WHAT: ‘Camp Ripley Ecology and Monitoring’ with Kaysie Maleski- MN DNR Nongame Program.

WHEN: Tuesday, June 9, 2026, 7:00 p.m. CDT

WHERE: Online via Zoom

Prairie Lakes Audubon Chapter invites you to join them for this month’s meeting that will feature Kaysie Maleski, Animal Survey Specialist for the Nongame Program with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.  Her position is at Camp Ripley within the Environment Team.  Camp Ripley is a state-owned 53,000 acre military training center located on the Mississippi River just north of Little Falls.  While primarily a National Guard facility, it provides year-round training for all military service branches and components.  Did you know it is also an ecologically amazing place full of wildlife?  It overflows with plant and animal life unique to central Minnesota. Surveys have identified 565 types of plants, 202 bird species, 41 species of fish, 107 types of aquatic invertebrates, 65 species of butterflies, 51 mammal species, 23 reptiles and amphibians, and 8 mussel species.

Kaysie will be with us to share more about this amazing place and some of the Environmental Work that happens at Camp Ripley.  She will share stories and information about the work she does including assisting with surveying and monitoring wildlife populations, especially for rare, threatened and species of special concern.  Occasionally she even gets to work with big game species such as wolves and bears. There is a variety of survey work being done which includes Breeding Bird surveys, Blanding’s Turtle nest surveys & trapping, American Kestrel nest box monitoring, bluebird box monitoring, red-headed woodpecker nest searching and monitoring and more!   Bring your questions and curiosities along for this month’s meeting.

To request a Zoom “Join Meeting” link, send an email to:
PrairieLakesAudubonMN@gmail.com
You will be sent an email with all the necessary details to join this meeting. Please send your request by Monday, June 8th to make sure you have the link to join us on Tuesday, June 9th.

ALL ARE WELCOME!!

Prairie Lakes Audubon Chapter is the local Chapter of National Audubon Society for ANYONE interested in birds and nature. We have regular informal meetings and birding field trips.