Led by FMR Conservation Director Dr. Alex Roth and FMR Executive Director Whitney Clark, you and three of your friends will paddle to visit Settler's Island, an FMR restoration site on the Mississippi River's back channels in Cottage Grove.

The island is located in the Grey Cloud slough, a back channel of the Mississippi River in Cottage Grove, and is home to a mix of forest and wetland habitat that had been severely degraded by invasive species. During your tour, you will hear how FMR has been restoring habitat on the island since 2018 with great results. FMR has also created more access to the island itself: In August of 2020, FMR installed a canoe launch and picnic pad, amenities that make the site attractive for paddlers and anglers alike. This restoration project has been a model for partnership. FMR has engaged not only the city of Cottage Grove and our own contracted crews but has worked with Mississippi Park Connection and the National Park Service on this island to plant native and climate-adapted trees and shrubs to restore the island's canopy. An island that was once unusable due to its impenetrable wall-to-wall buckthorn is now accessible for recreation and better for wildlife habitat and water quality.

A picnic lunch provided by FMR will also be served to you and your guests along the banks of the Mississippi River during your outing.

Please note all gear required to paddle to and from Settler's Island will be provided by FMR.