ELY — Representatives from the North St. Louis Soil and Water Conservation District visited Ely last week to walk residents through the Rainy Headwaters-Vermilion Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan and the landowner programs available under it.
Watershed conservationist Jake Bendel, district forester Rachel Poppe, and resource conservationist Corey Denning made the presentation. The district, which is headquartered in Virginia and covers the northern half of St. Louis County, is the lead agency on the 10-year plan, now in its second year.
The watershed covered by the plan is vast. Nearly 4,000 square miles and almost 1,700 lakes fall within the combined Rainy Headwaters and Vermilion watershed boundaries, with more than 70 percent of the land in public ownership. About 46 percent of the watershed lies in Canada, Bendel noted, meaning a significant share of the water running through the system originates across the border.
The plan, funded through Minnesota’s Clean Water Fund, carries roughly $1 million per two-year budget cycle, split among partner agencies. Bendel described the underlying rationale as “buying water quality” for the public benefit rather than simply improving individual properties.

What landowners can access
Poppe focused her remarks on private forestland. The district will cost-share 75 percent of the expense of a first-time woodland stewardship plan and 50 percent for renewals. Those plans assess what species are present, estimate forest age and condition, identify wildlife habitat, and recommend a management timeline.
Landowners who receive a cost-shared stewardship plan are required to enroll in the Sustainable Forest Incentive Act, a state program that pays per-acre annual payments to landowners who commit to keeping their land forested for 8, 20, or 50 years. Longer enrollment periods bring higher payment rates.
The district also cost-shares active forest management practices that improve water quality, including tree planting and spruce budworm remediation. Poppe explained the connection between forest cover and water quality in practical terms. Trees intercept rainfall, slow its velocity, allow gradual soil infiltration, and enable plant roots to filter out phosphorus and other pollutants before they reach lakes and streams.
Denning outlined the broader cost-sharing process for shoreline and other projects.
The district covers up to 75 percent of project costs, handles design and technical oversight from site visit through completion, and can work with landowners who want to do the labor themselves. The minimum requirement for woodland stewardship programs is 20 acres of forested land, but Denning said most other programs have no acreage floor.
Shoreline restoration was a recurring theme. Denning cited Minnesota DNR estimates that 50 percent of the state’s natural shorelines have been lost, with a roughly one to two percent annual loss rate continuing. Developed lake lots generate nine times more phosphorus runoff than naturally vegetated ones, he said. Riprap, a large layer of stones long viewed as an erosion solution, actually worsens erosion over time while eliminating fish and wildlife habitat.

Smaller lots, urban parcels
Bendel addressed residents without large rural holdings, noting that the district runs an Adopt-a-Storm-Drain program in Ely and Tower. Participants sign up to periodically clean debris from a city storm drain, which otherwise flows untreated into local waterways. He said roughly 20,000 to 30,000 participants statewide have collectively kept close to a million pounds of material out of drains.
Other small-scale actions he highlighted included rain gardens, rain barrels, and reduced road salt use. He noted that salt loses effectiveness below 15 degrees Fahrenheit and that a single teaspoon in five gallons of water is enough to harm freshwater organisms. Once salt enters a lake, he said, it is effectively impossible to remove.

Getting started
The presenters encouraged anyone with resource concerns on their property to schedule a free site visit. Landowners in St. Louis County can contact Poppe or Denning directly; those in Lake or Cook counties can be connected to foresters working within the same watershed plan.
More information on the Rainy Headwaters-Vermilion Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan is available on the North St. Louis SWCD website or by searching the plan’s full title online.