge.

One part educator, one part naturalist, and one part bird nerd! Margie joined the Hawk Ridge staff as a Naturalist in 2011 and currently is the Director of Education for Hawk Ridge. Providing naturalist programming for the general public furnishes many colorful and meaningful experiences with every day on the job. She loves birds, learning, and sharing the natural world with people of all ages. She also works with passerine banding at Hawk Ridge during migration and with three MAPS stations studying summer breeding birds at Hawk Ridge, Wolf Ridge, and Sugarloaf Cove. She has a BA in Biology from Bethel University, and a MA in Education from University of St. Thomas.

Online via Zoom

Christy Rounds’ relationship with Peru began over 25 years ago when she and her husband hiked the Inca Trail on their honeymoon. Since then, they’ve taken half a dozen trips to the Sacred Valley and lived in Pisac for six months. In June 2021, Christy and her two teenage daughters did the Asungate Trek, which reaches an altitude of 17,000 feet… twice. In November of 2022, she returned to spend 10 days with four Peruvian paqos (priests) at the foot of the sacred mountain of Asungate.

In this presentation, Christy will talk about:

1. The pros and cons of independent travel in Peru
2. The animistic beliefs of the indigenous people
3. How plant-based medicines are used in these cultures
4. The role of nature in the lives of the people who live in the Andes
5. The most awe-inspiring treks (as opposed to the ones that get the most views on Instagram)
6. My documentary film to be produced in September.

Christy Rounds is a 4th generation native of Two Harbors, MN, who just returned to northern Minnesota after spending most of her adult life in Michigan, Colorado, California and western New York. After graduating from Gustavus Adolphus College with a degree in International Relations with an Eastern European focus, Christy worked for an international cultural exchange organization called Friendship Ambassadors. During the Cold War, she traveled with American performing groups behind the Iron Curtain and organized trips in the U.S. for Eastern European performing groups touring the U.S. In her mid-20’s, Christy lived in Minneapolis, where she was a product manager for PUR Drinking Water systems. She joined the Minnesota Rovers, where she learned to rock climb, winter camp, and white water canoe.

After getting married in her late 20’s, Christy and her husband spent two decades running several successful business ventures in the outdoor industry. Christy has had the opportunity to travel to over thirty countries, live outside the United States for a month or longer a dozen times, hike the Inca Trail in Peru twice, and summit Aconcogua, which is the highest mountain in the western hemisphere. In December of 2022, she published her first book, Escape Bound, which is a travel memoir documenting an 18,000 mile road trip with her teenage daughter in the wake of a divorce. Christy loves running, mountain biking, cross country skiing, international travel, high altitude hiking, writing, playing piano and singing.

Online via Zoom

Participatory science, sometimes also called citizen science, is a growing field where members of the public help with scientific research. Research projects may have strict protocols that require significant volunteer training or may be as easy as uploading photos to a free mobile app. One popular app is iNaturalist, a platform for sharing and learning about nature that is used across the world. This presentation will introduce the app and website, demonstrate ways to contribute to and use public data, as well as share information on the City Nature Challenge, a global effort to explore urban biodiversity held annually. The 2023 City Nature Challenge will take place April 28 – May 1.

Britt Forsberg (she/her/hers) is an Extension Educator with the Minnesota Master Naturalist Program. She holds a BA in Biology and Environmental Studies from Gustavus Adolphus College and an MEd in Family Education from the University of Minnesota. Within the Minnesota Master Naturalist program, Britt develops and leads advanced training opportunities that lead to volunteer service. When she’s not working, you may find her hiking with her nose to the ground to look for bees and other pollinators or wrangling her rambunctious toddler, Wren.

Hybrid Meeting: In person at Westwood Hills Nature Center (8300 W. Franklin Ave, St. Louis Park) and Online via Zoom

Fifteen years ago Steve Porter did a Rover presentation titled “The Kathmandu of Caving” about the 1994 Sistema Huautla cave expedition in the Sierra Mazateca mountains of Southern Mexico. The cave is the deepest in the Western Hemisphere. Exploration required hauling a thousand pounds of equipment 1353 meters (4,439 feet) vertical distance from the surface to begin the diving operation using prototype rebreathing equipment. The presentation was a slide show (still photos).  Nineteen years later, in 2013, a new attempt to establish Sistema Huautla as the world’s deepest cave retraced the 1994 expedition with newer technology and digital video equipment not available in 1994. This presentation is a video enhanced look at the challenges encountered exploring Sistema Huautla that still photos can’t convey of what is still the deepest cave in the hemisphere.

