Iron Range Partnership for Sustainability

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Iron Range Partnership for Sustainability Mission Statement: The IRPS facilitates collaboration toward sustaining our natural environment and thriving Iron Range communities.

Iron Range Partnership for Sustainability (IRPS) is a grassroots organization and 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation located in northeast Minnesota’s Iron Range. In joining and building partnerships, we are dedicated to maintaining and improving our region through our mission statement and organizational values. Our Organizational Values:
Promote Sustainability:
Sustainability means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. IRPS focuses its work on the interrelationship of three primary elements of sustainability: community, economy, and the environment. Bringing People Together:
Communities thrive when people come together around the common good. IRPS encourages inclusive collaboration, listening, dialogue and positive action. Raise Awareness:
Awareness of the social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainability is a catalyst for change. IRPS raises community awareness through communication, education, and resource networking. Focus Locally:
The evolving cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity of the Iron Range is a source of sustainability. IRPS welcomes diversity, celebrates traditions, and encourages local innovation for equitable, thriving communities. Engage Multiple Generations:
Every generation has a stake in sustainability, with knowledge, experience, and skills to share. IRPS encourages learning and partnering across multiple generations. Foster Personal and Planetary Health:
Communities thrive when they recognize the relationships between personal and planetary health. IRPS collaborates in local initiatives that foster health holistically and support environmental justice.

Nature is for Everyone!
10/09/2026

Nature is for Everyone!

Who else has spotted one of these cuties 🐛 scooting across the ground?

These fuzzy caterpillars are called banded woolly bear caterpillars. They are usually more visible in the early fall as they look for a spot under the leaves to curl up for the winter. So, leave those leaves and help these caterpillars become moths in the spring!

To survive the cold, they produce a chemical called glycerol to act as antifreeze, protecting them from the chilly temperatures.

In the spring, they cocoon and transform into the Isabella tiger moth. They find a mate, lay some eggs and the cycle begins again!

🔗https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mcvmagazine/issues/2024/sep-oct/profile.html

📷 Woolly Bear Caterpillar crawling in dried leaves

The foundation is in place! Underground tubing being installed now by Keith Peterson and Mike Nystrom! Further construc...
10/08/2026

The foundation is in place! Underground tubing being installed now by Keith Peterson and Mike Nystrom! Further construction in spring by RockRidge students under Greg Foster!

Goal: Build a 960 square foot Deep Winter Greenhouse by the fall of 2027 through a partnership with Rock Ridge Public School District 2909 on the new school campus.

A Deep Winter Greenhouse uses solar heat generated and stored underground during the day to be recirculated at night, making a cost-effective space to grow plants all winter even in the northern Minnesota.

Why:
Access to fresh nutritious food

Will be used as a classroom for agricultural, science, business, and culinary education

Great opportunity for students who do well with experiential, hands-on, project-based learning

The greenhouse will be used by both high school and elementary school students

Hundreds of students each year will learn how to grow their own food

Garden Club and work study

A volunteer led group supported by the Iron Range Partnership for Sustainability has raised $120,000 through grants and private donations. We are hoping to raise an additional $25,000 through private donations to help complete building of the greenhouse. Accepting donations here: https://www.givemn.org/story/deepwintergreenhouse

Questions/suggestions: please e-mail Keith Peterson at [email protected]
Also let us know if you know a contractor who would be interested in helping with this project.

Autumn Newsletter is out!
10/08/2026

Autumn Newsletter is out!

Awareness of the social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainability is a catalyst for change.
10/08/2026

Awareness of the social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainability is a catalyst for change.

Save the Date
Fall Pollinator Share & Learn
October 15, 2026, 12-1:00pm

Does your congregation have a Pollinator Plot? Is it on the wish list? How about in your own garden? Or do you have a plot and are looking to share your experiences or to hear what others are doing?

Content will include a PowerPoint presentation which focuses on how loss of biodiversity threatens the wellbeing of our planet, and why pollinator plots - if adhering to certain guidelines and suggested best practices - can help redress this crisis. A limited but pragmatic discussion of how to start up a pollinator plot for your church or individual residence will be included.

The NE MN Synod Pollinator Plot Steering Committee is having a "SHARE AND LEARN" via zoom on Oct. 15, noon to 1 p.m.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/qVhx1ugIReGJgDpY9HWeSQ

This is what building a local, more resilient food system looks like.
10/08/2026

This is what building a local, more resilient food system looks like.

Learn how our new USDA-inspected facility is expanding regional meat processing, creating new market opportunities for livestock producers and supporting rural jobs. Now hiring in Staples!

Register: bit.ly/FUPMstory

For years, limited access to USDA-inspected and custom-exempt meat processing has created bottlenecks for area livestock producers, making it difficult to schedule processing and limiting their marketing opportunities. After years of planning and collaboration among Minnesota Farmers Union and partners, Farmers Union Processing + Meats opened this summer. The more than 10,000-square-foot facility processes cattle and hogs, expanding regional processing capacity and market opportunities for livestock producers.

During the webinar, Plant Manager Robb Kasal and MFU Special Projects Coordinator Dave Endicott will share how the project came together, the partnerships that made it possible and what's ahead for FUPM. Livestock producer Jim Chamberlin will offer a producer perspective on what expanded processing capacity will mean for his farm and business. We'll also hear from Keith Olander, Executive Director at Minnesota State Northern Agricultural Center of Excellence, AgCentric, about the importance of developing a skilled meat processing workforce and current efforts underway in Minnesota to meet this need.

FUPM is also growing its team and is currently hiring a butcher supervisor based in Staples.

Join us to hear the story behind a project years in the making and learn how investments in regional meat processing can create opportunities for livestock producers, strengthen local food systems and support rural communities.

This webinar will be facilitated by Ariel Kagan, MFU's Foundation Director.

Communities thrive when they recognize the relationship between personal and planetary health.
10/08/2026

Communities thrive when they recognize the relationship between personal and planetary health.

🎉 It's Children's Environmental Health Day!
Today, we're celebrating the progress we've made—and recommitting to a future where every child has access to clean air, clean water, safe food and products, and healthy places to live, learn, and play.

How are you celebrating? Whether you're attending an event, spending time outdoors, advocating for healthier communities, or sharing why children's environmental health matters, every action helps build momentum.

Get inspired and find ways to participate at CEHDay.org.

Awareness of the social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainability is a catalyst for change.
10/08/2026

Awareness of the social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainability is a catalyst for change.

We use the phrase “waste diversion” a great deal, but what exactly does it mean? In a nutshell, waste diversion is redirecting products out of the waste stream, to prevent them from reaching landfills or waste-to-energy facilities. This can be done through composting, reuse and recycling.

For illustration, using simple numbers, if you had 100 pounds of discarded items, and you could reuse 10 pounds, compost 20 pounds and recycle 20 pounds of that material, you would divert 50 pounds from the waste stream. In this example, only 50% of the original 100 pounds would wind up at the end point for solid waste.

So, with this knowledge, we challenge you…what can you divert from your weekly discarded items?

Nature is for Everyone!
10/07/2026

Nature is for Everyone!

Every generation has a stake in sustainability; with knowledge, experience, and skills to share
10/02/2026

Every generation has a stake in sustainability; with knowledge, experience, and skills to share

Address

919 6th St S
Virginia, MN
55792

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