Pig's Eye Park Friends

08/22/2026

Pigs Eye Regional Park Hike Tuesday 08/18/26, Kathy Sidles
KESTREL FAMILY DAY AT THE PARK – Kiki and Tom and I met at the park. Kiki stayed at the truck trail entryway to draw and paint a picture of the big black barrels full of polluted water samples. Tom went off to complete some park chores. I walked the big loop for the third week in a row to see the power cable project progress and to see if I could finally end up tick free on the loop path mowed by the park! All along the walk I saw Kestrels. I saw three at once in dead trees in the distance – maybe a family out teaching the young ones to hunt as I’ve seen them do elsewhere when monitoring nest boxes for Saint Paul Bird Alliance. And one was hovering over the field looking for a meal of mice, moles, snakes, dragonflies. See the Saint Paul Bird Alliance web site for an Event here in September in partnership with the Dragonfly Society. Kestrels fly south for the winter following Green Darner Dragonflies who also migrate south!

EXTREME DROUGHT MEANS FEWER FLOWERS – The Weather Page of the Pioneer Press says we are six inches below average rainfall for the year! Plus we ended the year with a few inch deficit. With fewer late summer/early flowers blooming this makes it hard for bumble bees. The workers are finishing up carrying pollen back to their nest to feed the new males and queens, who are starting to leave to forage for themselves. And hopefully over the next few weeks will find each other and mate with a different nest for genetic diversity. I did see males on (invasive) Purple Loosestrife and native Vervain flowers. And a worker still collecting pollen on a native Goldenrod.

TICK FREE AT LAST – For the first time in weeks I did not find any ticks on me. I pulled my hair back and inspected inside my socks where they hid before. And without thinking only once ventured off the path into taller plants where ticks can more easily drop on you. Plus remembered to spray a good amount of DEET onto my pants-tucked-into-socks and buttoned-sleeve long sleeve shirt.

NEW “POOP PLANT” SIGN – People were finishing putting up a big new sign with an arrow pointing to the road to the Metropolitan Water Resource Recovery Facility. All our metro area kitchen and bathroom water – that mostly comes from the Mississippi north of Minneapolis - drains through bigger and bigger underground pipes to here and is cleaned before putting it back into the Mississippi! Amazing. A sign near this sign indicates they are putting in native plants (“Call Before Mowing”) to hold the soil on the hill…and get the rainwater to soak in and not run off.

NEW MPCA LAWSUIT AGAINST 3M FOR EAST METRO PFAS POLLUTION – It looks to me like March 2026 Project 1007 data related to the new lawsuit includes Pig’s Eye, both north and south areas. The second lawsuit says 3M needs to do more, such as clean up additional areas, add warning signs in contaminated areas, and filters along the creek flowing through their main dump site. https://3msettlement.state.mn.us/projects/project-1007

PIGS EYE DUMP COMMITTEE – The final report for cleaning up this park/former regional dump is here: https://www.pca.state.mn.us/local-sites-and-projects/saint-paul-pigs-eye-dump-task-force The recommendation in this report by the committee – with more data now being gathered - is for further studies to pick one of these options: 1. Haul it away to an approved landfill (most metro ones are getting full) leaving a wetland behind or 2. Make an approved landfill in the park – a high-as-the-hills plastic-lined mound + rain water and gas capture + flood wall. Cost estimates - $600 - $800 over 10 years of construction and 30 years of operation. The web site above says next steps are to get more data – three new wells in the park were built and sampled in spring 2026.

HOMELESS TENT CAMP CLOSED WED AUGUST 5 - Have you heard the north Pig’s Eye Park/Fish Hatchery homeless ten camp area was closed August? We walk at Pig’s Eye Main Entrance south of there after rail yards. Learn more at the city’s HART web site: https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/safety-inspections/report-concern/homeless-assistance-response-team You can support homeless people including IDs and jobs at https://www.listeninghouse.org/ . And for indoor shelters see Union Gospel Mission at https://www.ugmtc.org/ .

