High School students partner with Pathway Committee, planting over 1,000 pollinators

A novel partnership between the New Richmond Pathway Committee and Earth First NRHS (New Richmond High School) resulted in the planting of more than 1,000 native plants in a 30-by-70 demonstration plot that will test the viability of a plan to restore a large section of Freedom Park to native prairie.

Sophomores Carter Stueve and Gabby Tesar united with New Richmond High School Science Teacher Kayla Kulvich in 2023 to form Earth First, a student-run organization created to start initiatives and spread awareness to create a healthier environment at New Richmond High School and throughout the community.

Stueve initially connected with members of the Pathway Committee when he volunteered to help with trail work at the Sather Nature Center. He made an impression on committee members as reflected in the minutes from their July 14, 2023 meeting.

“Kudos to this 14-year-old student interested in protecting the earth who worked very hard at his first time with the group. He will be invited back.”

A year later, Stueve and his Earth First colleagues were invited to participate in an even bigger opportunity.

A conservation project in which students from Waupun, Wis. School District partnered with Pheasants Forever to turn unproductive farmland into native prairie inspired Pathway Committee Chair Jim Heebink to try a similar approach to revive the barren soil between the northern half of Freedom Park Trail and Hatfield Lake.

Heebink recalled thinking, “Maybe a project like this could turn this wasteland into something that would have some potential to grow.” 

Rob Weldon, Public Works Operations Manager for the City of New Richmond reviewed the proposal to convert the barren area into native prairie and found that it worked with the City’s Outdoor Recreation Plan.

Kinnickinnic Pheasants Forever biologist Cody Tromberg suggested planting a small demonstration plot — the size they ultimately went with — containing native plugs in the spring and seeding down a larger area in the fall of 2024. 

In October of 2023 the Pathway Committee and the student members of Earth First NRHS agreed to partner on the Freedom Park Pollinator Project. 

As part of the partnership, members of the club agree to learn how to write and submit grants to local organizations to solicit funds for the planting project.

“Grant writing was new to all of us so we were learning together on the fly,” Kulvich said, “The three of us divided and conquered. It was a cool process. Now we have that under our belts and it’s something we can apply to future projects as well.” 

Earth First founding members Stueve and Tesar along with advisor Kulvish each wrote one grant. 

Kulvich’s application to Star Prairie Fish & Game requesting $500 was approved and funded for $1,000.

Tesar’s application to the New Richmond Area Community Foundation for $800 was also approved and funded partially for $400.

Stueve’s application to St. Croix Electric Cooperative requesting $800 is still pending.

In May, the Kinni Chapter of Pheasants Forever donated $500 to the project to pay for 1,120 native plant plugs for the initial planting and to provide seed for the fall planting of the larger area.

Members of the Pathway Committee staked out the demonstration plot in early April and inmates from the Challenge Incarceration Program (CIP) spread wood mulch provided by the Public Works Dept. at the site.

Throughout the month of May, members of the Pathway Committee worked with students from Earth First and other volunteers to pre-drill and plant more than 1,000 native plant seed plugs at the demonstration site.  

Some of the 25 species planted included: Lead plant, Common Milkweed, Butterfly Weed, Blue Sky Aster, White Heath Aster, Cream Wild Indigo, Stiff Coreopsis (Tickseed), White Prairie Clover, Purple Prairie Clover, Pale Blue Coneflower, Rough Blazing Star, Lupine and Spotted Bee Balm.

Students will continue to be involved in the project helping to monitor and maintain the plot heading into the summer. 

In service of its mission, the Freedom Park Pollinator Project provided Earth First Club members with an opportunity to learn how to research, write and submit grants, to establish relationships with local nonprofit organizations integral to the project and to familiarize themselves with the logistics of such a project. But maybe the most fulfilling part of the experience was simply getting their hands dirty.

“It’s nice to sit and just get your hands dirty and put a plant in the ground,” Stueve said.