Brad Blackett

Several community members in the Vermillion River Watershed have become certified as Minnesota Water Stewards. Community Advisory Committee member Brad Blackett of Apple Valley is one of them. He’s also a Wetland Health Evaluation Program volunteer and a member of Apple Valley Eco Advocates. We asked him about his journey with environmental stewardship.

What sparked your interest in becoming a Minnesota Water Steward?
What I remember or what I know is WATER was becoming a theme in my life. It started long before I answered a call and attended the 2014 Women’s Congress for Future Generations. However, these proceedings evolved into drafting a Declaration of Rights for Future Generations and of the Rights Held by all Waters (similar to a Bill of Rights for Water). I had been going to our state Capitol for several decades to speaking to my legislators and attending key hearings related to the environment including water of course. At one point in my advocacy efforts I was asked by the Executive Director of the Woman’s Congress to step in for her at a rally in Boone County, Iowa to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline crossing under a river there. So began my role of an Activist. Which led me to answer the call for prayer, dance, and song as peaceful resistance at the Standing Rock Reservation. I left when the scene became violent. I thought, how do I continue protecting water in a meaningful way without getting injured or arrested? Well, doing the Water Steward Program seemed like a good and safe choice.

Most interesting thing you’ve learned so far in the coursework?
The most interesting and surprising thing about the coursework was how through and extensive put together the material was. Nowhere else had I ever had the history of U.S. environmental acts and laws the way this course did. I also liked how the curriculum addressed the shame based “GreenLawn” ethics movement.

What do you do for work?
After a 32-year career in public service in and around the intersections of Environmental Education, Outdoor Recreation, and Natural Resources Management, I have continued to share my love of nature with others in my retirement. Giving back to my community is important to me, as well as giving back to the actual biologic community where I connected with Creation. I grew up in the house I now occupy on Lake Alimagnet, whose watershed straddles Apple Valley and Burnsville. Some 56 years, but who’s counting?

Other organizations you belong to?
From 2014, the year my mother died, [until COVID], I volunteered for a group which was attempting to get an Environmental or Sustainability Commission or Task Force going in the City of Apple Valley and get it included into the 2040 Comprehensive Plan… Our group struggled to be heard for five years.

This year, nearly to the date of the eighth anniversary of my mother’s passing, I was asked, “How come Apple Valley doesn’t have something like an environmental or sustainability commission?” Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, a new organization formed called Apple Valley Eco Advocates. For me, it means letting go and passing the baton to a new crew.

I hope to continue my efforts in the Alimagnet Watershed supporting Dakota County’s Priority Natural Areas, protecting the significant habitat communities of Dakota County through their extended technical assistance in developing a Natural Resource Management Plan for Apple Valley’s Lake Alimagnet Park, in conjunction with the existing plan Burnsville has for their portion of the lake.

Mni Wiconi – Water is Life (take a listen)
https://echoesofpeace.org/water-is-life