08/14/2026

08/13/2026

Pigs Eye Regional Park Hike Tuesday 08/11/26, Kathy Sidles (Finally caught up with posts on our weekly walks!)
HOMELESS TENT CAMP CLOSED WED AUGUST 5 - Have you heard the north Pig’s Eye Park/Fish Hatchery homeless ten camp area was closed August 5 due to fire and crime and other problems creating an unsafe city park? Pig’s Eye Park Friend Tom Dimond helped with trash pick-up. It is a complicated situation. More work to do – three of us agreed during our talk on the bridge we need more indoor subsidized housing and often health care and job help as a hand-up. Federal and other subsidies haven’t kept up like they have for families and Veterans. Learn more at the city’s HART web site: https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/safety-inspections/report-concern/homeless-assistance-response-team

HART suggests carrying bottled water, packaged food like granola bars, trash bags and bus passes to hand out to people in need. Two east side Saint Paul groups I know of you can support and get support from are daytime drop-in center Listening House on E. 7th (under Our Work see Jobs Now for details and where you can donate, which includes getting IDs) at https://www.listeninghouse.org/ . And for indoor shelters see Union Gospel Mission at https://www.ugmtc.org/ . A young family friend recently got back on their feet there.

LOTS OF CHIPPING GOING ON AND THE REPAIRED OIL SPILL RR TRACK LOOKS GOOD – We were hoping the north lot would stay free of wood chips, but during the last three weeks it has been filled up with them again. The private company doing this chipping on public park land would need a permit. And the big piles of wood chips in the main lot – also Pig’s Eye Park land - are being loaded into trucks, I assume to burn for electricity to cool downtown. I heard the new Farm Bill being proposed – after extending the old five-year Farm Bill for three extra years – includes considering burning wood as carbon free, although it takes 80 years to grow a tree that might use the extra CO2 created by the burning.

The RR track and track berm rock replacement across from the north chipping lot looks done, with trains moving on them again. See pictures for after spill and after final fix up.
WALK AROUND THE LOOP, YAY SAINT PAUL PARKS MOWED A TICK-FREE PATH AND ALL BACKUP POWER TOWER FOOTING LOOK ALMOST DONE! – After solving the world’s problems with Kiki on the bridge – an noticing how low Battle Creek is with us 4.5 inches low on rain - Tom and I walked around the big loop that Saint Paul Parks mowed. I still ended up with a total of three ticks, without going into tall grass. Must have brushed up against it, or the grass is growing and long enough for the ticks to perch on the blades and fall into my pants tucked into socks/sprayed with DEET where I found one of the three. The other two escaped notice as the crawled up to my – to them using infrared sensors in their feet I read – infrared head and got stuck in my fluffy hair.

Across the lake we could see both footings for backup electric cables in the middle of the lake standing looking reading for the next section! As someone who appreciates air conditioning, washer-dryers, refrigeration and a stove you can count on – fingers crossed we get it generated by CO2 free solar/wind/other methods soon – it’s amazing watching this get done. The electricity is generated by a natural gas plant west of Saint Paul and is taken across the lake to places east of the Mississippi like Battle Creek neighborhoods. For the Minnesota plan to be carbon free by 2040 we have to switch to electric generation, but it still has to get distributed.

HAWKS AND KESTRELS FLYING OVER – We saw Kestrels and Red-tailed Hawks during our walk. One hawk had caught a meal, seen in its talons in my picture. Usually, I look for a red tail to ID a Red-tailed Hawk but young ones don’t have a very red tail. So, then I look for a “belly band” of speckles across there breast…but could be young ones don’t have that either! Though my pictures do show a belly band. Then I look for leading edges of their wings that are dark – yes, I see those also. And somewhere in here getting out the Sibley Birds East bird book! Which says look for these three markings. Plus, there has been a Red-tailed Hawk nest in the park for a few years, in trees along the east RR tracks. They often fly out and screech at us.

BIRDS ARE QUIET, ANNUAL CICADAS ARE NOISY! – I hardly heard any birds during our walk. I bet they are in the woods and brush getting new feathers and finishing raising their young who have left the nest. But the annual cicadas are very noisy this week, singing from cottonwood and related trees. You might have to click the speaker to turn it on in the video at the end of the pictures.