Steve started diving in 1979. By the late 80s, early 90s he had logged many deep dives on some of the most challenging shipwrecks in Lake Superior. In 1992, to reduce risks of deep diving using compressed air, he earned certifications in Advanced Nitrox and Trimix diving. In 1993 and 1994, as a member of the United States Deep Caving Team, he and other team members extended the exploration of both the longest and deepest caves in Mexico using prototype Cis-Lunar MKIV rebreathers. In 1994 he was awarded the Abe Davis Safe Cave Diving Award by the National Speleological Society Cave Diving Section. From 1996 – 2003 he served as a volunteer scuba diver with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Water Recovery Unit. In addition to diving, he played a major role in team training, was highly instrumental in modernizing and standardizing the unit’s scuba gear, was a key contributor in compiling and writing the dive unit’s Standard Operating Guidelines Manual and secured funding through grant writing to upgrade the team’s dive gear.

Online via Zoom

This presentation is about how to apply the Natural Climate Solution to your landscape. Urgent action is needed to reverse biodiversity declines and mitigate climate change. Marilynn will briefly review topics covered during the October presentation including the benefits of landscaping with native plants, garden site selection and preparation. The rest of the presentation will cover grant opportunities, plant selection, garden design, installation and maintenance. When you are gardening with natives, many traditional rules do not apply, so join in to learn how to turn your landscape into a nature sanctuary.

Marilynn Torkelson is passionate about the concept of “Bringing Nature Home”. For the past 7 years, Marilynn has been the president of the Prairie Edge chapter of Wild Ones: Healing the Earth One Yard at a Time. If you want more information a great place to start is by reading Douglas Tallamy’s books Bringing Nature Home and Marilynn’s favorite, Nature’s Best Hope.

Online via Zoom

Rolf Peterson is a Research Professor at Michigan Technological University.  He led or co-led wolf and moose research in Isle Royale National Park for over 50 years.  He and his students have also conducted research on wolves and their prey in Alaska, Minnesota, mainland Michigan, and Yellowstone.  His talk on March 28 will focus on the indirect effects of wolves in the Isle Royale ecosystem.

Online via Zoom

In spring 2022, Sue Wittkop did another bike and barge trip with Bike Planet Tours. It was eight days through four countries (Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary) on a Danube River cruise.  Join her for stories and pictures of national parks, castles, beautiful villages, and great cities!

Sue has been a Rover since 2011, but a traveler for decades. She’s been on approximately 20 bicycling vacations both domestic and international. This is her second trip with Bike Planet Tours, the first being a tulips and windmill tour in Holland.

Hybrid program
In person at Westwood Nature Center and also being presented over Zoom

We all want to do better when it comes to taking care of the environment. But with everything else in life that has to be managed, sometimes the task of being environmentally responsible feels too overwhelming. This presentation will cover my slow, but steady efforts toward generating less waste and using fewer single-use plastic products in our house. I’ll be sharing my tips and tricks and hopefully learning a few of yours. Presented by Megan C.

Online via Zoom

Just 30 miles east of Portland, the Columbia River Gorge offers amazing views, hiking, mountain bike trails, and more than 90 waterfalls! The Rovers have heard about many exotic, faraway trips, but the Columbia River Gorge presents itself as a readily accessible, outdoor lovers’ paradise.

Ron is a very recent transplant to Minnesota, having grown up and lived on the west coast for his entire life.  He is an avid hiker, camper and year-round outdoor enthusiast. Ron has spent the last 30 years in the Pacific Northwest and spent many of those years hiking and exploring in the gorge.  He will share some of his thoughts, experiences and lessons from this amazing place.

• Online via Zoom

Scott Beauchamp has worked as the Manager of Public Affairs for the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, as Communications Director for the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters, and as a freelance Strategic Communications Consultant. As an award-winning public speaker, Scott has written, co-authored, or edited, numerous successful speeches for politicians, business leaders, and other influencers.

