This project supports monitoring and assessment activities by MPCA Environmental Assistance and Outcomes staff and includes lab analysis, equipment, and fieldwork expenses associated with monitoring and assessment activities.The ambient groundwater monitoring network describes the current condition and trends in Minnesota's groundwater quality.
This project supports activities by MPCA technical staff that provide technical assistance , project oversight, coordination and other agency activities associated with assessing, listing and cunducting TMDL studies throughout the State of Minnesota. Project funding also includes lab analysis, equipment, and fieldwork expenses.
The Minnesota Historical Society partnered with the Metropolitan Airports Commission, the NWA History Centre and the Airport Foundation MSP to exhibit a collection of photographs that document the first 50 years of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
"Views Across Time," shows MSP's transition from auto speedway to major U.S. airport. The exhibit, located on Concourse C, is on display through September, 2011.
199 issues of the monthly periodicals, The Student and The Mankatonian, from Mankato state Normal School (1888-1913) were digitzed to preserve them and make them more readily available to researchers, geneologists and the MN public at large.
Digitized copies were placed in the University Archives Digital Collections at Minnesota State University, Mankato and at the MN Reflections site as part of the Minnesota Digital Library.
Many projects and programs funded by the ACHF required multimedia support to generate online content, to create online training and video resources and to document programs.
This funding helped deliver those services to ensure a seamless and positive experience for users accessing information and new digital content made possible by ACHF projects.
The Mustinka River winds through five counties in west central Minnesota and empties into Lake Traverse, a border waters lake with excellent fishing and recreational opportunities. For several years, sections of the river have been impaired for turbidity due to too much soil/sediment eroding from the land and washing away into the water. Excess sediment degrades aquatic habitat
and feeds algae blooms.
Partner Organization: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation.
The Minnesota Historical Society is partnering with the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation to continue the Neighborhood Leadership Program, an initiative that develops leadership skills of community members to take effective action.
Through ACHF funding, the program agenda has been expanded to include sessions integrating historical resources, lessons and visits to the Minnesota History Center, providing participants with greater access and awareness of the Society's resources.
DNR regional clean water specialists and area hydrologists work with local partners to provide technical assistance on implementation projects and related outreach, resulting in cleaner water through healthier watersheds, shorelands and floodplains. We help partners identify, develop, target, design and/or implement on-the-ground projects that improve water quality, enhance habitat and protect infrastructure. We help design restorations that provide lasting benefits by mimicking features of healthy ecosystems.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will coordinate the collection of high-resolution elevation data for northeastern portion of Minnesota using Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) systems. The geographic area of the work includes Minnesota counties of Carlton, Cook, Lake, and St. Louis Counties and that portion of Koochiching County that comprises Voyageurs National Park.
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.
Partner Organizations: Northfield Historical Society, Carleton College, Northfield Public Library, Rice County Historical Society and St. Olaf College.
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.
Partner Organizations: University of Minnesota, Minnesota Digital Library, Minitex.
The Ojibwe language, like many other indigenous languages, is endangered. Most current speakers are over the age of 65 and probably fewer than a thousand speakers of Ojibwe in the United States learned it as their first language.
In 2010, the Minnesota Historical Society researched the development of an Online Fur Trade Interactive Learning Experience as a supplement to the Northern Lights history textbook.
This web-based application, geared toward middle school students, will not only offer a glimpse of Minnesota's history, but also provides a lesson about the foundation of today's complex global economy.
A secure online database for off-site historical records indexing was created by the Otter Tail County Historical Society. Existing databases were consolidated and imported to the new database. Web pages were created for trained volunteers to retrieve documents and enter indexing information. Staff is now better able to coordinate with volunteers who have electronic access to multiple finding aids via the internet.
The Conservation Partners Legacy Grant Program (CPL) is managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to provide competitive matching grants of up to $400,000 to local, regional, state, and national non-profit organizations and governments. Grant activities include the enhancement, restoration, or protection of forests, wetlands, prairies, and habitat for fish, game, or wildlife in Minnesota. A match of at least 10% from nonstate sources was required for grants of $100,000 or less, and a match of at least 15% from nonstate sources was required for grants over $100,000.
The special program series Outdoors EXTRA is designed to offer programs at Minnesota state parks and trails with less visitation. Programs are led by guest presenters and are often beyond the skill level of existing staff. Examples of programs are live music; live animal programs, such as an eagle program; or rock climbing programs.
The Division of Parks and Trails is engaged in critical work to connect people to the outdoors. As part of the work in this project area, the new touch-screen kiosk project will increase awareness about outdoor recreation opportunities at Minnesota state parks and trails among underrepresented groups by creating and installing accessible, touch-screen kiosks with information in multiple languages, in high-traffic, family-oriented locations. Connection plans deliver Minnesota State Parks and Trails' messages to new audiences.
This program area accounts for all administration costs that support all projects DNR is engaged in to administer the FY10/FY11 strategic objectives of the Parks and Trails Legacy Fund. Administration costs are directly related to and necessary for project success including support for: accounting, clerical support, executive, managerial and supervisory personnel, facilities management, office equipment and supplies, human resources, information technology, communications, insurance, legal services, purchasing, rent/lease, and security.
