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.
To offer hands-on art workshops with local artists. The Clay County Fair will hold hour-long classes with Melissa Kossick and Steve Stark, for both children and adults, on portrait-painting, painting with fingers, pointillism, collage, and local historical drawing. The project is meant to have lasting impact on participants by instilling interest and confidence in order to inspiring them to pursue more art projects on their own.
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.
To hire a qualified architect to conduct a conditions assessment of St. John the Divine Episcopal Church, Moorhead, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
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:
The Conservation Partners Legacy Grant Program will be managed by the Department of Natural Resources to provide competitive matching grants of up to $400,000 to local, regional, state, and national non-profit organizations and government entities. In it's first 7 years of funding, the CPL program has provided 410 grants totaling $37 million to 133 different grantee organizations, positively affecting over 220,000 acres of habitat. Demand for CPL grants has continued to grow each year as new grantees hear about the program and successful grantees return.
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 HCSCC contracted with the Midwest Art Conservation Center to conduct a general preservation assessment survey of the HCSCC's collections and exhibit space. The report includes long range plans for improving and preserving objects and conditions.
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.
With the ML 2015 appropriation The Conservation Partners Legacy (CPL) Grant Program awarded 70 grants, 22 of these grants were the metropolitan area. Over 24,000 acres were enhanced, 2,500 acres were restored, and 386 acres protected through these 70 projects. Thirty-eight counties had CPL projects completed in them through 47 unique organizations. The average project for the ML 2015 grants was $96,000, with few exceptions most projects were completed on time and many were under budget.
As of 11/1/2023, the CPL program has provided over 970 grants totaling $115 million to over 250 different grantee organizations, improving or protecting over 577,000 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 2019 there were 99 grants awarded- 15 metro grants, 29 traditional grants, and 55 Expedited Conservation Partners grants. Through these 99 grants, over 34,000 acres were restored, enhanced, or protected. Over $10.6M was awarded to organizations for projects.
The "old school house" on the fairgrounds provides a look back at how things were once in Clay County. This building houses a large number of historical items from school houses in Clay County. The "old school house" is open to visitors of the Clay County Fair for educating all generations to the culture and heritage of Clay County. Typically, the Clay County Historical Society assists the fair board in providing education through visits to the schoolhouse, spelling bees and geography bees during the fair.
We will be completing our furnace and air conditioning project that was started in 2022 in our Legacy Building that is used for all open class and presentations during the fair.
The Minnesota County Geologic Atlas program is an ongoing effort begun in 1979 that is being conducted jointly by the University of Minnesota’s Minnesota Geological Survey and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). This portion, called Part B and conducted by the DNR, analyzes water samples to understand water chemistry and sensitivity to pollution.
The county appears to have a general interest in learning about different types of art as well as music. A local artist will provide glass-blowing demonstrations. Demonstrations will be provided during the fair on glass blowing, a form of art that interests a lot of people. The demonstrations will be provided by the House of Mulciber Mobile Engagement Unit which focuses on education of the art of glass blowing. The Clay County area has a rich heritage in country music along with other music types.
Our Legacy project includes having the Red Letter Band perform and having Clueless the Balloon Twister come and entertain the children again this year.
