Welcome to Explore Teach
Conserve, or the ETC

podcast by the University
of Minnesota Extension,

where we talk with
people about exploring,

making discoveries,
and solving problems

to better manage our
natural resources,

and we share ideas to help you

learn more and get involved.

This is an older
episode from when we

used a different
title, The Naturalist,

but the conversation and ideas

are still fresh.
If you enjoy it,

we hope you'll subscribe
and listen to more

episodes of Explore, Teach,
Conserve, or the ETC.

Hi, I'm Santiago from
U of M Extension, and

this is The Naturalist.
It podcasts that

aims to explore the
various topics within

the world of Minnesota
natural resources,

all while trying to
capture great stories

and talk to people
about the environment.

This week, we were
talking about bees and the

efforts being made in
Minnesota to gain a better

understanding of their
populations. He first talked

to Elaine Evans, an
extension educator with the

University of Minnesota,
about native bees and the

bee diversity studies
currently being conducted.

Later, we get a chance
to talk to Britt Fosberg

Program Coordinator for the
University of Minnesota Bee

Atlas program about the B
atlas program as a whole,

the impact of citizen
scientists on the program,

and the goals and challenges
of this initiative.

This is the sound
of a carpenter bee.

I personally don't know
much. about bees outside

of their impacts on
pollination and that they

are very sensitive to
environmental changes.

For this episode, I
set out to learn more

about bees in Minnesota
and how they are doing.

Are they doing badly?

What are researchers
studying exactly?

And how can citizen scientists

get involved in the process?

So I am Elaine Evans.

I'm an extension educator with

the University of Minnesota,

and I focus on bees,
mostly native bees,

and work on pollinator
habitat and bee conservation.

What are some of the major
projects you're working

on right now? One of them
is with the Minnesota

Bee Atlas, I'm working on
a bumblebee survey with

them. So we have citizen
scientists, volunteers

that have adopted routes
all throughout the state

of Minnesota, and people
are going out and making

observations of bumblebees
along these routes.

They've been trained in
bumblebee identification,

and then they're also
taking photo vouchers

of some species that
are a little more

difficult and reporting
these data back.

And by doing that, we're
getting some nice population

level information about
not just where these

bumblebees are, but how they're
doing. So this is a nice

compliment to another
nationwide project called

Bumblebee Watch, where anyone
anywhere can take a photo

of a bee and submit it.
And that gives us a good

idea of which bees are
where, but not necessarily,

it's kind of more,

you know, harder to get
population level information.

I'm also I also do bumblebee
surveys locally just

in the I'm based in St.
Paul and we do our 11th year

doing bumblebee surveys
in parks in the Twin

Cities and so this one we're
we're revisiting particular

sites to try to get this
kind of this long-term

data to look at population
trends for bumblebees.

So I'm also involved
in research projects.

So I have a research project

looking at some comparative,

asking a comparison between
kind of how bees used to

be doing and how they're
doing now for, native bees.

Okay.

So we have, um,

we did collections of bees
in a couple areas where

we have good historic
collections in the insect

collection here at the
University of Minnesota.

So then we've been going
through and databasing

all those bees, which
is a huge project,

which the,

actually the DNR
has been involved in

that too. They're
doing some similar,

um,

trying to find find out what

bees are where kind of project.

And then we did focus
samplings and areas where

we had lots of those
records so we can do some of

those comparisons to really
kind of tell how bees

are doing compared to how
they used to be doing.

Right,

well that's a lot.

Yeah, and then the other
main thing that I'm

working on is work with
the Rusty Patch Bumblebee.

So that's the first
B to be listed

as an endangered
species federally.

And it does, one
of the few places

where it still occurs
is in Minnesota,

particularly we have a lot
of, you know, relatively

a lot of records in the
metro, Twin Cities Metro here.

So, so there are a lot
of, there's a lot of work

just on, you know, working
with the Fish and Wildlife.

life service and doing
some education and outreach

about the Rusty Patch Bumblebee
to get homeowners here

aware of how they can help
Rusty Patch Bumblebee and

also some research projects
on trying to figure out

what's going on with them
and how we can help them.

So how do those records
show bee populations?

How are they doing
compared to when the last

time those records
were actually you know,

gathered and studied
back in the day.

Yeah,

yeah.

So we're,

so for that historic
comparison project,

we're still getting
the data all together.

