Funding provided through this appropriation enhanced 5,024 acres of wetland habitat. Eight wetland and shallow lake infrastructure projects were competed that enhanced 1,643 acres of wetland. Cattail spraying using a helicopter outfitted with an OHF-purchased spray unit and impacted impacted 1,762 acres. Work by the Region 3 Roving Habitat Crew enhanced 1,619 acres of wetland. Finally, survey and design work was initiated on four projects to prepare for future construction.
This program will complete the initial WMA site development on 1,500 acres of land acquired in the Accelerated Prairie Grassland WMA and Accelerated Wetland WMA Acquisition programs to meet standards for inclusion in the Outdoor Recreation System. This program will also accelerate the restoration, enhancement and management of at least 5,180 acres of native prairie vegetation on existing public lands.
This program will accelerate the improvement and protection of shallow lakes and large wetland habitat critical to migratory waterfowl and other wildlife in Minnesota by improving water quality and rejuvenating aquatic ecology in turbid shallow lake basins. DU will enhance eight (8) or more strategically-selected shallow lakes that have been legally designated by for wildlife management purposes by Minnesota DNR that total 6,000 wetland acres by engineering and implementing construction of water control structures, pumps, and fish barriers on their outlets.
Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will cooperate to permanently restore and conserve approximately 800 acres of grassland and 400 acres of wetland as Waterfowl Production Areas in western and southern Minnesota. All lands acquired through this grant proposal will be owned and managed by the Service as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
The Native Prairie Bank Program perpetually protected via conservation easement 402 acres of native prairie and supporting habitat from willing landowners. Easement acquisition focused on Minnesota Prairie Plan identified landscapes and targeted high-quality prairies that provide valuable wildlife habitat.
To assist in hiring two artists to work with the community through a series of workshops for the purpose of designing and fabricating a sculpture for the Clear Waters Life Center.
Ms Pulkrabek’s students (many of whom have never been in a metropolitan area) will experience the arts by visiting museums and theaters in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area.
This monitoring project includes lake and stream monitoring and encompasses all of Cass County, and surrounding counties. The project will obtain water quality data for streams; in 2009, lakeshed assessments indicated that many surface waters throughout the county were data deficient. This project will address the need for sufficient data on a county-wide basis and fulfill the State’s intensive watershed monitoring program goals by obtaining water quality data at targeted lake and stream sites.
This project will complete a lake data set for 303(d) and Aquatic Recreation use assessments in Clearwater County by monitoring total phosphorus, chlorophyll-a and Secchi depth; by utilizing lakeshore owners.
The Conservation Partners Legacy Grant Program will be managed by the Department of Natural Resources to provide competitive matching grants of up to $400,000 to local, regional, state, and national non-profit organizations and government entities. In it's first 7 years of funding, the CPL program has provided 410 grants totaling $37 million to 133 different grantee organizations, positively affecting over 220,000 acres of habitat. Demand for CPL grants has continued to grow each year as new grantees hear about the program and successful grantees return.
This project will collect a complete Trophic Site Index (TSI) data set for Crow Wing County lakes and a complete data set for streams and rivers for the Intensive Monitoring Program (IMP). Crow Wing County, Cass County, Wadena County, Morrison County and Hubbard County are partnering to ensure that all target lakes and rivers within the Crow Wing River watershed are monitored efficiently.
