Clean Water Summit

Chanhassen, MN September 12, 2013

Mary Blickenderfer U of MN Extension Educator

Additional funding provided by Itasca County Environmental Trust Fund

Erika Rivers and Mark Hauck, MN DNR

Karlyn Eckman, U of MN research fellow

Michael Goldberg, Action Media

Steve Henry, Otter Tail SWCD

Itasca County Itasca SWCD

Itasca County Lake Associations

Itasca Master Gardeners

Volunteers

Research lakes

Original Goal: Buffers on the shore!

5% Buffer “inclined”

5% Buffer “disinclined”

Target Audience

Bell curve

Know your audience “tools”

Gap analysis

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) survey

Boat-by (evaluation)

Focus group

Casual conversation

KAP*: Where do lake owners go for lake information? (Indicate the top 4) Lake association Neighbor Internet Local contractor Realtor Itasca County Itasca Soil and Water Conservation District U of MN Extension Minnesota DNR TV Radio They don’t seek information

62%

63%

72%

60%

*results based upon 109 door-door and 116 mail-in survey responses of 340 total 10K property owners on 5 lakes in Itasca Co.

KAP: Owners on these lakes prefer which one of these three shorelines?

Replanted Lawn

Natural Other

68%

20% 6%

6%

KAP survey 2/3 are seasonal owners

Huge interest in fish & wildlife

ALL want to be good stewards of their property

KAP survey Incentives:

Detailed information and instruction (64%),

technical support (51%),

“how-to” workshop (48%),

input on design (48%),

financial support (42%),

labor assistance (37%)

KAP survey Constraints:

already have a natural shore (81%),

like shore the way it is (19%),

time (7%),

don’t know where to start (6%),

physical limitations (5%),

like lawn (5%),

cost (4%),

too much work (4%),

block view (2%)

Boat-by survey

MANY “natural” shorelines

“What more can we do to protect our lake?”

Understory? Run-off and

erosion issues

Accesses Run-off and erosion issues

Aquatic invasive species introduction

Riprap shores, ice berms breeched Run-off and erosion issues

Wildlife issues

Fire rings Nutrient inputs

A few lawn-to-shore

Resorts

Focus Group

More information on/assistance with buffers

Individual site visit by trained professional

ANOTHER brochure…really?

Casual conversation: Buffer installation overwhelming

Recognition for those with natural shorelines?

Those with natural shorelines want to know what more they can do to protect the lake.

Need to recruit younger stewards

So, we have all this information…now what do we do?

Community based social marketing •strategies

Scientific literature

Existing programs

Non-profit marketing •Analysis •Communication plan

Shoreland Owners

Anything, anywhere…

Peers

Lawn signs

Karlyn Eckman, U of MN Michael Goldberg, Action Media MN Energy Challenge project McKenzie-Mohr, D. and W. Smith. 1999. Fostering Sustainable Behavior. McGarry, M. et al. 2013. Seven habits of highly effective lake science communicators. Wright Morton, L. 2010. Pathways for Getting to Better Water Quality: the citizen effect.

Behavior Change Strategies

Community norms/modeling

Monetary and Non-monetary incentives

Crafting the message/Word choice (buffer vs filter)

Peer-peer delivery most powerful communication “Jacob” - respected local leader

Public commitment

Entry level options

Creating personal VALUE

Hands-on experience

Grandparent/grandchild connection

Revised Goal: Everyone does something to protect their lake and wildlife

Action “inclined” ~19% Action “disinclined” Target audience

Bell curve

Marketing for momentum

Target audience: Seasonal shoreland owners

Message: You can make your shoreline even better than it is by making it more natural…doing so will protect your lake (and wildlife).

Action Media, Itasca NSBI Marketing Plan

Phase 1: Owners on 5 research lakes Peer messengers

“How to do it”

Project buy-in by a few owners

Phase 2: County-wide shoreland owners Enlist shoreland owners and their success stories to

motivate greater buy-in Personal radio/TV interviews, presentations

(Long-term: Sustainable)

Action Media, Itasca NSBI Marketing Plan

Educational tool

Simple

Introductory – how to get started

Menu of options

Strategically presented (MN Energy Challenge)

Website and paper versions

Action Media, Itasca NSBI Marketing Plan

Extra Credit:

Measure rainwater run-off Frog survey

Fish survey

Beachcomber - AIS

Lake cache

Image library

Visual menu of choices

Aid peer messenger site visits

(local examples when possible)

Action Media, Itasca NSBI Marketing Plan

Example: Little Bass Lake

C = Cleared shoreland plants N = Native shoreland plants not cleared

= approximate pre-development shoreline

I took the Lake Challenge! (Hedge Your Edge and Green Armor Your Shore)

Before

Native plants... • soften the appearance of rock, • filter rainwater runoff, and • provide wildlife habitat.

Soft Rock

Step it Up! Gradual hill – zig-zag path with berms

Steep hill – elevated stairs

Shade – infiltration steps High traffic – stepping stones

Get with the Flow!

Water Bars Redirect run-off from hard surfaces to filter

areas

Who’ll Stop the Rain?

Rain Garden

Drip Trench

Rain Barrel

Recruit & train peer messengers

Phase 1: Students

Phase 2: Master Gardeners

Long-term: lakeshore owners

Ongoing support

Action Media, Itasca NSBI Marketing Plan

Recognition

Sign

Itasca County Shoreland Steward Award

(Media interviews)

Putting it all together

Initial promotion: newsletters, “Site visit skit” (No cost – no obligation)

Site visit: Peer messenger to interested shore owners

Action: Shore owners select Lake Challenge(s)

Technical assistance: Local professionals

Recognition: sign, award

Ongoing PR: participant interviews, presentations

KAP #2 Results after 1 year* Little change in Knowledge and Attitude

25 % knew of the Lake Challenge

78% of these via lake association or neighbor

15% engaged in lake- and wildlife-friendly behavior due to Lake Challenge (buffer, citizen research, frog survey, fish sticks, etc.)

Motivating factor to take Lake Challenge was opportunity to interact with professional (stewardship)

* Eckman, K. 2011. Itasca NSBI Social Research Report.

Other results First Year:

6 trained peer messengers

21 site visits

5 buffer projects (research lakes)

4 Extra credit options used

Second Year: 4 trained Master Gardeners

6 site visits

2 buffer projects (other lakes)

2 radio interviews

Next steps... Web version of the Itasca Lake Challenge

Next steps

Further program development

Tiered approach (Pine Cone Café)

“How to talk to your neighbor” workshop

Test program applicability to different regions? Different demographics?

Coordinator

Questions?