So I don't have the answer
for, you know, how things

are here. We know that there
are some big differences

in terms of some species,
But it's a difficult

question to answer overall
was just how bees are

doing because they're so
diverse and there's so many

of them that we don't know
a lot about. So, I mean,

just as an example,

it's just in the last
couple of years since we

databased the records
in the insect collection

here that we've been
even able to talk about

how many bee species do
we have in Minnesota.

Right.

So before a couple
years ago, we

didn't even know
how many we had.

So knowing how they're doing is

a big step forward from that.

So we do know, you
know, honeybees.

We know how they're doing
because they're a managed

bee and they're in
these boxes and you can

open them up and see how
they're doing, you know,

compare their health.
And so we do know that

honeybees are having
some big health problems.

So it's about 40% of honeybee

colonies that die every year.

Okay.

But the good news
side of that is

that beekeepers
are really good at

keeping honeybees
and they know how to,

you know, they can
make more colonies.

honeybees aren't
going to go extinct.

We can breed more.

We can replace those colonies.

But honeybees are kind
of like livestock.

So since they're a managed bee,

you can imagine if, you
know, people raising dairy

cows were losing 40% of
their cows every year,

they'd be in a state of panic.

And I mean,

bees are a lot different
than cows, but still,

it is a big stress
on the beekeepers

to have these health
problems. So that

brings up an
interesting question.

Given that, I guess,
honeybees aren't doing so hot,

you know, what would happen if,

big what if,

what would happen if,
you know, native beeves

were kind of suffering
from the same situation

and her numbers were
dwindling on that scale.

Yeah.

And all we did have
was honey bees.

What type of environmental

impacts would we see from that?

Right. So we do one
group of bumble bees

that we do know about
our bumblebees. We

have just more
information about them.

So we know it's
roughly one out of

every four species
of bumblebees that

are in decline. And
that's globally,

you know, lots of evidence for

bumblebees having problems.

So,

you know, honeybees,
we rely on them a

lot for pollination
in big agricultural

fields where there
are these huge fields,

you know, in particular crops

where we can bring
honeybees in.

But around all those fields,

there are native bees
too. So native bees are

kind of all over the
place. And they actually

are contributing a lot
to pollination of crops.

And additionally,

there are a lot of
native plants that are

relying on the native
bees for pollination. So

honeybees are great
for pollinating certain

things, but because
of their behaviors and

their choices, they
don't visit everything.

So it's roughly 90% of
plants overall that are

depending on animals for
moving their pollen around.

And a lot of that is
happening from wild bees.

So the ecological
impact of those plants,

you know, so many plants,

losing their ability
to reproduce as

effectively would be
really dramatic for,

plants are at the
base of the whole food

chain, you know. So just
going up the food chain

from plants to all
the insects that eat

plants, all the birds
that eat insects, all

the, you know, other
mammals and, you know,

following it up that way,
looking at the water cycle,

if plants are doing well
and they're not, you

know, filtering and it's
a really gigantic impact.

Yeah, it's quite a situation.

And I feel like it's easy
to forget how how much

one little thing can, you
know, kind of trickle up or

trickle down depending on
the way you look at it.

Yeah.

And just because
of the, you know,

pollination that
they're doing, it's

this, it's this big
connection that's,

you know,

affecting a lot of
different communities.

So I guess going forward,

if the situation was where,
you know, you found out

this information and these
weren't doing so hot, what

would be some of the steps
that as a state, you know,

we could kind of take to
better that situation?

Is it really just dependent
on, you know, local

communities kind of handing
together in, you know,

investing in pollinator
-friendly installments? or is

it, you know, really comes
down to the legislative,

you know, kind of
taking initiative

on the political
side of things?

So, so one of the nice
things, I'm one of the reasons

why I think a lot of
people have gotten engaged

and interested in the
topic of pollinators is

because there's a lot of
different levels of action

that can make a difference.
So you can make a

difference by having a
pollinator garden in your yard.

providing flowers,
providing some

places for native bees
to nest, and keeping

those flowers free
of pesticides.

But there's other levels you

can work on, too. So with,

you know,

80 to 90 percent of land
being an agricultural

production in the, you
know, in the Midwest here.

these bees existing everywhere,

there's a lot that can
be done for trying to

improve habitat for them
in other places too.

So having state
programs that encourage

and that provide incentives for

farmers to create
pollinator habitat.

