On November 13, 2007, Mary Stefanski from the Upper Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Refuge Headquarters in Winona invited Heidi Keuler from the La Crosse National Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office to give her presentation, “Asian Carp and Their Potential Impacts to the Upper Mississippi River” to the Winona Friends Group and public. 

Approximately 20 people attended the talk and learned about how the Asian carp were introduced into the U.S., life histories of the four species, ecological and human impacts that have occurred on the Illinois and Lower Mississippi Rivers, and prevention and control techniques used by the many agencies working on preventing the spread of these horrible exotics. 

A woman in the audience asked how the public can help; and she received suggestions including talking to sportsmen and women and writing to congress about the need for funding to help monitor and control the spread of exotics.