09-04-2025
More than just words behind 'where the lakes begin' in Kandiyohi County
Apr. 9---- Kandiyohi County erected its first billboards proclaiming itself as "where the lakes begin" in 1990.
It's one thing to erect billboards. It takes a whole lot more to protect the waters that everyone loves and to instill an appreciation for natural resources.
Protecting the county's natural resources was the focus for an April 3 "hot topics" event hosted by the League of Women Voters of the Willmar Area. Speakers with the
,
, and the
initiative in Willmar made clear just how important those resources are — and what's being done to protect them and educate people about them.
As the billboards make obvious, water quality is central to it all. There are 361 lakes, or water bodies of more than 10 acres — including 98,135 acres of wetlands — in the county, according to a 1968 Inventory of Minnesota Lakes by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and information from the Kandiyohi Soil and Water Conservation District.
There are four watersheds in the county, including Hawk Creek, Chippewa River and the north and south forks of the Little Crow River.
includes 551,680 acres of land, with 455,854 of those acres in agricultural use.
Helping landowners protect and improve their lands is central to what the Kandiyohi Soil and Water Conservation District is all about, according to Brittany Lenzmeier and Ellie Faber, staff members with the local office, and the source for those figures.
"The programs that we have are designed for landowners in Kandiyohi County," said Faber in explaining the local focus of the Kandiyohi SWCD.
Established as a result of the Dust Bowl years, soil and water conservation districts were organized to reduce soil erosion. The Kandiyohi Soil and Water Conservation District was organized in 1954.
The Kandiyohi Soil and Water Conservation District has long been known for helping plant windbreaks to reduce wind erosion, and the program remains important.
"We do quite a few of these every year, and we're always happy to do them," said Faber, who works directly with the tree program.
But the Kandiyohi Soil and Water Conservation District's work is also much more varied, and ranges from helping landowners install best management practices on the land to assisting with efforts to reduce erosion along waterways. The speakers cited examples of helping with projects ranging from stormwater collection at the Kandiyohi County Fairgrounds to planting native vegetation along the shoreline in County Park 1 on Big Kandiyohi Lake.
Introducing people to the beauty and wonders of the county's natural resources and learning about them has been the work of the Prairie Woods Environmental Learning Center since its start more than 30 years ago.
Its small staff hosts about 20,000 visitors every year, many of them students, according to Jennifer Swenson, the center's director.
A 30-second walk from her office puts her on the highest point of the center's grounds in rural Spicer and offers her a view encompassing Lake Florida and the woodlands, prairie and wetlands that are all part of the 560-acre property.
"I say better than Mount Tom," said Swenson of the inspiring view.
Her cherished hilltop is also within footsteps of the newly opened early childhood nature school at Prairie Woods. There's lots of research showing the benefits of nature-based education for children as well as their families, according to the school's director, Hannah Stelley.
The school is really an extension of what Prairie Woods has always been doing, providing outdoor opportunities and education, Swenson noted.
As a center for outdoor education, it will again be the site for the county's celebration of Earth Day with events from noon to 4 p.m. on April 12.
Willmar Director of Community Growth Pablo Obregon was in the second week of his new job when "three wonderful ladies walk into my office and said 'we need to meet and have a conversation about Earth Day,'" Obregon said.
The city has long supported the Earth Day celebration at Prairie Woods, and it certainly does not want to compete with Prairie Woods, according to Karen Kraemer, who was among the three visitors to Obregon's office. Kraemer said she and others believe it is essential to offer a community eco-fair to promote environmental stewardship in the community.
They launched it one year ago.
The first-ever
hosted in partnership with the Kandiyohi County Area Family YMCA, attracted a large crowd of nearly 600 people.
The event is happening for a second year, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Willmar Civic Center on April 26. The YMCA will host its free Kids Color Run beginning at 11 a.m. on the Civic Center grounds and will award free T-shirts to the first 200 people in attendance.
The event will also feature a presentation at 1 p.m. by J. Drake Hamilton, Fresh Energy's managing director of science policy, on "Climate Actions We Should Take." Fresh Energy is a nonprofit working toward transition to clean energy in the Midwest. A local power and utilities panel will present at 11:40 a.m. Saturday.
Obregon said the event is an opportunity to provide education, connect people to resources, and to promote engagement and action on behalf of the community. It's a great opportunity for those new to the community to learn about the resources available, he added.
Most of all, "it was a lot of fun," said Kraemer of last year's event. She promises the same for this year's return.
As for those billboards promoting the county's lake-based tourism, and the value of clean water, consider this: Tourism generated more than $84 million in sales and provided 1,569 private sector jobs in Kandiyohi County in 2020, according to Explore Minnesota.
