Download a photo of Prairie Sportsman videographers on the St. Croix (vertical).
GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — Bret Amundson is on the St. Croix River fishing with Steve McLean and his son Jake, who conveys his experience surviving childhood leukemia. Then the Prairie Sportsman crew travels the St. Croix from Taylors Falls to its confluence with the Mississippi River. “Wild and Scenic St. Croix” airs on Pioneer Public Television Sunday, May 5 at 7:30 p.m.; on Lakeland Public TV Saturday, May 18 at 2:30 p.m.; on KSMQ Thursday, May 30 at 7:30 pm; and on TPT Life Saturday, June 22 at 12:30 p.m.
Jake McLean has grown up in the outdoors and spent countless hours fishing the St. Croix River for trophy sturgeon, catfish and walleyes with his dad and grandpa. At age 5, he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and underwent chemotherapy treatments for three years and two months. He has been cancer and chemo free for 14 years and says the experience strengthened his belief that he can take on anything.
The St. Croix River flows 164 miles from Upper St. Croix Lake in Wisconsin to the Mississippi River in Prescott and and runs past the historic Minnesota river towns of Taylors Falls, Marine on St. Croix, Stillwater and Hastings. In 1968, the St. Croix and its largest tributary, the Namekagon, became the first rivers protected under the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, championed by U.S. Senator Walter Mondale. Prairie Sportsman takes a scenic journey down the St. Croix from Taylors Falls to the Mississippi.
The episode also shows how Minnesota lake associations can help stop the spread of aquatic invasive species.
About Prairie Sportsman
Prairie Sportsman celebrates our love of the outdoors – to hunt, fish and enjoy recreation provided by our vast resources of lakes, rivers, trails and grasslands – while promoting environmental stewardship.
Prairie Sportsman’s team includes Cindy Dorn, producer/writer; Bret Amundson, host/assistant producer; Dylan Curfman, editor/videographer and Max Grabow, assistant videographer/editor. The 2019 season is made possible by funding from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, SafeBasements of Minnesota, Diamond Willow, Live Wide Open and Western Minnesota Prairie Waters.
About Pioneer Public Television
Established in 1966, Pioneer Public TV is an award-winning, viewer-supported television station dedicated to sharing local stories of the region with the world. For more information visit www.pioneer.org.
