All Projects

Northern white cedar wetland plant communities provide unique ecological, economic, and wetland functions, including high value timber, long-term carbon storage, winter refuge for deer and other wildlife, wildlife habitat, and thermal buffering for brook trout streams. However, these plant communities have been declining in Minnesota for decades mostly as a result of development impacts. The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources is using this appropriation to continue efforts aimed at improving the quantity and quality of white cedar wetland plant communities in Minnesota.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

This partnership will protect, restore and enhance 2,769 acres, primarily brushland, in northeastern Minnesota.  Habitat will be added to the WMA system and enhanced on existing public lands for species in greatest conservation need, outdoor recreation, and environmental benefits.

The Nature Conservancy and US Fish and Wildlife Service will work together to permanently protect native prairie and associated complexes of wetlands and native habitats in western and central Minnesota by purchasing approximately 705 acres of fee title properties and/or permanent habitat easements. Approximately 350 acres will be native prairie. Work will be focused in areas identified as having significant biodiversity by the Minnesota Biological Survey and located in priority areas in the Minnesota Prairie Conservation Plan.

The Nature Conservancy and US Fish and Wildlife Service will cooperate to permanently protect native prairie and associated complexes of wetlands and native habitats in western Minnesota by purchasing approximately 770 acres of fee title properties and/or habitat easements, with a target of 385 acres of native prairie.

The Nature Conservancy and US Fish and Wildlife Service will work together to permanently protect native prairie and associated complexes of wetlands and native habitats in western and central Minnesota by purchasing approximately 875 acres of fee title properties and/or permanent habitat easements. Approximately 469 acres will be native prairie. Work will be focused in areas identified as having significant biodiversity by the Minnesota Biological Survey and located in priority areas in the Minnesota Prairie Conservation Plan.

The Nature Conservancy and US Fish and Wildlife Service will work together to permanently protect native prairie and associated complexes of wetlands and native habitats in western and central Minnesota by purchasing approximately 620 acres of fee title properties and/or permanent habitat easements. Approximately 333 acres will be native prairie. Work will be focused in areas identified as having significant biodiversity by the Minnesota Biological Survey and/or the US Fish and Wildlife Service and located in priority areas in the Minnesota Prairie Conservation Plan.

The MWMO , City of Minneapolis and Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board are partnering to implement stormwater projects that reduce pollutant loading to the Mississippi River, reduce flooding and improve ecological function. Three regional Best Management Practices are being proposed in the northern portion of Columbia Golf Course, in Northeast Minneapolis, capturing and treating stormwater from 600-acres of mixed urban landuse.

This program will permanently protect remnant native prairie and associated wetland complexes in western Minnesota by purchasing fee title properties and/or habitat easements. Lands and easements purchased through this program by The Nature Conservancy will be transferred to the US Fish and Wildlife Service and will become units of the Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge to be owned and managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

This appropriation allowed the permanent protection of 769 acres in western Minnesota.  These properties included 287 acres of remnant native prairie, 112 acres of associated wetland complexes, and 19,500' of stream front.  For this phase, we committed to protecting 500 acres with a minimum of 250 being native prairie.  Both targets were exceeded – 153% of total acres and 115% of native prairie acres.  The lands and easements purchased with this funding by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) have been transferred to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and are now units of th

This appropriation allowed the permanent protection of 887 acres in western Minnesota. These properties included 664 acres of remnant native prairie, 76 acres of associated wetlands complexes, and 8,500' of streamfront. For this phase we originally planned to protect 740 acres with a minimum of 375 native prairie. Both targets were exceeded - 120% of total acres and 177% of native prairie acres.

This appropriation allowed the permanent protection of 977 acres in western Minnesota. These properties included 752 acres of remnant native prairie, 78 acres of associated wetland complexes, 8,950' of stream front, and 9,400' of lakeshore. Lands and easements purchased through this program by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) are transferred to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and become units of the Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge. These lands are owned and managed by the FWS.

To digitize Northfield documents pertaining to World War I, allowing for greater public access to these historic resources.

Partner Organizations: Northfield Historical Society, Carleton College, Northfield Public Library, Rice County Historical Society and St. Olaf College.

This project will improve the water quality of Northwood Lake by treating storm water runoff from over 110 acres of currently untreated urban land. The project includes the installation of a variety of practices at two different locations adjacent to the lake that will maximize storm water treatment while conserving drinking water and preserving park land.

The Northwood Lake Improvement Project will treat storm water runoff from over 110 acres of currently untreated urban land through a variety of practices at two different locations adjacent to the lake. Northwood Lake is an impoundment of the North Branch of Bassett Creek located in the City of New Hope within the Bassett Creek Watershed Management Commission (BCWMC). Northwood Lake is a shallow lake with a fully developed watershed of 1,341 acres that provides very little stormwater treatment.

Within an 11-county area in southeastern Minnesota, two Nutrient Management Specialists will work directly with producers to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and fecal coliform runoff into surface and ground water in the region and the Mississippi River. The specialists will help producers create or revise nutrient management plans, implement Best Management Practices for manure and fertilizer use, and set up on-farm demonstration projects to support farmer-to-farmer learning.

This project will assist farmers across Southeast Minnesota by providing guidance on management of nutrient sources including livestock manure, commercial fertilizers, and legumes. This project is important because excess nutrients and bacteria are causing negative impacts to the quality of waters. Two Nutrient Management Specialists will work one-on-one with farmers to develop 70 plans each year. Over time, it is anticipated that the number of new nutrient management plans will decrease as acres with plans increase.

The goal of this project is to refine the nutrient and algae simulation in the Minnesota River basin using all relevant available sources of information. The outcome of this work order is a revised Hydrological Simulation Program – FORTRAN (HSPF) watershed model application for the Minnesota River basin that correctly represents nutrient sources and algae.

Little Lake Johanna is not meeting state water quality standards due to excessive phosphorus. The Rice Creek Watershed District, in partnership with the City of Roseville, will improve the water quality of stormwater runoff into Little Lake Johanna through installation of an iron-enhanced sand filter. The Oasis Pond Iron-Enhanced Sand Filter Project will annually remove approximately 34 pounds of phosphorus from runoff to Little Lake Johanna annually. This is equal to nearly 20% of the needed load reduction as established by the Southwest Urban Lakes Total Maximum Daily Load Study.

Prepare System-wide Off Leash Dog Area (O.L.D.A.) Master Plan that will identify and prioritize future capital projects at the Battle Creek O.L.D.A, Battle Creek Regional Park; Otter Lake O.L.D.A., Bald Eagle Otter Lake Regional Park; Rice Creek O.L.D.A., Rice Creek North Corridor. ( 2013 Park Visits; Bald Eagle Otter Lake, 333,600 visits; Battle Creek Regional Park, 761,900 visits; and Grass Vadnais Snail Lakes Regional Park, 746,300 visits).

To hire a qualified historian to complete the nomination to the National Register of Historic Places for St. Olaf Lutheran Church.

Olmsted SWCD will work in coordination with Fillmore SWCD and Root River (Houston) SWCD to collect water quality and chemistry parameters on 14 Minnesota Pollution Control Agency approved sites within the Root River watershed during the 2018-2019 sampling season.
Parameters to be tested include:TSS, TP, Chloride, CaCO3 (hardness), E. Coli, Chlorophyll A, Specific Conductance, Temp, pH, DO, NO2/NO3.

To provide better organization and analysis of archaeological collections, allowing for greater public access to historic resources.