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.
To increase Wright County Fair's capacity to host more performing arts programming by improving stage sound and lighting. With the enhancements, the fair will be able to provide the public with more diverse programming beyond traditional commercial musical performers, and schedule more programming by allowing evening performances.
Priority lands will be acquired and developed as State Forests to protect forests, habitat and provide public hunting, trapping and compatible outdoor uses.
This project will collect additional water quality and flow data on tributaries on the South Fork Crow River and Buffalo Creek. Further assessment of these reaches will provide a better understanding of what impacts these tributaries have on the impaired South Fork Crow River and Buffalo Creek.
A partnership of local agencies and organizations will monitor water quality at eighteen carefully chosen sites within the Red Lake River and Grand Marais Creek watersheds. Fourteen monitoring sites have been chosen within the Red Lake River watershed. Four sites have been chosen in the Grand Marais Creek watershed. Each of these sites will provide a representative assessment of the water quality conditions within one or more minor subwatersheds at the 12-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC12) level.
The Zumbro River Watershed is a major watershed in the Lower Mississippi River basin in SE Minnesota. It includes parts of six counties, covering 910,291 acres. This project will assess all 13 stream reaches in the Zumbro River Watershed to determine if they are meeting their designated uses. The monitoring will entail collecting water chemistry and field parameters.
The Children's Discovery Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota will increase access and deepen engagement with their effectively proven School Service Program. The museum will take down the economic barriers and increase enrollment. This grant will fund more educators and facilitators, curriculum development, scholarship aid, transportation assistance and art/teaching supplies.
To do preservation work at the Thorstein Veblen Farmstead National Historic Landmark, located near Nerstrand, in Rice County, Minnesota, that will provide urgently needed stabilization and preservation of three out-buildings at the farmstead, including the original small barn, the large hay barn, and the granary.
This project will inventory and conduct compliance inspections on Subsurface Treatment Systems (SSTS) around eight lakes in Todd County. Lakes to be inventoried include Big Sauk Lake, Big Swan Lake, Little Osakis Lake, Fairy Lake, Lily Lake, Long Lake, Little Birch Lake and Moose Lake. Approximately 1,200 parcels will receive compliance inspections. Systems that fail to meet standards will be brought into compliance using procedures available in rule and ordinance.
To update the 2003 Historic Structures Report to provide more specific guidance on the restoration of the Randolph M. Probstfield House, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
This project will provide MPCA staff, local partners and citizen volunteers with a framework for building local capacity to design civic engagement and communication/outreach efforts that will contribute to meaningful and sustained public participation in surface water protection and restoration activities throughout the watershed.
This program acquired priority lands and developed them as Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) - six parcels protected totaling over 600 acres, Scientific and Natural Areas (SNA) - one parcel of 900 acres (287 acres credited to this funding ), and Native Prairie Bank (NPB) easements - two parcels totaling almost 200 acres. These lands protect habitat and some provide public hunting, trapping and compatible outdoor uses.
OVERALL PROJECT OUTCOME AND RESULTS This project identified and prioritized areas in the Zumbro River Watershed that were determined critical for restoring and protecting water quality. Studies suggested that small areas of the landscape contribute disproportionately to nonpoint source pollution. So implementation of conservation projects that focus on those areas will maximize water quality benefits and ensure efficient use of resources.