NEW MPCA LAWSUIT AGAINST 3M FOR EAST METRO PFAS POLLUTION – It looks to me like March 2026 Project 1007 data related to the new lawsuit includes Pig’s Eye, both north and south areas. The second lawsuit says 3M needs to do more, such as clean up additional areas, add warning signs in contaminated areas, and filters along the creek flowing through their main dump site. https://3msettlement.state.mn.us/projects/project-1007

PIGS EYE DUMP COMMITTEE – The final report for cleaning up this park/former regional dump is here: https://www.pca.state.mn.us/local-sites-and-projects/saint-paul-pigs-eye-dump-task-force The recommendation in this report by the committee – with more data now being gathered - is for further studies to pick one of these options: 1. Haul it away to an approved landfill (most metro ones are getting full) leaving a wetland behind or 2. Make an approved landfill in the park – a high-as-the-hills plastic-lined mound + rain water and gas capture + flood wall. Cost estimates - $600 - $800 over 10 years of construction and 30 years of operation. The web site above says next steps are to get more data – three new wells in the park were built and sampled in spring 2026.

08/12/2026

Pigs Eye Regional Park Hike Tuesday 08/04/26, Kathy Sidles
HOMELESS TENT CAMP CLOSED WED AUGUST 5 - Have you heard the north Pig’s Eye Park/Fish Hatchery homeless ten camp area was closed August 5? Pig’s Eye Park Friend Tom Dimond helped with trash pick-up. It is a complicated situation. Learn more at the city’s HART web site: https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/safety-inspections/report-concern/homeless-assistance-response-team HART suggests carrying bottled water, packaged food like granola bars, trash bags and bus passes to hand out to people in need. Two east side Saint Paul groups you can support and get support from are drop-in center Listening House on E. 7th (under Our Work see Work Force for jobs) at https://www.listeninghouse.org/ and for indoor shelters see Union Gospel Mission at https://www.ugmtc.org/ .

WALK AROUND THE LOOP, YAY SAINT PAUL PARKS MOWED A TICK-FREE PATH! – I still ended up with two ticks on my pants by the end of the walk but I went through tall grass to get to the edge of the creek thinking I could see the backup electricity tower construction better. I found out the lake edge plants – Iron W**d - are so tall it’s not worth the effort! The mowed path is from the bridge to the lake and around the small loop.

The first of two footings for backup electric cables in the middle of the lake is almost done and the second one next to it started. More work to go.

MODERATE DROUGHT…BURIED TRASH…NON-NATIVE PLANT TAKEOVER…BUT STILL SEEING FUN CRITTERS – After seeing large areas with no native flowers during bumble bee count week last week I was bummed out but decided to look for the positives. And I saw them – male black and gold bumble bees perching on brome grass and milkweed looking for mates, a few dragonflies, fresh coyote s**t - nothing better than a good top predator – many Monarch butterflies, a female Kestrel perching on the new Kestrel nest box.

FALL BIRDING, NAME THIS BIRD – Seeing this all-brownish bird reminded me it can be confusing to bird in fall and see young birds and birds getting new feathers. Hmmm….no eye ring, with that chunky bill it’s more of a seed-eater than an insect-eater, no markings except faint breast stripes. I looked at Sibley Birds East when I got home – that fits the description of a female Indigo Bunting! I heard few birds on this walk but Indigo Bunting was one of them.

OIL SPILL CLEANUP LOOKS COMPLETE – Here are two pictures of the recent oil spill from a ruptured railroad car along Pig’s Eye Lake Road across from the north wood chip lot. The first is what it looked like just after the spill and the second one today after tracks were removed and new rocks put in then tracks put back. Good job – and I hope the cause of the problem will be addressed. Its good the Minnesota Legislature passed the Spill Bill years ago that companies like railroads have to abide by. I see information on that bill here: https://www.pca.state.mn.us/about-mpca/spill-preparedness-oil-and-hazardous-substances

