Walter J. Breckenridge Chapter Izaak Walton League of America

11/05/2026

All are welcome to attend our November 24, 7:30 PM Education / Social meeting

Celebrate the 100th anniversary of the BWCAW's first wilderness protections and delve into the role that the Izaak Walton League played in it? See some historic photos of a canoe trip of IWLA leaders that was guided by a young Sigurd Olson in 1924 when the Ikes were taking a leading role in pushing to protect the canoe country.

Presenter and Chapter member Kevin Proescholdt of Wilderness Watch guided canoe trips in Minnesota’s million-acre Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) for 10 years, and has visited designated and undesignated Wildernesses throughout the U.S. and Canada. He helped pass the 1978 BWCA Wilderness Act through Congress, directed the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness for 16 years, and co-authored the 1995 book, Troubled Waters: The Fight for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. For the eight years prior to joining the Wilderness Watch staff, Kevin directed the national Izaak Walton League’s Wilderness and Public Lands Program.

10/23/2026

https://www.startribune.com/chasing-ghosts-the-unlikely-comeback-of-the-minnesota-cougar/601890464

More than a century after the wildcats were killed off in the state, a female and her three kittens could mark the beginning of a return that no one had planned.

10/02/2026

You and your friends are welcome join us at our next Education / Social meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026 at 7:30 PM to hear from Kate Holcomb: DNR's Center for Aquatic Mollusk Programs.

Minnesota is home to a wide variety of interesting freshwater mussel species that provide numerous benefits to Minnesotans. Freshwater mussel populations have declined in Minnesota, but the Minnesota DNR's mussel team has been working to restore freshwater mussel populations for over 25 years. Kate Holcomb's presentation will elaborate on these topics and will also provide details about recent restoration work in the Mississippi River St. Anthony Falls Pool. Kate is the program supervisor for the DNR's Center for Aquatic Mollusk Programs (CAMP), a small but mighty group of biologists dedicated to mollusk conservation in Minnesota.

09/18/2026

The author, Kevin Proescholdt, is a member of our Chapter. He is also the conservation director for Wilderness Watch, a national conservation organization. He guided canoe trips for 10 years in the BWCAW, advocated for the passage of the 1978 BWCAW Act and co-authored a history of that struggle, “Troubled Waters: The Fight for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.”

From addressing motorboat traffic to visitation levels and motorized portages, there is more we can do to fulfill the dream of fully protected BWCA, Kevin Proescholdt writes.

09/17/2026

Heteranthera dubia (Water Star-grass) as seen blooming on the dry river bottom in front of our Chapter House. (they bloom in the morning and wilt by evening)

"Few people think of looking for wild flowers while at the beach or launching their fishing boat but this dainty aquatic species is often near at hand if not right underfoot. Dense carpets of fine ribbon like foliage, thickly dotted with small star-like flowers appear in later summer, especially as lakes experience their seasonal water level drop. Submersed plants in deeper water do not have the yellow flowers, but may have petal-less, self-pollinating flowers (cleistogamous) at the base of submersed leaves. When not flowering, plants look similar to Flat-stem Pondweed (Potamogeton zosteriformis), which has a prominent central vein on its leaves." Minnesota Wildflowers

09/17/2026

Our Chapter's position on getting the lead out of fishing, hunting and shooting sports began mainly with a focus on lead's effect on wildlife before also including the toxic effects on people exposed to lead fragments in venison and aerosolized lead primer at shooting competitions. This article explains how lead exposure from any source early in life may contribute to dementia in later life.

Americans born between 1951 and 1980 are invisibly scarred by lead exposure that embedded the toxic metal into their bones. It reemerges later in life.

09/14/2026

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/09/14/many-minnesotans-dont-value-aquatic-plants-the-states-lakes-are-paying-a-price

Native aquatic plants help keep lakes healthy, reduce erosion and are a safeguard against invasive species. Yet they get a bad rap as a nuisance, and property owners often remove them with chemicals or machines.

09/02/2026

Sept. 22, 7:30 PM Education / Social Program

Title: Tigers Between Empires

Speaker: Jonathan C. Slaght

Abstract: In Jonathan C. Slaght’s new book, Tigers Between Empires, the award-winning author and conservationist charts the incredible, thirty-year story of how Russian and American scientists came together to help protect Amur tigers, more popularly known as ‘Siberian Tigers,’ from extinction. Slaght weaves together the lives of field-savvy researchers and the elusive tigers they study, detailing how both respond to the evolving threats that faced them in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Through robust science, innovation, and tenacity, this small, fearless international coalition laid the foundations of new tiger research across Asia and transformed public opinion around tigers from something to be feared and hunted, to creatures we must protect.

Biography: Jonathan C. Slaght, a scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society, is the author of Owls of the Eastern Ice, which was nominated for a National Book Award in 2020 and won the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award in 2021. His latest book, Tigers Between Empires, was named a Best Book of 2025 by the Minnesota Star Tribune, Scientific American, and others. His writings have been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and Orion. He lives in Minneapolis.

08/10/2026

“Soil & Us”

The public is invited as usual to our 4th Tuesday of the month education / social program at 7:30 PM on August 25th at 8816 West River Road.

Annie Beedy (business owner of Permanent Culture Project) will focus on how to build healthy soil with the no-till method & touch on the larger ecological impacts of soil mismanagement in the US. The way we treat the soil, through agriculture & turf care has a massive impact on biodiversity, all of our ecosystems & us!

07/02/2026

Our own Sen. John Hoffman (District 34) has agreed to join us at our July 28 education/social meeting. He currently chairs the Human Services Committee and sits on both environment committees. We hope to hear an update on his recovery after the assassination attempt last year as well as his report on the past legislative session and plans for the next. Please invite your friends to attend this great chance to listen to and be heard by our Senator.