Itasca State Park Naturalist Programs
Date and Time
Saturday Sep 29, 2018
Saturday, Sept. 29th
Location
Itasca State Park
Park Rapids, MN
Description
Itasca’s Mysteries in History: The Itasca Biological Station
Saturday, September 29, 2018
From 1-2 p.m.
Meet at the new Itasca Campus Center located on the Itasca Biological Station campus (along Main Park Drive, watch for signs).
In 1907 the University of Minnesota (U of M) held its first field classes in Itasca State Park. Join us at the Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories for a tour of this historic location. Discover the old and the new! Tour the new Itasca Campus Center before we head out to locate the site of the State Park House, where Mary Gibbs lived in 1903. See one of the few 1930s National Youth Administration or NYA constructed buildings in the state as we follow the route of the 1920s era Jefferson Highway as it passed through the field station.
Mushrooms in the Afterlife (of trees)
Saturday, September 29, 2018, from 2:30-4 p.m.
Meet at the Bio-Center at the Itasca Biological Station (north end of the park)
Jonathan Schilling, Director of the University of Minnesota's Itasca Biological Station and a Professor in Plant & Microbial Biology will lead a talk and walk focused on Fall mushrooms and the role of fungi in the 'circle of life' for trees. When a tree falls in the woods, and nobody is there to hear it, fear not - it made a sound, like a dinner bell, to all of the fungi in the area. Tree death and decay is part of what makes Itasca and its old growth special, and the fungi that dominate this process are part of the massive biofiltration system that cleans the water draining into Lake Itasca. We will meet indoors with Jonathan, first, and then move outside to see what's fruiting and to hunt for fungi controlling the afterlife of trees.
Itasca’s Music Under the Pines: Craig Willis
Saturday, September 29, 2018 from 7-8:30 p.m.
Meet inside the Jacob V. Brower Visitor Center Classrooms
Enjoy this music performance by singer and songwriter Craig A. Willis, whose "cowboy at heart" spirit is reflected in his original songs about the beauty of country living.