PIG’S EYE GREEN DARNER DRAGONFLY AND BIRDING WALK - Details of the September 22 12-2 Pig’s Eye Park Green Darner Dragonfly walk are posted on the Saint Paul Bird Alliance Events page: “Did you know these dragonflies migrate South in the Fall just like many of our songbirds do? Come see for yourself on Tuesday, September 22 at Pig’s Eye Chôkan Tanka Park. Dragonfly expert John Arthur, from the Minnesota Dragonfly Society, will lead us on an adventure tracking the migration and seeing what birds join us as we hike through the park. Volunteers from Pig’s Eye Park Friends – Tom Dimond, Kathy Sidles, Carissa Scanlan, and Kiki Sonnen – will help out too.” That’s us, Pig’s Eye Park Friends. You won’t get lost and I bet you will see dragonflies and the birds, like Kestrels, that follow the dragonfly migration south for the winter. https://saintpaulbirdalliance.org/upcoming-events/

NEW MPCA LAWSUIT AGAINST 3M FOR EAST METRO PFAS POLLUTION – It looks to me like March 2026 Project 1007 data related to the new lawsuit includes Pig’s Eye, both north and south areas. The second lawsuit says 3M needs to do more, such as clean up additional areas, add warning signs in contaminated areas, and filters along the creek flowing through their main dump site. https://3msettlement.state.mn.us/projects/project-1007

PIGS EYE DUMP COMMITTEE – The final report for cleaning up this park/former regional dump is here: https://www.pca.state.mn.us/local-sites-and-projects/saint-paul-pigs-eye-dump-task-force The recommendation in this report by the committee – with more data now being gathered - is for further studies to pick one of these options: 1. Haul it away to an approved landfill (most metro ones are getting full) leaving a wetland behind or 2. Make an approved landfill in the park – a high-as-the-hills plastic-lined mound + rain water and gas capture + flood wall. Cost estimates - $600 - $800 over 10 years of construction and 30 years of operation. The web site above says next steps are to get more data – three new wells in the park were built and sampled in spring 2026.

08/04/2026

Pigs Eye Regional Park Hike Tuesday 07/28/26, Kathy Sidles
COMING UP IN THE FUTURE – After not writing a report of our 07/21 walk, and almost not writing up our 07/28 report, I still want to start with two events coming up!

HOMELESS TENT CAMP CLOSING - Have you heard the Pig’s Eye homeless ten camp area is closing August 5 due to fire and crime problems? The city, county and non-profits – though very low on resources - are trying to find indoor shelter and other help for everyone in this camp. But with some residents having a spouse, or a dog, or wanting to use drugs make the situation even more complicated, an outreach person from Union Gospel Mission said on a Public Radio interview today.

That is not where we walk. Just like with our Iowa family farm where each generation has a different name for each pond, woods and field people have different names for what Saint Paul Parks and the news calls Pig’s Eye Park. We walk in the southern part – the park signs say Main Entrance. Kiki calls the north part Fish Hatchery park, because there is a DNR fish hatching pond near there, and a DNR building. It also has an archery range, so I sometimes call it Archery Park, or North Pig’s Eye. The two parks are divided by a big railroad area. There are many news stories and interviews with the residents bef the August 5th closing date. Check out Minnesota Public Radio and Pioneer Press web sites.

It is a complicated situation. Learn more at the city’s HART web site: https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/safety-inspections/report-concern/homeless-assistance-response-team HART suggest carrying bottled water, packaged food like granola bars, trash bags and bus passes to hand out to people in need. Donate to Union Gospel Mission and Listening House on E. 7th. Learn about the Listening House Work Force program to provide employment here: https://www.listeninghouse.org/st-paul-work-now

PIG’S EYE GREEN DARNER DRAGONFLY AND BIRDING WALK - Details of the September 22 12-2 Pig’s Eye Park Green Darner Dragonfly walk are posted on the Saint Paul Bird Alliance Events page: “Did you know these dragonflies migrate South in the Fall just like many of our songbirds do? Come see for yourself on Tuesday, September 22 at Pig’s Eye Chôkan Tanka Park. Dragonfly expert John Arthur, from the Minnesota Dragonfly Society, will lead us on an adventure tracking the migration and seeing what birds join us as we hike through the park. Volunteers from Pig’s Eye Park Friends – Tom Dimond, Kathy Sidles, Carissa Scanlan, and Kiki Sonnen – will help out too.” That’s us, Pig’s Eye Park Friends. You won’t get lost and I bet you will see dragonflies and the birds, like Kestrels, that follow the dragonfly migration south for the winter. https://saintpaulbirdalliance.org/upcoming-events/

