Family-Outdoors

 (Photo credit: Ann Arbor District Library) Families will learn how to pitch a tent, hook a fish, paddle a kayak or canoe, scale a cliff and shoot a bow at nearly 200 “I Can!” programs offered this summer at Minnesota state parks and on state water trails. The newly expanded “I Can!” series of outdoor programs are designed to introduce kids to camping, fishing, paddling, climbing and archery. “We created the ‘I Can!’ series in response to research that showed declining participation in outdoor recreation by young families,” said Courtland Nelson, DNR Parks and Trails Division director. “These popular programs are designed to introduce the next generation to the outdoors.” Since the series launched in 2010, thousands of people have been introduced to outdoor recreation and Minnesota state parks and trails. Participation in “I Can Camp!” totaled 877 in 2012, up 51 percent from the 582 who participated the first year. “I had to drag my kids there, and now they won’t stop e...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) A restoration of historic prairie and oak savanna habitat is set to begin at Sakatah Lake State Park in Waterville this month, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said. The landscape surrounding the park was originally a mosaic of prairies, savannas, oak woodlands and wetlands, said Molly Tranel Nelson, DNR regional resource specialist. This changed over time due to extensive agriculture, population growth, a lack of natural fire and the disappearance of large grazers such as bison and elk. “Our goal is to return a portion of the park to what it may have looked like 150 years ago,” Tranel Nelson said. A management plan for the natural and cultural resources in the park, developed in 2007, will guide the project. The plan used past data, photos and other records to determine the historic ecology of the park. It also explored the most appropriate areas of the park to be restored. The project meets management goals of the plan b...