October 4 - October 22, 2010

Hello again from Long Lake! I have been remiss in my posting and as you can see I have failed to post in the last three weeks. It seems like time just gets away and the next thing you know several weeks have gone by!! The leaves here at the Center have all fallen and the trees are looking quite bare. Amazing how fast it went from the beautiful colors I spoke of in my last post, to bare trees. The tamaracks have all put on their deep golden hue as they prepare to drop needles. The beaver have become quite active these past weeks sensing the coming of colder weather and winter. They have been busy building up their lodge and adding branches of aspen to the ever growing food cache in front of the lodge. Even with it cooling off, the weather has been grand and our visiting groups have enjoyed it immensely during their visits to Long Lake.
The list of schools visiting continues to grow with St. Mary's (Alexandria), Minnewaska MS, and Clearwater MS visiting over the past couple of weeks. While they were here St. Mary's marked their 20th year and Clearwater their 30th! I want to congratulate both schools on making these milestones and thank them for their dedication to education and the environment over those years. LLSEW another fun weekend group visited us recently in early October with Lake Country Quilters staying with us this coming weekend. These two groups like others, come to enjoy the peace and beauty of LLCC while plying their craft.
Long Lake in partnership with the other RELC's has been working the last couple of years in a coalition known as "Today's leaders for a sustainable tomorrow" or TLFAST. Together we have sought funding from a variety of sources to help each center reduce its carbon footprint by adding renewable energy sources at each center and improving existing buildings to increase energy efficiency. As a part of this group, Long Lake has received funding as a part of a larger grant secured by the group to do this. LLCC is starting the process of adding several solar energy applications to the campus to help offset its use of propane and electricity. By adding these applications, LLCC will reduce its carbon footprint and save costs on energy bills. Along with this, a large curriculum is being developed to be used by all the centers to teach student and adult participants about the importance of reducing carbon footprints by living a more sustainable lifestyle. It is an exciting process and LLCC is just starting in on the design phase of the project to have its solar applications added to the campus facilities. I will keep you updated on this project as it moves through the process. It is just another way Long Lake can be a leader in educating about the importance of taking care of the environment and being good conservationists.
Before I go, I want to encourage all of you to get out and enjoy the natural world around you. A walk in the woods or your local park will refresh you. Try it you will see what I mean!  Until next time-Todd