And actually in the
state here, we have a

lot of great programs
that are doing that,

those can make a huge
difference for providing

these, you know,
kind of restoring

native habitat out
throughout the state so

that these bees can
have someplace to live.

Those can make a
huge difference.

And even, you know,
up to the federal

level, working
with the new farm

bill that's going
to be going through.

And again,

a lot of the things that
can have, help are getting

these incentive programs for
farmers to compensate them

for creating pollinator
habitat. Those are really

effective, great ways to
promote habitat. I think another

thing we can do a better job
of in the state is somewhat

just really kind of communicating
with farmers sitting

down at the table together
and and talking about

things, habitat that's already
in the farmland that can be,

can be either kept there or
you can get more of it in

there, things that can be
done to help bees do well,

things like planting
cover crops and

different things that
actually flower and

provide food for the
bees, having wooded areas

that provide nesting
habitat for bees.

Also,

to sit down at
the table and talk

with farmers about
how to protect

those habitats then from
accidental pesticide drifts.

Because we don't, the
tricky part with creating

all this habitat in
farmland is making sure that

we're keeping it safe for
the pollinators as well.

Right.

So that sounds like
a huge challenge if,

but I feel like these
are one of the few,

well, not few, but
these are definitely one

of the insects that
people are like, oh,

almost the time
that they're pretty

going to hoe about helping out.

Yeah. You have the
occasional friend that freaks

out every time you
see a bee, but I don't

think that's a thing.
Yeah, people in general are

starting to understand
how important they are.

And if we broaden the
conversation out to

pollinators, then we can
bring in really charismatic

pollinators like the
Monarch that a lot of

people, you know, remember
a time when they were

everywhere and have really
noticed the dramatic

difference with the drop
in their population.

Timeline-wise, when are
some of these projects,

these new surveying
projects, when are they,

you and your team,
when are you aiming to

kind of be done with
those and have some.

of those numbers that
are more concrete.

The historic comparison project

is one that will be finding up.

We should have results to talk

about that within
the next year.

Some of the projects
with the Rusty

Patch Bumblebee are
just starting up.

So those are going to
be ongoing. There's some

urgency with that
because of the listing of

the Rusty Patch Bumblebee.
So hopefully we'll be

able to process that
information quickly and

get that information into
practical recommendations

for recovering the
Rusty Patch Bumblebee.

What were their
populations and kind of

ranges before during
danger kind of listing?

Was it a bee that was kind
of spread out across the

state, kind of seen everywhere,
or is it very specific

to a certain part of the
state? state or country.

As you said, I think
Minnesota is the

only place that has
it now, or was that?

One of a handful of
places that's right.

So it used to be
found throughout,

from here,

Minnesota was kind of
as far west as it went,

but then it went all the
way over to the east coast,

up into Canada,

down into the southern
part of the U.S.

as well. So it was
really widespread.

And it was one of
the most common fees.

So in Minnesota here,

it was, you know, like in

the top five for the species.

And, you know, so, yeah,
we saw it really regularly,

really widespread.

And it had a really dramatic

sudden drop around the year,

where all of a sudden
it just wasn't being

seen. So there were a
number of years where

people were looking
and not finding it.

As an example,

in the, in the
Twin Cities here,

I used to see them commonly.

I didn't see them
from 1999 until 2010.

And their populations
were just so low. So, you

know, I was doing
surveys, looking for them,

but I wasn't seeing
them at all. And

so I've been seeing
them since 2010,

but every year when I
see them, I only see,

you know, maybe five
individuals if I'm lucky.

So it's helped to have
programs like Bumblebee

Watch where anyone anywhere
can just take a photo

of them and upload. them.
So we've gotten a lot

more locations where they're
found around the Twin

Cities, but it's still
every year it's maybe,

you know, a dozen
places where people see

them and take pictures
and send them in.

So they're also still,
it's a similar situation

actually in Madison,
Wisconsin. They have

a same kind of thing
where they're seeing, they

see a few of them there
every year or two.

Okay, that's
really interesting.

Just the idea of
having a, you know,

such a widespread be kind
of just declined to the

point where not as visible
anymore. It's really,

well,

yeah, it's pretty concerning.

We'll be right back
after the short break.

Hey, Santiago, I heard about an

event on September
30th. Yes, Tracy,

this 30th, which is
in about two weeks,

we have National
Public Lands Day.

Oh, that sounds fun. Can
you tell me more about it?

