The goal of this project is to design and implement a spatial framework for agricultural nutrient budget assessment and tracking in the state of Minnesota. This analysis can be repeated on a defined frequency to assess progress toward narrowing the difference between applied nutrients and crop nutrient needs across the State. The work conducted will provide an improved nutrient budget assessment, maps to use when looking at nutrient balance results in watersheds around the state, and a framework from which future nutrient budget assessments can become more accurate.
Mankato State University (MSU) will work with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) to plan a stakeholder process kick off meeting for the Minnesota River Ag/Urban partnership project. MSU will help to plan and facilitate the meeting.
Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop (MPWW) will undertake a significant programming expansion: a public art project featuring the written work of incarcerated writers, adapted into large-scale window decals installed in prominent public places in Minnesota, accompanying audio/video pieces made in collaboration between those writers and other local artists, and a supplementary handbook intended to facilitate community discussion about the intersection of art and incarceration.
Minnesota Trout Unlimited enhanced in-stream and riparian habitat for trout and other wildlife along more than 11 miles of coldwater streams across the state. We far exceeded our original targets, enhancing habitat on 135 acres rather than 78. We completed 16 separate stream habitat projects. Leveraging other funding and efficiently contracting projects allowed us to add habitat projects and adjust to changing conditions.
The Arboretum, consistent with the priorities of the LSOHC, successfully purchased 78.13 acres in Victoria, Minnesota adjacent to Arboretum property. The purchase will ensure the protection of the deepest lake in Carver County and valuable habitat for future generations.
This project is was the third request of LSOHC to target riparian buffers for clean water and wildlife using the Reinvest In Minnesota easement program. The Clean Water Fund and OHF were be used in cooperation to secure priority buffers permanently. Five hundred and thirty three acres of enhanced wildlife and water quality buffers were protected with OHF dollars and a total of 1,208 acres were protected from all sources of funding.
Rental fishing equipment has been made available in 30 of Minnesota's state parks. The rental equipment is free of charge for anyone to use and provides all visitors to take part in one of Minnesota's favorite past times.
The "Kids Discovery Kits" were designed to provide park visitors with a fun, hands-on, educational activity to do while visiting a state park. Each kit contains a variety of activities ranging from camp skills, to guided discover, to nature exploration.
This project will create a high accuracy elevation dataset - critical for effectively planning and implementing water quality projects - for the state of Minnesota using LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and geospatial mapping technologies. Although some areas of the state have been mapped previously, many counties remain unmapped or have insufficient or inadequate data. This multi-year project, to be completed in 2012, is a collaborative effort of Minnesota's Digital Elevation Committee and partners with county surveyors to ensure accuracy with ground-truthing.
The Minnesota County Biological Survey (MCBS) is an ongoing effort begun in 1987 by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that is systematically surveying, county-by-county, the state's natural habitats. The effort identifies significant natural areas and collects and interprets data on the status, distribution, and ecology of plants, animals, and native plant communities throughout the state. Through 2009 surveys have been completed in 74 of Minnesota's 87 counties and have added nearly 17,000 new records of rare features to the DNR's information systems.
Millstream Arts Festival has been the premier juried arts festival in Central Minnesota for over 20 years. While there are numerous other craft shows and community festivals, Millstream has the unique goal of artists directly interacting with the public in a festival atmosphere.
The Qhia Dab Neeg (storytelling) Film Festival is a celebration of Hmong storytelling that carries with it the intent of honoring the history, tradition, and culture of the Hmong through the art of film and video.
To produce the 19th Annual Black Master Storytellers Festival (September 2010), featuring Minnesota storytellers with national master storytellers, folklorists, and scholars.
Pangea's Cultivate Our Cultures is a one-day free festival celebrating the rich cultural diversity in the Moorhead-Fargo community which showcases the music, dance, and storytelling as well as cultural crafts, customs, and cuisine of a variety of countries.
Overall Project Outcome and Results
These were the first 2-years of an anticipated six-year effort which will result in a comprehensive, statewide survey documenting the breeding distribution of all species of birds in Minnesota. After six years the final atlas products will include the publication of a book and an interactive on-line atlas, both with detailed distribution maps, data on species breeding status, and a summary of data from other surveys. Full access to the information will be provided to the public as well as conservation agencies and organizations.
