We will partner with urban municipalities and school districts to support planting of climate-resilient tree species. Activities include planting trees, gravel bed nursery creation, tree assessment and mapping, and community.
Funds are to be used to protect, enhance and restore water quality in lakes, rivers and streams and to protect groundwater and drinking water. Activities include structural and vegetative practices to reduce runoff and retain water on the land, feedlot water quality projects, SSTS abatement grants for low income individuals, and stream bank, stream channel and shoreline protection projects. For the fiscal year 2012, BWSR awarded 12 local governments with funds.
While aspen is one of the most dominant forest types, predicted future conditions will negatively impact aspen growth. Increasing tree diversity can provide increase ecological and economic resilience.
Revitalizing the old deer yards into Caribou Yards is a transformative initiative aimed at creating habitats for a herd of caribou. The need for this project arises from the closure of the old deer yards, which were previously inhabited by white-tailed deer until the last one passed away of old age. Subsequently, the fencing surrounding these three habitats has weathered and suffered damage during the years of inoccupancy.
Pileated Woodpeckers are keystone habitat modifiers that support an array of game, non-game, and conservation concern species. Additional information is needed to understand cavity dynamics for these species.
The Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota (CMSM) will build upon a strong foundation of Minnesota Arts, Culture and Heritage (ACH) learning experiences made possible with prior MN Legacy funding support to:
The goal of this project is to extend the existing Chippewa River Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) watershed model. The contractor will produce an HSPF model with meteorological, point source, and atmospheric deposition input timeseries extended through 2020.
The Chippewa River Watershed Association (CRWA) will lead programs to tell a watershed story on the state of our waters and efforts needed to protect or restore them. The CRWA will partner with local offices on existing local educational efforts and will support these types of events. Activities will focus on priority areas and information sharing as outlined in the Chippewa River Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) Public Participation Plan.
The purpose of this project is to create a shared plan for the Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) process with roles, responsibilities, commitments and deliverables clearly understood by all (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), Chippewa River Watershed, and local partners). The MPCA and the Chippewa River Watershed Project (CRWP) will be working together to ascertain the level of involvement that local units of government and other partners want to engage in for the second round of the WRAPS process.
The goal of the Chippewa River Watershed Protection project is to protect unimpaired areas of the watershed. This will be accomplished through education and outreach with landowners and through implementation of best management practices.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) developed the Chippewa River Watershed Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) report in 2016 that addresses impairments 48 separate impairment listings for 16 stream reaches and 25 lakes in the watershed. The purpose of this project is to support the development of TMDLs for additional streams reaches and lakes that were not previously completed. MPCA has identified 12 waterbodies with aquatic recreation or aquatic life impairments that need to be addressed through the development of new TMDLs.
This project will complete a comprehensive and sustainable Major Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies report for the Chippewa River, its tributary streams, and the many lakes in the Chippewa River watershed that is understandable and adoptable by local units of government and residents.
Rising temperatures and increased precipitation contribute to decreased oxygen and increased methane in Minnesota lakes and wetlands. We will identify impacts on water quality and methane emissions, providing management guidance.
This program will restore and enhance in-stream and riparian fish and wildlife habitat in 11 watersheds across the state of Minnesota. The proposed projects will improve habitat for both game and non-game fish and wildlife species uniquely associated with cold water trout streams and provide expanded recreational opportunities for Minnesota anglers.
This program will restore and/or enhance in-stream and riparian fish and wildlife habitat in six coldwater streams located in existing Aquatic Management Areas and one Minnesota State Park. The proposed projects will improve habitat for both game and non-game fish and wildlife species uniquely associated with coldwater trout streams and provide expanded recreational opportunities for Minnesota anglers.
Minnesota Trout Unlimited enhanced in-stream and riparian fish and wildlife habitat in and along coldwater streams and lakes located on public lands and Aquatic Management Areas. We originally proposed 11 projects, yet completed 13 projects. Contracting efficiencies and leveraging of other funding allowed us to add three more habitat enhancement projects in northeast Minnesota and to lengthen others. One small budget project was dropped when a partner changed the scope from 144 acres to less than 15 and proposed costs outweighed the potential benefit.
This project builds partnerships among natural resource professionals, college, middle and high schools to work collaboratively to increase youth exposure to outdoor experiences, environmental issues, and natural resource career paths.
To hire qualified professionals to write a structural assessment of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church Hall, a contributing resource in the Lanesboro Historic District, listed in the National Register of Historic Places and current home to the Sons of Norway Heimbygda Lodge
Voyageurs Conservancy will connect 17,000 Minnesotans to the state's only national park through standards-aligned K-12 education, career-building fellowships, and enhanced programs that engage diverse audiences in the park's conservation.
Wilderness Inquiry will expand its work to provide a continuum of outdoor experiences for youth, adults, and families in communities across Minnesota by:
As of 11/1/2022, the CPL program has provided over 900 grants totaling $109 million to over 200 different grantee organizations, improving or protecting over 339,000 acres of habitat. Demand for CPL grants has continued to grow each year as new applicants hear about the program and successful grantees return. In ML 2018 there were 107 grants awarded- 18 metro grants, 20 traditional grants, and 69 Expedited Conservation Partners grants. Through these 107 grants, over 18,000 acres were restored, enhanced, or protected. Over $11M was awarded to organizations for projects.
Grassland ecosystems evolved to depend on periodic disturbances, such as fire and grazing, to maintain their health and stability. Periodic disturbances help control invasive species, add nutrients back into the soil, germinate plant seeds, enhance wildlife habitat, and more. In Minnesota habitat managers have used fire as a disturbance tool for decades but the use of grazing has been much rarer, mostly because of a lack of necessary infrastructure such as fencing.
The Conservation Partners Legacy Grant Program, managed by the Department of Natural Resources, provided 56 competitive matching grants to non-profit organizations and governments, appropriating all the available ML12 funds.
