Caring for the Cannon River

Nancy Braker, Cannon River Champion Awardee, and Jennifer Tonko, CRP’s Executive Director

Clean River Partners hosted a gathering at Keepsake Cidery & Events in Dundas, MN this past Saturday called Cider on the Cannon. This event was an opportunity to learn about the Cannon River watershed, the work of Clean River Partners, and an award ceremony for CRP’s Cannon River Champions. This award recognizes the inspiring people who go above and beyond to protect the watershed and one of the awardees is Nancy Braker, a Northfield local.

Nancy Braker has been involved with conservation projects along the Cannon River for a very long time, as a cleanup volunteer through Carleton College since 2008, a board member for Clean River Partners from 2010-2016 (some of that time as Board Chair), and with many other conservation projects that directly impact the Cannon River watershed. Nancy was inspired by her parents, who worked in conservation as volunteers and professionals, to continue protecting our natural resources through habitat management and public education. Nancy stresses the importance of this work because the health of these ecosystems affects our lives in many ways - providing water to drink, air to breathe, floodwater protection, and more. All of Nancy’s employment and volunteer service has encompassed conservation. “People can contribute in many different ways - participating in the cleanup, water monitoring, habitat management, educating their family members and neighbors - everybody’s life should be infused with this,” said Nancy. She emphasizes that a lack of personal connection to nature is why people might not already be involved with conservation. Helping them make that correlation is essential.

Clean River Partners is a nonprofit organization that inspires people to value, protect, and improve land and water through inspiring events, conservation practices, and network building. To learn more about the organization and their upcoming events, visit their website - www.cleanriverpartners.org/events.

Article written by Felicia Hokenstad, Clean River Partners Communications Coordinator