Online via Zoom

Karen has thrilled us with her adventures at a lighthouse, in an empty Oregon beach, and at Arches National Park. Her most recent adventure as a volunteer Ranger was at Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park. It was an assignment filled with erupting volcanoes, earthquakes, a rockslide, living in a rain forest, hiking, enjoying the flora and fauna and oh yeah, working the job she was assigned to do. She will share with us pictures and videos of the two volcanoes that erupted during her time there, lava in all its forms, beautiful ferns, flowers and birds.

When she retired, Karen decided to see the country by volunteering at different National Parks. She will discuss how you too can volunteer at a federal agency and have your own adventures.

Hybrid — In-person & Zoom

Tune in before the presentation for the Minnesota Rovers Annual Meeting where we will announce the results of the Board of Directors election.

Are you considering purchasing a kayak and wondering about all those different kinds of boats: long or short, plastic or fiberglass, sit on top or sit in? Or maybe you have already done some kayaking and are considering moving to try whitewater, or kayaking on big water, or kayak camping and expeditions. Then this presentation is for you. It is an overview of different types of kayaks, their purposes and pluses and minuses, as well as ways to take the next step beyond just flatwater day paddling on lakes or calm rivers.

This summer I plan to do a series on beginning sea kayak camping, teaching rescues, strokes, packing a kayak, and culminating in a kayak camping trip at Voyageurs National Park. But I will direct members to places to get more training or experiences with skilled paddlers and coaches in a variety of kayak types beyond basic flatwater paddling.

Fran has been a Rover since 2007 and is a self-diagnosed kayakaholic. She has a British Canoeing Union 3 star award in coastal kayaking and a Paddle Canada Level 2. She has camped out of a sea kayak for up to 10 days at a time in Canada, the US, Mexico, and New Zealand. She has had training in whitewater paddling and in 2014 spent a week whitewater rafting and camping on the Salmon River in Idaho.

Online via Zoom

This whirlwind seminar focuses on camping tricks that only the experts know—practical things you won’t find in ordinary camping books or videos.  Learn how to clear silty water and purify it; stormproof your tent, bug-proof your body and camp; choose edged tools and make fire in the rain; cook with “cozies”; stay dry in rain while wearing ultra-light rain clothes; inexpensively waterproof your sleeping bag; sleep comfortably on a bad site and more. Based on Cliff’s newly revised book, “CAMPING’S TOP SECRETS, 5th Edition.

Plan to attend this presentation. It will be recorded and posted on the Minnesota Rover YouTube site, but only for 30 days.

Zoom Presentation

See how fellow Rover Greg Sumner  was able to do a no-build minivan trip to  AZ & NM  for 6 weeks in Jan/Feb 2022.  He attended the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous (as seen in Nomadland) and with the skills he learned and friendships he made, he boondocked most nights on public land or other camo camping situations.

Greg has been enjoying the outdoors his entire life. He  grew up in Northfield MN with parents that loved the BWCA and canoe racing. Currently he  lives in Duluth enjoying hiking, biking, canoeing, sailing, climbing & camping..

Zoom Presentation

Beavers are important prey for wolves throughout the boreal ecosystem…but how on earth do wolves catch these semi-aquatic rodents that spend very little time on land? People have assumed that beavers must be easy prey for wolves to kill but that is almost certainly not true. For the past 8 years, the Voyageurs Wolf Project (VWP) has been studying how wolves hunt and kill beavers. Join Dr. Tom Gable to learn about what the Voyageurs Wolf Project has revealed about how, where, and when wolves choose to ambush beavers, and how beavers avoid fatal encounters with wolves!

Tom is the project lead for the Voyageurs Wolf Project and he recently completed his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota. He has been studying wolves in the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem since 2014 when he started his Master’s at Northern Michigan University. Gable is particularly fascinated by wolf-beaver interactions and his graduate work was focused on trying to understand this predator-prey dynamic. Much of Gable’s early interest in wolves stemmed from encountering wolf tracks, kills, and the occasional wolf while exploring the wild places around his family’s cabin just outside of Killarney Provincial Park, Ontario during the winter.