EXCUSE FOR NO UPDATE – IT WAS THE 8TH ANNUAL BACKYARD BUMBLEBEE COUNT WEEK! – I walked with Tom and Carissa around the lake loop on Tuesday 07/21. We had noticed the oil tank car spill was still being cleaned up. And that the trash we collected and put in the parking area hadn’t been picked up yet by Saint Paul Parks. And that the big concrete footings for the last back-up power lines going through the middle of Pig’s Eye Lake were still being poured. Then Wednesday I spent all day surveying for the University of Minnesota bumble bee ATLAS program in southern Minnesota. Then Thursday was the first day of the 8TH ANNUAL BUMBLEBEE COUNT WEEK! After uploading all the ATLAS bumble bee pictures I started taking more bumble bee pictures at two, three or four different east side Saint Paul sites each day. Then cropping and uploading to the iNaturalist Project web site. I have done this each year since the 4th ANNUAL BUMBLE BEE COUNT WEEK. I do this to get data for the endangered rusty-patched bumble bee – that I have seen twice in Pig’s Eye Park and see elsewhere on the east side of Saint Paul. The US Fish and Wildlife estimate is about 30% of the remaining rusty-patched bumble bees are here in the Twin Cities.

LOOKING FOR BUMBLE BEES AT PIG’S EYE – Tom came with me for the first part of the Bumblebee Count Survey. Due to very dry weather we had a hard time finding flowers west of Battle Creek. Tom went off to do other chores and I walked the lake loop. By the end of a two hour walk I counted 55 bumble bees of four different species – Common Eastern, Brown Belted, Red Belted, Black and Gold - and about 25 bumble bee / flower species combinations. Most of the flowers were non-native like Crown Vetch, Canada Thistle and Burdock. But it was fun to see patches of what I call Germander blooming in the thick non-native brome grass.
By the end of the week I had seen 28 endangered rusty-patched bumble bees! While even restored fields didn’t have many flowers – they either dried up or finished blooming early with our extreme drought – the many restored-to-native-plants lake and creek edges and storm ponds and rain gardens still were damp enough to have flowers for bumble bees.

PARK UPDATES SINCE 07/21 – The footing for the middle backup electric cable in Pig’s Eye Lake is still being worked on. While we were at the park a group of Saint Paul Park employees finally found the parking lot – with Tom’s help – and took away our pile of trash! Yay, thanks. There had been lots of very large equipment doing something along the railroad tracks where the oil spill had been as I drove in. As I left the park I could see the complete outside railroad track at the oil spill area was being ripped up and removed! Maybe not only are they doing their best to take away the spilled oil but replacing track that may have caused the problem…just guessing. But it’s an impressive amount of work.

NEW MPCA LAWSUIT AGAINST 3M FOR EAST METRO PFAS POLLUTION – It looks to me like March 2026 Project 1007 data related to the new lawsuit includes Pig’s Eye. The second lawsuit says 3M needs to do more, such as clean up additional areas, add warning signs in contaminated areas, and filters along the creek flowing through their main dump site. https://3msettlement.state.mn.us/projects/project-1007

PIGS EYE DUMP COMMITTEE – The final report for cleaning up this park/former regional dump is here: https://www.pca.state.mn.us/local-sites-and-projects/saint-paul-pigs-eye-dump-task-force The recommendation in this report by the committee – with more data now being gathered - is for further studies to pick one of these options: 1. Haul it away to an approved landfill (most metro ones are getting full) leaving a wetland behind or 2. Make an approved landfill in the park – a high-as-the-hills plastic-lined mound + rain water and gas capture + flood wall. Cost estimates - $600 - $800 over 10 years of construction and 30 years of operation. The web site above says next steps are to get more data – three new wells in the park were built and sampled in spring 2026.

