Digital mapping tools are out of reach of many organizations that could use them to help guide their decision making. Adam Reinhardt sat down with Will Bartsch of NRRI to talk about their new online altas tool that allows users access to hundreds of layers natural resource data.

Don't try to tell Mary Franz that individuals can't affect the trajectory of climate change. The organizing director of MPIRG at UMD says all our decisions matter. And if we look for them, we can see the components of change all around us. The Our Planet, Our Future: Environmental Summit will be held March 28; you can find more information here.

John Lamprecht doesn't mind if you describe him as a "fun guy" - in fact, the president of the Minnesota Mycological Society embraces the bad puns that come from loving the study of fungus. A man "raised to be terrified of mushrooms" talks about how he became fascinated with the fungus among-us. Links: Mushrooms of the Upper Midwest by Teresa Marrone and Kathy Yerich Mushrooms of the Midwest by Michael Kuo and Andrew S. Methven Minnesota Mycological Society Minnesota Mushrooms Facebook page

Up until recently, the climate change conversation was conducted by scientists, and accompanied by lots of charts, graphs, and data. But Jothsna Harris of Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy says most people aren't scientists. And she thinks we need to shift the conversation away from people's heads ... and toward their hearts.

We speak with Tressie Kamp a staff attorney with Midwest Environmental Advocates, who is working with petitioners on the City of Racine Diversion Challenge . The Racine Diversion is a water diversion application submitted by the city of Racine to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in January 2018 requesting permission to divert up to an annual average of 7 million gallons of water a day from Lake Michigan to the village of Mount Pleasant (near Racine) in the Mississippi River Basin.

Folks come to a "minimalist" lifestyle in a variety of ways. Maybe they're empty-nesters looking to downsize. Maybe they've come under the spell of an author or a TV show that encourages decluttering.

We talk with Karina Heim, Coastal Training Program (CTP) Coordinator, Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve about tonight's River Talk , part of a monthly series of informal talks about the St. Louis River Estuary. This evening's topic is " Handling Hazards and Dealing with Disasters: Emergency Management in the Estuary ."

Dr. Josef Pesch isn't having it. "All I heard was 'this is impossible,'" he says. "So boring." A leader in Germany's community-focused renewable energy transition, Pesch dismisses the naysayers who thought the energy grid could only withstand 3-5% renewable energy or it would be "the end of the world." 50-100% later, Pesch says the world hasn't ended.

If you're getting a little bored with seed catalogs, the Duluth Community Garden Program has several things to spark your enthusiasm for spring gardening. The DCGP's spring registration opens next month for returning gardeners, in March for those on waiting lists and in April for the public. And the new GIS (Geographic Information Systems) -created garden maps let you explore your garden online whenever you need a bit of spring - plus it shows plots available for rent and how to rent them!

In a world with precious little good news, a conversation with the executive director of the St. Louis River Alliance is like a refreshing dip in ... well, the St. Louis River.