Yes, so National Public
Lands Day is a national

effort where we get
people together to do

some service on public
lands. So this year, we

have about 12 sites
scattered around the state,

ranging from Rochester
to we have another

site in Boulder Lake,
which is in north

-eastern Minnesota for
people who don't know.

And yeah, we have everything
ranging from buckling

removal all the way to
helping install pollinator

garden, so there's something
for everybody. That

sounds like a lot of fun.
I like to be outside.

Where can I find
more information?

If you want to register
for a site and learn more

about the program and what
we're doing this year,

feel free to log on to
www.mastonaturalist.org.

The

B-Atlas program is a major
citizen-scientist-driven

survey program for the
university. of Minnesota.

When it's finished, the
program will have a ton of

data to help shape a
better understanding of bee

populations in Minnesota
and their distributions.

I'm Britt Forsberg,
and I'm the program

coordinator for the
Minnesota B. Alice.

Out of the University
of Minnesota Extension.

All right. How long have you

been involved with B. Atlas?

We've just finished our

second year with the B. Alice.

Okay. Okay.

Um,

so, so. So what is Bea Atlas?

Sure.

So we are a four-year
funded grant program funded

by the Environment and
Natural Resources Trust Fund.

This is usually
called LC-C-MAR, but

the pot of money is
actually the Environment

and Natural
Resources Trust Fund.

So over these four years,

including three field seasons,

we're using citizen
scientists volunteers

to help us understand
the diversity and

distribution of native
bees in Minnesota.

There are probably about
400 different species of

native bees in Minnesota
in addition to the European

honeybee, which is not
native to North America.

So our volunteers
are looking at

a number of
different protocols,

and then we'll be able to
combine our data from our

volunteers with that from
others at the University of

Minnesota, Minnesota DNR,
and historic collections to

create one publicly accessible
online database that

will have as much information
about bees as possible.

All right. That
sounds really cool.

How's it going so far in
terms of getting people

on board and working with
the other departments

and different organizations
across the state?

I think that our one
challenge is going

to be the technology
behind making each

database talk to each
other. So you can have

one query that accesses
multiple points.

But in terms of
making connections, we

have met our targets
for volunteers.

We have certainly
know everybody else

in the state who's
working on bees.

And so I think we'll have

quite a bit of data at the end.

Yeah, I can imagine that
being a ton, a ton of data.

So this is a pretty ambitious
project I'd say, right?

It's just like easy
to be, but now done

before another
state type of thing.

Other states do have
more information.

Wisconsin has cataloged
all of their bees.

So officially,

in the last historic
record for Minnesota,

or last census
of these in 1990.

There were 67 different

species. Wisconsin
has over 400.

So clearly difference
being just that

Wisconsin is taking the
time to look for them.

And we haven't combined
all of our resources.

Certainly lots of people
research bees in Minnesota

and know that there are
far more than 67 species.

This will be the first,

first way that
people are combining

all that information
into one place.

And considering
how big this it is,

how has it been
like coordinating

those efforts, do you
have persistent scientists

collecting data in different
corners of the state?

Or is it kind of centered
around a specific location?

Our goal is then to spread
it out geographically.

There tend to be more
volunteers in the

metro area. That's
where more people live.

So we've been able
to get some of these

outstate areas by
offering our workshops in

different places. There
are still places that

are hard to get to
along the Iowa border.

It's not as populated.
There's a lot of agriculture.

So we don't have as
many volunteers there.

We don't have as many
volunteers as we'd like

in the far northwest
corner of the state.

But all of our, all of
the locations where we

have volunteers working
are on our website.

In terms of reaching
volunteers, you know,

what type of strategies
have you been

using to find these
citizen scientists,

volunteers,

has been pretty fairly,
you know, easy. Do you just

have a ton of people flooding
in just being, oh, I want

to help out with bees and
stuff like that, or has it

been kind of a challenge
trying to get the word out?

We definitely
lucked out by having

our project come
as when it did,

right? There's a lot of
media attention to bees.

A lot more people are aware
that they're in trouble,

and so a lot, there's a
lot of public interest.

For the B blocks in particular

for one of our protocols,

we looked at what different
groups would either

be interested in the data
that we're collecting

or in the information
that we're sharing.

So large numbers of those
volunteers are from places

like nature centers,
environmental learning centers.

They're keeping their
observations near a

pollinator garden or
a building where they

have a lot of interpretive
opportunities.

