Ely Community Resource ... helping make Ely a great place to grow up!

What's Up at ECR

Youth Canoe Paddle Making Class

This activity was made possible by a grant from Ely’s

Donald G. Gardner Humanities Trust.

Ely Students made paddles to use on their 2025 Summer Boundary Waters Trips at the Ely Folk School. Thank you to the Gardner Trust for making this opportunity possible!

2024 Carol Mortensen Award from the Minnesota Invasive Species Advisory Council (MISAC)

Team Achievement Award: Ely Community Resource – Water Project

Ely senior Lauren Rehbein and Jill Swanson attended the Upper Midwest Invasive Species Conference in Duluth, MN on November 12th. Ely Community Resource (ECR) started the ECR Water Project in 2016 and it is an ongoing program to this day. This unique program provides enriching, immersive, and authentic opportunities for youth to engage with natural resource issues and investigate the natural world around them. The purpose of these opportunities is to instill understanding and care for the environment

Gearing up for another great summer of enrichment programs!

End of the Summer Party 2024

Fishing at Miner's Lake

Soccer

Cooking and Culture

Boundary Waters Trips!

The first ECR Boundary Waters Trip of the summer was a great time!

Several kids experienced their first times for fish being caught, moose being seen and canoes being paddled. Thanks to Friends of the Boundary Waters for making it possible.

The second Boundary Waters trip was a challenging foray through rainstorms and swamped-out portages. But the participants did a fantastic job staying positive throughout it all. They did a total of 22 portages in 4 days!

ECR Summer Water Project Continues to Make Waves

Students helping with Early Detection Baseline Monitoring on White Iron Lake

Crayfish Trapping on the Burntside River

Collecting Water Samples on Shagawa Lake

Spiny Water Flea Plankton Tow on White Iron Chain of Lakes

Since 2016, ECR has been actively involved in collecting data in order to prevent the introduction or limit the spread of aquatic invasive species in Lake County. Because of the AIS grant through Lake County, ECR has been able to continue working on outreach and education, early detection and monitoring as well as partnering with community members and organizations such as: Lake and St. Louis County Soil and Water Conservation District, WICOLA, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC) in St. Paul.

In summer of 2025, we will be participating in the following:

Trapping to monitor the Burntside River crayfish population.
Monitoring the crayfish expansion on Burntside Lake.
Performing early detection monitoring on various Lake County lakes with Lake County AIS Coordinator Liz Anderson.
Volunteering with WICOLA (White Iron Chain of Lakes Association) to collect water samples that are sent to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
Helping with the Crayfish Expansion Project to detect rusty crayfish along the South Kawishiwi River.
Monitoring 6 sites along Shagawa River and South Kawishiwi River for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Keeping track of water temperature, water clarity, recreation suitability and stream levels.