Photo By Anthony Housey | Employees of the Camp Ripley Training Center took part in an inaugural Stewardship Day...... read more read more
May 23, 2025 (CAMP RIPLEY, Minnesota) – Employees of the Camp Ripley Training Center took part in the inaugural Stewardship Day celebration May 22, 2025, recognizing the achievements of ecological sustainability and the importance of environmental awareness.
“This year, Camp Ripley’s Environmental Teams is hosting a stewardship day which is a combination of our spring Earth Day event and Planting for the Future which usually happens in the fall,” said 1Lt. Colton Rossow, public affairs officer for the Camp Ripley Training Center.
Historically, Camp Ripley’s Earth Day events included the maintenance and refinement of multiple areas around the installation. Most of the projects followed the usual spring-cleaning theme but also included the planting of new trees or the development of native plant species in heavily utilized areas. The all-volunteer teams for Stewardship Day, focused work on planting approximately 2,000 flowering prairie plants within the historic fort site and along the Mississippi River shoreline.
Recently a partnership project began to restore native prairie plants and stabilize a large section of stream bank along the Mississippi Riverbank within the training area’s boundary. Support and partnership for this event and the riverbank restoration came largely from The Legislative and Citizens Commission on MN Resources, the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources and Morrison Soil and Water Conservation District.
Two of these partners also lead natural resource protection and restoration within the roughly 805,000 acre Camp Ripley Sentinel Landscape which surrounds Camp Ripley. This high priority environmental region is protected and cared for by a broad group of local, state and federal partners with the task of helping Camp Ripley achieve its mission of safely and effectively providing training resources for our military while conserving forestland for wildlife, a cleaner watershed and improved public recreation.
“Fostering the sustainability of our location and engaging employees along with community partners in a variety of environmental stewardship activities is our main goal, and it has been successful,” added Josh Pennington, Conservation Program Supervisor.
The Minnesota National Guard has two directorates administering environmental programs focused on compliance and conservation both with the intent of sustaining natural resources within the Camp Ripley Training Center. These Nationally recognized, award-winning programs labor continuously enabling realistic training and long-term sustainability for all of Camp Ripley’s customers.
In addition to the support from several partners on this project and the Stewardship Day event, volunteers finished the day with lunch and a presentation on the history of the area. Thanks to Mr. Don Wedll, a local area historian, for his insight on the legacy of the communities throughout Central Minnesota.
| Date Taken: | 05.23.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.17.2025 11:15 |
| Story ID: | 500804 |
| Location: | MINNESOTA, US |
| Web Views: | 57 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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