We also had county
land managers

who are quite interested.

They want to better
document the diversity

that they have in
their parklands.

Another large group
have been master

naturalists or
other volunteers as

part of the DNR, S
&A Steward program.

So these folks are
already volunteering at

a scientific and natural
area in the state,

usually looking
for, are there down

to trees, has there
been vandalism,

you know, what different
things are going on in that

area, but then adding a
B block to observe at the

same. same time. When you
have these people coming

in and interested and stuff
like that, how does the

training come along? Is
it very simple? Is it, you

know, intensive or, you
know, are you trying to get

the best data possible by
giving them all the tools

and information they need
to get this thing going?

Sure. It depends on which
protocol area they're

interested in. The simplest
area we have is just

sharing photos of these
through the website, I

Naturalist. So sometimes
these are people who come

to a workshop where we
practice taking pictures

of bees. We have some tips
about ways to get better

pictures of bees or ways
to get better photos

that are more likely to
be identified by others.

But they're often just
hobby photographers who

are already using i
naturalist or who've seen

us online and happen
to submit their photos.

So that's pretty easy.

The middle level of protocols

monitoring are bee blocks.

We have written materials
and then online videos. These

volunteers are spread the
most throughout the state,

and so it's very hard to
reach all of them in person.

But the videos are three
to five minutes long.

Those volunteers are
looking at a B block and

reporting if there are
new nests being created,

what materials are being used,

and which of the six
different size holes that

they're building in.
So the protocols aren't

difficult to follow, but
sometimes identifying

material or getting out
each time is the challenge.

I would say that the
most difficult level is

identifying bumblebees.
So these volunteers

have a full day training,
a six hour a day,

just learning
bumblebee species.

There are about 20
species in Minnesota.

Some of them are
pretty obvious once

you know what to look
for and some of them

you have to look a
bit more closely.

But those are amazingly
dedicated volunteers.

There are always a handful

who leave a workshop going.

Oh,

I hope that's, I just no
idea whose minds are kind

of blown but then I would
say 75% in the leave and

are just excited to go
out and start looking for

bumblebee's you know do you
ever run into situations

where you know you get
used photos on i-naturalist

and it's just like a
blob of yellow and black

it does happen or you
can't one's head and you

know for bumblebees it's
what colors the hair on

the top of their head what
colors or you know what

are the bands and the
abdomen look like Really,

having multiple
views is important

and a lot of people are just,

I mean, when I started,
you just get excited,

I have a picture
and it's in focus.

That feels like a question
achievement before

you realize what angle
you should be taking are

multiple angles or I need
to see these features.

Yeah,

I can picture that being very

important for the
IDing process.

We also get a fair
number of wasps and flies

submitted who may have
similar color patterns.

or... Flies?

Mm-hmm.

There are some flies
that just, we just have

black and yellow stripes
and so in people's heads

automatically that goes
to be and there are

some flies that are very
tricky mimics of these,

particularly bumblebees.

They're just around,
they're black and

yellow, they're
really, really fuzzy.

I did not know that.

Mind-blown kind of. Yeah.

That is.

My job is pretty
steep. I've accumulated

a lot of nice.
knowledge in that time.

As for yourself, I mean, how

did you get involved with bees?

Has it been a thing
you've always wanted

to get into, or is just kind of

something that fell
into your path, per se?

Sort of a combination of both.

Previous to working
with Extension,

I was an educator at the
Belmeseeum of Natural

History who pioneered
honeybee programs

for the state and used
being honeybees to talk

talk about different
social relationships,

bringing students into
hives to work with them.

So I have been a hobby
bee honey beekeeper,

or I did it for
about four years.

I kept my hives in Wisconsin
at my parents' house.

Now actually my dad
has gotten so excited.

He loves it, so he's
taken over, which

is great because he
actually lives there and

I have to drive two
hours to get there.

So I have this background
with honeybees, which

turns out they're very
different from native bees.

I had experience
teaching adults,

working with volunteers.

So those skills
transfer great easily.

Okay.

Are you feeling hopeful?
Are you feeling concerned

about the state of bees?
And has this project kind of

giving you a better insight
into this? that situation?

Sure.

I would say to feel
pretty optimistic.

We might not be in
a great spot now,

but there are so
many people who are

getting excited and
so many people who

are starting to
change their habits,

who are gardening differently,

doing their landscaping.

