Per Minnesota Law, the Minnesota Humanities Center administers the Arts and Cultural Heritage Children's Museum Grants. The Humanities Center uses a portion of the funds to provide grants administration, including overseeing the proposal process, agreement drafting, financial and program monitoring, and reporting.
MNHS Press will publish a book showcasing MNHS' extensive collections of bandolier bags made and worn by several North American Indian tribes around the Great Lakes. The book will include a tour of Minnesota's seven Ojibwe reservations, showing bags associated with each area, and profiles of master beadworkers who provide personal insights into the work.
This project involves the extension and update of the Hydrological Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) model for the Bois de Sioux and Mustinka watersheds.
This project will address United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) comments on the preliminary draft Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) comments on the pre-public notice draft TMDL study and Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) report, and produce the public notice draft TMDL study and the public notice draft WRAPS report ready for public review and comment. Conduct one public meeting for each watershed to present public notice drafts of the TMDL study and WRAPS report for each watershed.
Governor Mark Dayton's landmark buffer initiative was signed into law in 2015. The law establishes new perennial vegetation buffers of up to 50 feet along rivers, streams, and ditches that will help filter out phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment. The new law provides flexibility and financial support for landowners to install and maintain buffers. The DNR's role in Minnesota's new buffer law is to produce a statewide map of public waters and public ditches that require permanent vegetation buffers. The DNR is scheduled to produce these maps by July 2016.
This partnership is designed to develop the capacity of history professionals across the state to serve local communities. This year high-quality best practices were shared around the state through the distribution of an improved periodic publication, a conference in Willmar (with almost a 20 percent increase in participation), new pilot affinity group meetings and informal learning opportunities.
The Carver County Planning and Water Management Department (PWM) has an active well sealing cost share program. Following the adoption of the updated County Groundwater Plan in February of 2016, the Carver County Board of Commissioners moved to accelerate the program to encourage landowners to seal abandoned wells. Carver County is looking to supplement existing funds, as demand is expected to increase. With this additional funding, it is the goal of Carver County PWM to seal an additional 15 wells county wide.
MNHS is developing an online database to identify the burial sites of Minnesota's Civil War veterans. When complete, this database will be available to the general public and serve as an aid to descendants, authors, educators and researchers.
In FY16, MNHS began to create a website for teachers to access educational materials and content related to the Civil War. Research was completed and Civil War-related materials were gathered for the website, including 120 primary sources with background information, Minnesota History magazine articles, videos and programs. Teacher testing will inform design and content modifications in advance of a spring 2017 launch.
As the Minnesota State Capitol reopens after several years of restoration work, MNHS plans to offer new programs exploring the Civil War at the Capitol. During this project, an introductory video will be created for school programs and public theme tours that provide background information about Minnesota's involvement in the Civil War and how that influenced the placement of artifacts, art and memorials in the Capitol.
The goals of the program are to evaluate the effectiveness of agricultural conservation practices, identify underlying processes that affect water quality, and develop technologies to target critical areas of the landscape. Funded projects provide current and accurate scientific data on the environmental impacts of agricultural practices and help to develop or revise agricultural practices that reduce environmental impacts while maintaining farm profitability.
College interns from Minnesota's diverse communities are placed across MNHS in various departments and sites. During their semester-long internships, students have the opportunity to work alongside museum and public history professionals to enhance their skills and apply their knowledge in a professional environment.