07/15/2026

Pigs Eye Regional Park Hike Tuesday 07/14/26, Kathy Sidles
ANOTHER HOT DAY WALK IN THE PARK – The north wetland park lot is pretty much free of wood chips, and a Killdeer family was enjoying the pools of water. The piles of wood chips at the chipping lot you drive past to get to Pig’s Eye Park parking were bigger than I’ve ever seen them – are they being burned for electricity to provide Air Conditioning at downtown Saint Paul District Energy? https://www.districtenergy.com/

Kiki and Tom were sitting in the shade of a small tree growing next to the concrete bridge over Battle Creek. Kiki was drawing some of the flowers blooming in the park. My stick took a loooooonnnnngggg 24 seconds to float under the bridge. Leaning over I saw my stick appear and also a school of small fish below the bridge.

I told Tom and Kiki I was walking to the lake shore – to check on the construction of the backup power lines across Pig’s Eye Lake. But the walk turned into a wonderful view of native and non-native early summer prairie flowers, birds with fledged young, and many kinds of bees, butterflies and bugs.

PLANT OF THE DAY AND POWER TOWER CONSTRUCTION – I walked by many patches of Vervain with their flowers that grow higher and higher on the stem. I took pictures of bumble bees getting nectar and pollen from them to upload to Bumblebeewatch.org for Citizen Science. It looks like the last concrete tower base pair is being built in the middle of the lake. That has to be tricky – I couldn’t tell what the equipment attachments were for way out there on the lake. Behind the tower bases I could see the new river dredge islands were covered with green, except for their edges.

LOOP BACK TO THE BRIDGE – The truck trail for monitoring park pollution wells hasn’t been use much. To prevent ticks you need to stay away from tall grass, which wasn’t possible. In spite of tucked-in pants and shirt and bug spray I still found ten ticks crawling in my clothes. I did fill out a Saint Paul Parks request form asking for a loop to be kept mowed in this park – and the trash we have picked up removed – but neither request happened so far.

It was fun seeing young fledged birds on the top of bushes with their mouths open. Nope, you have to feed yourselves! And learning to sing from their parents.

I had seen a few Swamp Milkweed plants, with their pretty pink flowers and sometimes a Monarch butterfly visiting. But looking over Battle Creek as it flowed into the lake I could see a very large area covered with them. There are lots more native plants where it floods than in the upland dry areas. You are supposed to mow down invasive plants like Canada Thistle – I reported large fields of it and Leafy Spurge two weeks ago. Now control has been done. I can see how it spreads – not just by its roots but a big patch had gone to seed and they were ready to spread everywhere.
Back at a parking lot puddle it was fun to see a butterfly “puddling” and two big-eyed flies hanging out and a funny beetle scoot under the water and hide under algae.

NEW MPCA LAWSUIT AGAINST 3M FOR EAST METRO PFAS POLLUTION – It looks to me like March 2026 Project 1007 data related to the new lawsuit includes Pig’s Eye. The second lawsuit says 3M needs to do more, such as clean up additional areas, add warning signs in contaminated areas, and filters along the creek flowing through their main dump site. https://3msettlement.state.mn.us/projects/project-1007

PIGS EYE DUMP COMMITTEE – The final report for cleaning up this park/former regional dump is here: https://www.pca.state.mn.us/local-sites-and-projects/saint-paul-pigs-eye-dump-task-force The recommendation in this report by the committee – with more data now being gathered - is for further studies to pick one of these options: 1. Haul it away to an approved landfill (most metro ones are getting full) leaving a wetland behind or 2. Make an approved landfill in the park – a high-as-the-hills plastic-lined mound + rain water and gas capture + flood wall. Cost estimates - $600 - $800 over 10 years of construction and 30 years of operation. The web site above says next steps are to get more data – three new wells in the park were built and sampled in spring 2026.

