This project will establish a groundwater monitoring network in the 11 county metropolitan area. The network will provide information about aquifer characteristics and natural water trends by monitoring healthy aquifers (non-stressed systems). The project will also develop an automated system that captures groundwater level and water use data. This system will enhance evaluation of changes in aquifers that are stressed by pumping from existing wells.
Metro Big Rivers Phase 3 protected 67 acres of significant habitat along more than 1 mile of the Mississippi River, restored 8 acres of prairie and enhanced 495 acres of priority habitat (47 wetland acres, 50 prairie acres and 398 forest acres) in the Metropolitan Urbanizing Area.
Minnesota’s 12 regional public library systems, which encompass 350 public libraries in all areas of the state, benefit from a portion of the Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Through State Library Services, a division of the Minnesota Department of Education, each regional public library system receives a formula-driven allocation from the annual $3 million Minnesota Regional Library Legacy Grant.
The Minimal Impact Design Standards (MIDS) project represents the next generation of stormwater management in Minnesota. MIDS offers guidelines, recommendations and tools that help low impact development practices be implemented more uniformly across Minnesota's landscape and provides guidance to effectively implement the concepts and practices of low impact development. Products include performance goals for new development, redevelopment and linear projects, a graphic user interface calculator and flexible treatment options for sites design.
This project will provide data and information that can readily be incorporated into an updated version of the Minnesota Stormwater Manual (“Manual”). The consultant will develop and submit state-of-the-art engineering and science information in a condensed summary, including color graphics and color photos suitable for a diverse audience. The Manual and associated materials, such as CAD drawings, case studies, color photos, and spreadsheets will: (a) comply with the State Accessibility Standard ; (b) provide clear and simple navigation, and (c) enable easy data downloads.
The Civics Education Coalition will create opportunities for students, enrich teacher capacity to engage students, and build state-wide networks. Work will include an interactive website, online youth summit, youth conference, new lessons for educators, teacher institutes, and expansion of the statewide Civic Education Network and its activities.
The Civic Leadership Institute Online (CLIO) provided original content that complemented other online resources and developed young people’s ability to act on issues that matter to them and to increase their civic and political understanding.
Partners: Preservation Alliance of Minnesota (primary), Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community Vitality, University of Minnesota Tourism Center, Minnesota Design Team
The new Minnesota Naturalist Corps, year-round naturalists and seasonal naturalists will be added at the busiest seasonal parks and trails to expand conservation education programming and increase overall attendance at interpretive programs. The Minnesota Naturalist Corps will offer more interpretive programs as directed by new legislative guidelines.
The Minnesota Digital Library (MDL) is a statewide, multi-institutional initiative. Its mission is to make the rich historical resources of the state's public and academic libraries, archives, museums and historical societies available to students, teachers and the public via the web and also to preserve these resources for future generations.
The 2012-2013 appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund will allow the MDL to expand the number of historical resources online and continue its work preserving these digital resources.
Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indian and Cambodian immigrants have left an indelible and flavorful mark on Minnesota and on our culinary, cultural and economic history. The book "Asian Flavors" and an accompanying documentary record the story of countless men and women who made the arduous journey halfway around the world to live in Minnesota, fleeing oppression and persecution or in search of jobs and education. This project preserves and shares their stories of survival and success in our state, stories that serve as an inspiration to all.
There are 67 Minnesota State Parks and 7 Minnesota State Recreation areas that each have facilities to serve outdoor recreation users. Funds in this category are used for developing new facilities and include visitor centers, trail centers, roads, parking lots, bridges, campgrounds, and so on.
Partner: Twin Cities Public Television. Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indian and Cambodian immigrants have left an indelible and flavorful mark on Minnesota and on our culinary, cultural and economic history. The book "Asian Flavors" and an accompanying documentary record the story of countless men and women who made the arduous journey halfway around the world to live in Minnesota, fleeing oppression and persecution or in search of jobs and education. This project preserves and shares their stories of survival and success in our state, stories that serve as an inspiration to all.
This program area provides for minor campground improvements and adjustments across the system of State Parks and State Recreation Areas; includes opportunities for replacement of fire rings, parking spur leveling, erosion control at campsites, vegetation management, and improved signing. This program report will now be part of "Renewal and Rehabilitation of State Parks and State Recreation Areas"
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.
This project will develop a reasonable statewide estimate of recharge using the Soil-Water-Balance (SWB) Code (Westenbroek and others, 2010), validate the simulation results, and conduct a parameter sensitivity analysis to identify the most sensitive model parameters. For the purposes of this application of the SWB application, comparing the simulation results will be conducted on selected watershed basins in the state against previously established recharge estimates.
The Minnesota Ag Water Quality Certification Program (MAWQCP) is a voluntary opportunity for farmers and agricultural landowners to take the lead on implementing conservation practices that protect water quality. Those who implement and maintain approved conservation practices will be certified and in turn obtain regulatory certainty for a period of ten years. This program will help address concerns about changing regulatory requirements from multiple state and federal agencies.
RIM Buffers Phase II combined the resource benefits of the Outdoor Heritage Fund (LSOHC), Clean Water Fund (CWF), and bond funds. This program enrolled a total of 1,336.7 acres of enhanced wildlife and water quality buffers in partnership with private landowners on 29 easements. With 1337 acres (all sources of funding) protected and restored in this phase, we exceeded the original goal of 400 acres of OHF funded buffers and 400 acres of CWF funded buffers. Bonding dollars were used to fund the remaining 537 acres.
The goals for this project were to: protect 1,200 acres native prairie/wetland/savanna; restore 250 acres prairie/wetland; enhance 6,000 acres grassland/savanna with fire, invasive species removal, and grazing; and continue a new prairie conservation model. This phase resulted in a total of 1,425 acres protected, 22,298 acres enhanced, and 110 acres restored. When combined with phases 1 and 2 of the Prairie Recovery Program we have cumulatively protected 4,070 acres, enhanced 58,134 acres and restored 314 acres using OHF funds.
To hire a qualified interpretive specialist to develop an interpretive plan for the history along 287 miles of the Minnesota River Valley National Scenic Byway.
