On April 11, six Trout Unlimited members, a DNR stream habitat specialist and the owner of land along Mazeppa Creek worked in the mud and drizzle to clear tires that had fallen into the creek. But they found more in the woods and ended up taking 107 tires to be recycled. The project was to get them out before DNR does more habitat work on the stream.
Members of Hiawatha TU were Paul Krolak, Eric Hanson, Todd Christenson, Zach Washburn and John Weiss; Eli Halvorson from Twin Cities TU; Dusty Hoffman of the DNR and landowner Kyle Mehrkens. Bill Brant and Blake Abdella of HTU helped coordinate the work and Brant drove the UHaul to get them to a recycler in Rochester.
Originally, we thought we would move 30 to 40 tires but Brant and Hoffman found that there were more in the nearby woods, not just along the stream. They ended up hauling out 107 tires. Because it’s close to the Twin Cities, Hiawatha and Twin Cities chapters agreed to share expenses.
The work wasn’t much fun. Some people had to slowly work their way down the tall, steep, muddy bank and dig some of the tires out of the creek or its bank. Each tire had to be lifted up, passing them up from one to another. Those on top had to rip tires out of thorns and shrubs and shake out dirt. All had to be carried 200 to 300 feet through woods and up another embankment where Mehrkens brought a flatbed that he used to bring them to the UHaul.
All in all, a challenging yet fulfilling two hours. While they were doing that, Sara Strassman, head of DARE and another DARE official, also lopped out willow cuttings that were planted along a part of Mazeppa that had the habitat work done. Jenny Biederman initiated the idea not next to the stream but in a broad floodplain created when the stream was moved from a very tall, sandy embankment that was continually shedding more sand into the stream.