Trees and rivers, a good combination…”strategically planting trees along the Red River creates a buffer, maintains river bank stability, encourages growth of native plants, improves water quality (Fargo-Moorhead’s drinking water source) and provides habitat for wildlife.”

Join River Keepers on May 22nd and help them plant 1500 trees and shrubs! Contact christine@riverkeepers.org for more information and to volunteer!

The Red Rive Basin Riparian Project is a project available to help landowners with technical and financial advice in regards to their lands adjacent to rivers, or riparian. Below is a Google Earth view of a well forested river between Neche and Pembina, ND.

As one drives along in the valley it is often quite easy to see where the rivers are based on the trees visible on the horizon. Anyone who has spent time on these waters also knows that rivers are alive, and move.

In their movement they eventually take  some trees along with the soil, particularly at high flows. Since the high flows are often made worse by humans, it’s a good thing to help out the health of our streams by planting new trees and shrubs along the river edges. This is also a good time to remind ourselves that if you live on a river, take care where you place your home, and be responsible about what you do on the land. Mowing to the rivers edge, and clearing the trees for a ‘view’ will most certainly get you an upclose view down the road. Rivers move – check out the old oxbows and paths this stream once took in the not so distant past.

We can control how we live with rivers, and it may behoove us to consider learning more about them without assuming that we can just make them go where we want.