Bush Lake

Since 1937 our Chapter has been located on the shores of Bush Lake. Our beautiful chapter grounds, on such a beautiful lake with all the great surrounding woodlands and wetlands, reminds us of the need to protect, preserve and restore our natural resources for future generations. Bush Lake has great water quality because of past local actions to keep it clean. It's an awesome lake for kayaking, canoeing, swimming, fishing and other low-footprint recreational activities. Twenty minutes from St. Paul and you can be kayaking next to a loon on a lake that you can see down 15' and feel like you're alone up north - there are very few places like this left in the metropolitan area.

Our chapter is composed of volunteers who enjoy and respect the outdoors and get together to advocate for common-sense approaches to issues and policies that affect the environment that we live in and appreciate. We educate ourselves on conservation issues and help organize actions and outreach to the public.

President - Rick Wheeler

Vice President - Tim Olish

Secretary - Paul Erdmann

Treasurer - Jill Crafton

Membership Director - Gregg Thompson

State Director - Paul Erdmann

Conservation Issues Chair - Paul Erdmann

Membership Dues: $125 Individual, $140 Family
Chapter Email:  bushlake@bushlakeikes.org
Meetings: Four times annually or set by Board of Directors.

Bush Lake Club House
7515 Izaak Walton Rd. W
Bloomington, MN 55438
952-944-3066

Conservation and Educational Activities of the Bush Lake Chapter, Izaak Walton League of America, 2011-2015

• Scholarships for college students in conservation majors
• Scholarships to school group program at Richardson Nature Center
• Scholarships to Izaak Walton Camp at Deep Portage Conservation Learning Center
• Host Wilderness Awareness Presentations at REI Store in Bloomington
• Sponsor youth fishing access in metropolitan area and youth fishing event at Bush Lake
• Advocate for-educate about reduction and filtration of urban storm water runoff in local communities.
• Advocate for prioritized / strategic terrestrial invasive species control and improved resource management in local communities
• Offer free workshops on Water Smart Landscaping: Lawn Care, Rain Barrels, Rain gardens, Low Water Use Landscapes, Bird & Butterfly Gardens, Permeable Pavement Types, Composting Leaves
• Offer workshops through Eden Prairie Community Education on Water Smart Landscaping and Living with Shoreland
• Co-sponsored the 2011-14 "Design with Nature" Conferences hosted by The Wild Ones
• Water quality monitoring training at Bush Lake and Minnesota River
• Bio monitoring of water quality for Nine Mile Creek Watershed District using IWLA Save Our Streams (SOS) program
• Hosted Solar Power potluck event to promote renewable energy use for solar PV, solar thermal, and electric powered transportation in conjunction with the MN Renewable Energy Society
• Sponsor of MN Renewable Society 2013 and 2014 Solar Boat Regattas
• Lead on local efforts toward a sustainable community including participation in Bloomington Sustainability Coalition and collaboration with Green Congregations Coalition including 2013 Sustainability Fair at City Plaza and Green Corner at Bloomington Heritage Days
• Bush Lake Chapter does a great deal to support statewide efforts by supplying strong leadership to the Minnesota Division Executive Committee, State Board of Directors, and 2014-2015 IKEs Environmental Issues Committee
• Chapter helps supply leadership, hosting and volunteers for events such as the Watershed Summits (formerly Wetlands Summit), and Midwest Mountaineering Outdoor Adventure Expo, and other statewide activities.
• Conduct educational workshops on Sulfide Mining in NE Minnesota.
• Toured Bakken Shale Oil region in North Dakota in 2013. Created and delivered videos and PowerPoint presentation throughout Minnesota on fracking.
• We work to restore native plant communities at our own chapter and elsewhere. In 2013, Ikes and volunteers planted 1,200 native plants along the Bush Lake shoreline. In 2014 we planted over 1,000 native plants along the south shore of the East Bay wetland. We provide education and hands on opportunities to Ikes and the general public about the importance of restoration ecology, shoreline protection and invasive plant management.

Chapter Established: 06/1923
Date of last review or update: 12/31/2018