Jan. 23, 2023



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*Minnesota DNR News
*




*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
*

Jan. 23, 2023




*For more information:*
Contact the DNR Information Center
by?email <[email protected]>?or call 888-646-6367.





In This Issue

* DNR Fish and Wildlife Almanac [ #link_1491411839600 ]
* New DNR tool provides health information for thousands of lakes [ #link_1491411977526 ]
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DNR Fish and Wildlife Almanac

"A weekly list of news briefs about fish, wildlife, and habitat management."

DNR webinars cover dog sledding in Minnesota, native mussels

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources invites people interested in fishing, wildlife and outdoor skills to tune in to upcoming webinars that will discuss dog sledding, and mussels that are native to Minnesota.

The first webinar is at noon Wednesday, Jan. 25. Bethany Hway, founder and race director of the Klondike Dog Derby, will discuss the history of dog mushing, its popularity today and how to get involved in this terrific winter activity.

The second webinar is at noon Wednesday, Feb. 1. Madeline Pletta, the DNR?s lead mussel propagation biologist, will discuss the importance of Minnesota?s native freshwater mussels and how the DNR is restoring mussel populations across the state.

The webinars are part of the DNR?s Minnesota Outdoor Skills and Stewardship Series. The webinars are free, but registration is required. More information is available on the outdoor skills and stewardship page of the DNR website [ [link removed] ] (mndnr.gov/discover).

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New DNR tool provides health information for thousands of lakes

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has created a new online tool, called the Watershed Health Assessment Framework for Lakes (WHAF for Lakes), providing easy access to water quality and health information for thousands of Minnesota lakes.

WHAF for Lakes is part of the DNR?s Watershed Health Assessment Framework [ [link removed] ] (mndnr.gov/whaf/about/watershed-reports.html) and is funded by the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment.

?Our staff did very innovative work over the past year to create this valuable new tool,? Ecological and Water Resources Division Director Katie Smith said. ?WHAF for Lakes will benefit anyone who wants to know more about a particular lake?s water quality and the health of the aquatic habitat and community in that lake. It will also help guide decisions about lake protection and restoration.?

Users can compare a lake?s health measures to other nearby lakes. Along with graphics showing lakes? relative water quality, biology, and hydrology, WHAF for Lakes includes information about basic lake characteristics and lake stewardship. Quick access to this information will help Minnesotans, local government, and water resource agencies work together on comprehensive watershed management efforts.

A lake's watershed includes all land and surface water upstream of a lake outlet that contribute water to that lake. Land uses within a watershed influence lake health. Alterations of the land, the shoreline, and nearshore vegetation affect the quality of the water and the health of the aquatic community in a particular lake.

?A healthy lake is one that is nearest to its natural state ? free from pollution and with a natural shoreline that protects the bank and filters runoff ? which allows it to withstand changing conditions and seasonal fluctuations,? Smith said. ?Healthy lakes depend on people who value these resources and invest in the protection and restoration of the water, watershed, and biology.?

WHAF for Lakes can be accessed by searching for a particular watershed [ [link removed] ] (arcgis.dnr.state.mn.us/ewr/whaflakes), exploring watershed health with the WHAF Map [ [link removed] ] (arcgis.dnr.state.mn.us/ewr/whaf2), or using the DNR?s popular LakeFinder [ [link removed] ] page (mndnr.gov/lakefind).

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