07/07/2026

Pigs Eye Regional Park Hike Tuesday 07/07/26, Kathy Sidles
ENDANGERED RUSTY PATCHED BUMBLE BEE #2 SEEN IN THE PARK – I was looking for one of the big patches of big Common Sedge that might be the invasive kind while taking pictures of any bumble bees. It rained ¼ inch last night which makes the plants and pollen damp which from I see the bumble bees don’t like. But I did see them at taller thistles that maybe dried out first. I saw the usual bumble bees – Common Eastern, Two Spotted, Brown Belted and Black and Gold – but also one endangered Rusty-patched! To me they fly a little slower, have more black below their wings, and are more likely to spread their wings to show their two-stripe pattern, and in between the stripes a rusty patch. I will upload the pictures to www.bumblebeewatch.org. This is the second one I’ve seen this spring, also in a big patch of flowers on the east side. If you look at about 300 bumble bees on the east side one of them might be a Rusty-patched. I saw one Rusty-patched in this park last year when I was looking here in late June during the annual iNaturalist Bumblebee Count Week.

Experts at the U of MN say their studies show the Twin Cities population which is one third of those remaining needs better genetics to persist. I assume this means better urban native plant wildlife corridors.

POSSIBLE INVASIVE COMMON SEDGE PICTURES UPLOADED USING EDDMAPS APP. Last week I uploaded pictures and information about the big patches of invasive/must control Canada Thistle and Leafy Spurge using this app on my phone. This is one way the Minnesota DNR finds out about problems like this
I had read about a tall sedge that is invasive and needs to be controlled that looks almost like tall native sedge. So walking by three patches of tall sedge I have wondered if it is the invasive kind or not. The difference is hard to see – something about 1mm vs wider where the leaves meet the stem plus stem roughness – and I haven’t found pictures showing the exact different. Also we met someone in the park about three years ago who had been getting rid of a fourth patch that he said was invasive. But they didn’t seem to know about the other patches.

FIRST I PICKED UP LOTS OF TRASH SOMEONE DUMPED – Last week I filled out a complaint form asking that bags of trash we had picked up be collected. But when I arrived there was one empty bag and what looked like two other bags of trash we collected had been dumped out. Maybe someone wanted the two trash bags. Anyway I spent a long time picking up the trash with my grabber and putting it into the remaining bag black bag, or for clean recyclables into a blue bag I had, or onto the pile of metal and wood. I’ll fill out another complaint form.

I also filled out a complaint form asking that a trail be mowed in this park so users can stay on the short grass of the trail and away from ticks in the tall grass. You guess it – no trails have been mowed. I dress for ticks – socks and shirt tucked in plus DEET bug spray. But I still found four of them on me when I finished my walk. But I found them before any attached themselves…and took a shower and washed my hair when I got home. They are good at hiding!

NOISY PARK – WOOD GRINDING AND TRAIN CAR BRAKES SQUEALING. A big grabber was dropping tree branches into the big round shredder that makes the wood chips in the wood chipping area of the park. On the other side of the park train car brakes squealed. My husband Paul and I went for a 90 minute train ride along last Saturday along the Saint Croix put on by the Jackson Street Roundhouse volunteers. Our conductor volunteer confirmed that letting the train cars go downhill then applying their brakes was being done to hook them up to a new train. They worked for many years in the rail yards around the park they said. For a while, right before noon, everything went quiet – maybe it was lunch time.

NEW MPCA LAWSUIT AGAINST 3M FOR EAST METRO PFAS POLLUTION – It looks to me like March 2026 Project 1007 data related to the new lawsuit includes Pig’s Eye. The second lawsuit says 3M needs to do more, such as clean up additional areas, add warning signs in contaminated areas, and filters along the creek flowing through their main dump site. https://3msettlement.state.mn.us/projects/project-1007

PIGS EYE DUMP COMMITTEE – The final report for cleaning up this park/former regional dump is here: https://www.pca.state.mn.us/local-sites-and-projects/saint-paul-pigs-eye-dump-task-force The recommendation in this report by the committee – with more data now being gathered - is for further studies to pick one of these options: 1. Haul it away to an approved landfill (most metro ones are getting full) leaving a wetland behind or 2. Make an approved landfill in the park – a high-as-the-hills plastic-lined mound + rain water and gas capture + flood wall. Cost estimates - $600 - $800 over 10 years of construction and 30 years of operation. The web site above says next steps are to get more data – three new wells in the park were built and sampled in spring 2026.