And everywhere I go and
meet new people, they

ask what I do when I
explain, they all go,

wow,

well, that's so cool.

But no one has ever said,

that job sounds
really boring. Or,

I can't believe you guys

spent all that money on bees.

But, like,

everybody thinks it's this
neat thing and who wishes

they either knew more or
could do more about it.

So in that, so we're
working with the public.

Certainly, I feel optimistic.

But also,

there's some being real
with it, right, to know,

oh,

wow,

pesticides really are
a problem. Or I've

got a lot of people
who anecdotally want

to tell me, you know,
when I was a kid,

we had all these bees
around our apple trees.

And now I only see a couple.

And I don't have
that perspective, not

having lived in
Minnesota that long.

And so these people
are remembering

things from 34 years ago.

So in that regard,
it's why. well,

what was it like before?

I certainly see more bees
now just because I know

to look for them and I
know what they look like.

To realize,

oh,

there actually are
bees on all the time.

What I would have said
before this draft,

well, I don't know. Yeah, maybe

I saw bumblebee two weeks ago.

Knowing what to see just
makes you see a lot more.

I guess my final
question would be.

you know,

how does someone get
involved with the program

or if someone's just
really curious about

bees in their local
area, you know, what are,

with some advice you
have for people that,

you know, kind of just
want to get involved with

bees and don't really
know where to start?

Sure. In terms of
looking for bees,

there are a couple of great
books out there just to

understand what are the
essential characters. six of bee

when are you seeing a bee
when are you seeing a wasp

a fly color is not necessary
helpful there are green

bees and there are green
flies there are black and

yellow striped bees they're
black and yellow striped was

so the two books earlier
like are the bees in your

backyard and then I'm gonna
look at the title here bees

an identification and native
plant forage guide it's

really long but that is
specific to the Midwest area

So knowing what to look
for and then thinking

about how you garden
and how you can

be gardening in a way
that supports them.

It doesn't have to mean
pull out your entire

yard and plant it all
with native plants,

right? That's difficult,
that's overwhelming.

You might want some of
your lawn to actually

be your yard for grilling
your kids, whatever.

But as I've noticed even in
my urban lot in St. Paul,

that as I've noticed, add
features as I have some open

spaces with dirt as I
leave perennial stems up as

I add native plants that I
see more bees in my yard.

So once you want to look
for and you can start

seeing them then you
can see the changes that

you're making and how
to make a difference.

Outside of your own
backyard and maybe looking

up information and finding
those resources that

could help you shape you
know your thoughts on

how you want to go forward
with your own space.

Are there certain groups
that, you know, that are kind

of statewide or regional
-wide that are be focused?

Yeah, they're a handful.
I mean, I think one really

important group to follow
is the Xerces Society.

So they are just
covering invertebrates

broadly, but they were
the driving force behind,

excuse me, getting the
Rosty Patch bumblebee

listed as a federal
endangered species.

So, I mean, they
have information

for the public, for homeowners.

They also have
scientists who are

collecting data and a
citizen science program

just looking at
photos of bumblebees.

So they were able
to document this

decline in range, the
decline in numbers,

and then petition the
U.S. fish and wildlife

service to get the
rusty patch bum

will be listed. So
they really have their

fingers and the pulse of what's

going on and are
able to take action.

Okay.

Is there like local
chapters or that's

kind of just statewide
nationwide thing?

Yeah, it's a nationwide,
or North American.

Okay.

All right.

In our certainly groups in
that there are different

chapters of wild ones and
so they're about native

gardening and they have quite
a bit of information but

pollinators and you get to
meet other like-minded people

there are tons of honey
beekeeping clubs right which

are a little different
because that's primarily on

beekeeper keep the bees
over winter get more

honey those sorts of
things but there Minnesota

is when it comes to
political advocacy

and pollinators the past
legislative session,

all the bills related
to pollinators did fail,

but there are huge
numbers of people who are

lobbying for different
treatments of pesticides,

of knee-winix noise,

different rules around
roadside mowing.

So that is certainly an area

that you could get involved in.

Thank you for listening
to this episode

of The Naturalist.
For more information

about the University
of Minnesota,

the Atlas program,
you can log on

to www. www.extension. UMN.org.

It's a bit of a search to find

all the info, but it's there.

This episode's music is by
twin musiccom and silent

partner. Thank you for
listening and have a great day.