The MMCDC retained the services of an historical consultant to complete National Register Nomination for the Park Rapids National Guard Armory. After diligent research, applied evaluation methodology and appropriate application of NR Criteria, it was determined that the Armory was ineligible for inclusion in the NR.
This program is beginning with a pilot research project to determine visitor satisfaction with new programs being offered through the Legacy Amendment and if the target market is being reached.
To provide grants to local units of government to support parks and trails of regional or statewide significance outside of the seven county metropolitan area. Funding for this grant program is from the Parks and Trails Fund created by the Minnesota Legislature from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment passed by the voters in 2008.
To develop a 25 year long range plan for the use of the money available in the parks and trail fund as well as other traditional sources of funding. Also the development of a 10 year strategic coordination plan is required. The plan is to include a vision, goals and measureable outcomes. The plan must also address specific deliverables outlined in statute. Public engagement was the foundation for the recommendations. The plan was developed in collaboration with other park and trail providers.
The Healing Through the Arts Initiative will inspire creative methods of coping with illness by removing barriers and increasing opportunities for people with cancer to participate in the arts by attending events at A Center for the Arts, by bringing artists from A Center for the Arts to the Lake Region Healthcare Cancer Care and Research Center, and by developing arts activities that patients can participate in while receiving chemotherapy treatment.
The Lakes Crisis and Resource Center of Becker County is requesting funding to make the arts more accessible to women and children who are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
The Otter Tail-Wadena Community Action Council will partner with the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center to bring 200 underserved adults into participation in the arts in Wadena and Otter Tail Counties of Minnesota.
The YWCA will engage at risk youth and immigrant families in arts events and activities, including performances and artist workshops, to reduce barriers and increase understanding and involvement in the arts.
Provide expanded state trail safety and efforts to protect the integrity of the paved surfaces. This included erecting larger stop and stop ahead signing to be consistent with national standards. Also included additional crack sealing efforts in a more timely manner, increase effort in mowing to increase user safety, reduce woody vegetation close to the trail and reduce the damage to trail surface caused by root suckering. More mowing and timely mowing also reduces the threat of invasives be spread by seeds by mowing prior to that.
This new initiative aims to increase student achievement in and through the arts in nine west-central Minnesota schools. With the ultimate goal of positively impacting the learning of more than 1,500 students this year in the Lakes Country region, 40 teachers in the arts and in other content areas are engaged in professional development, curriculum development, and assessment literacy, leading to the development and implementation of arts-integrated lessons and units tied to the Minnesota Academic Standards.
The Arts Education in Minnesota Schools Research Project is surveying all public and private schools to collect baseline data on the status of arts education statewide to serve as a resource for making data-driven decisions. A national research and evaluation company, Quadrant Arts Education Research, is conducting the study, comprised of three elements.
The purpose of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's monitoring activities is to determine the presence and concentration of pesticides in Minnesota's groundwater and surface water. Monitoring information is used to characterize and assess the extent of pesticide impacts to Minnesota's water resources.
The most imminent threat to Phelps Mill, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, is fire. If struck by lightning the wood frame building would be destroyed in minutes. Period photographs indicate that at least three lightning rods were on the mill as early as 1900. When the mill closed in 1939, the rods remained on the roof until 1965 when the county board purchased the site as a county park. Shortly thereafter, the rods were removed when the roof was repaired and shingles replaced.
The Pomme de Terre River watershed is located in west central Minnesota and occupies a portion of six counties. For many years surface water quality within the watershed has been a concern to local government, and in 1982 the Counties and SWCDs within the watershed area formed the Pomme de Terre River Association Joint Powers Board to begin addressing this issue. In 2002 the Pomme de Terre River was placed on the Impaired Waters list for turbidity.The project partners are collaborating to improve surface water quality within the watershed with a grant from the Clean Water Fund.
Certain stretches of the Pomme de Terre River have been identified as impaired. This project will quantify the reductions in pollutant loading that would be necessary to bring water quality in the impaired stretches to an acceptable level. It will also identify strategies that would improve water quality in these impaired stretches. Some funds will support public input activities into the Pomme de Terre River watershed management plan.
This project will develop feasibility analysis, a drawdown plan for Malmedal Lake and an analysis of available options for fish barriers in the watersheds of Malmedal Lake and Strandness Lake.
This program will protect 900 acres of priority prairie grassland, wetland habitat, and native remnant prairie (if available) as state wildlife management areas (WMA). In addition, acquired lands will be restored and/or enhanced to prairie and/or wetland habitat. Once complete, these WMAs will provide quality grassland/wetland habitat complexes that will benefit a myriad of game and non-game species and will provide public recreational opportunities for the citizens of Minnesota.
This program is to increase prescribed burning on Division of Parks and Trails (PAT) lands in order to meet shortfalls in achieving PAT restoration and management objectives.
Indigenous people have always used stories to preserve and teach culture to each succeeding generation. Through this project, the Minnesota Historical Society will collect, record and interpret stories specific to the Jeffers Petroglyphs site.
The stories from tribal elders will be recorded and transcribed in their native language as well as in English, culminating in written interpretations that will be made available to a wide audience of scholars, students and the general public.
