The Otter Tail River is located in west-central Minnesota. Its Lower Otter Tail River (LOTR) reach is impaired for sediment. The LOTR begins at the dam of Orwell Reservoir near Fergus Falls and ends 48 river miles downstream at the confluence with the Bois de Sioux River at Breckenridge. No point sources contribute directly to the LOTR. Consequently, the turbidity impairment must be addressed through non-point measures. Current stream instability and bank erosion is largely a result of an 18-mile channel straightening completed by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s.
This restoration and protection project will reduce the loading of sediment to the Otter Tail River by 440 tons/year. This is about 6.5% of the total reduction needed to meet the goals of the Lower Otter Tail TMDL Implementation Plan. The Otter Tail River downstream of Orwell Dam is impaired due to sediment, with stream bank erosion being the primary contributor. This stream bank restoration will include the installation of woody toe debris benches and the installation of a vegetated slope along a 1,400 foot reach of the river.
This project includes new exhibit components and enhancements; facilitating diverse workshops and performances for children and families, and four mini camps for children ages 6-12 during school/summer breaks.
This project will be the first of its kind Civic Engagement Cohort that focusses its efforts in an individual watershed. The Otter Tail River Watershed is scheduled to start a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) in 2016 and as a component of that project, the cohort will provide the civic engagement requirement. The cohort will be comprised of 25-30 individuals located throughout the watershed who represent a broad spectrum of resource managers and citizens who are familiar with water quality and watershed management.
The goal of this project is to construct, calibrate, and validate a Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) watershed model for the Otter Tail watershed. The contractor will produce a HSPF watershed model application(s) that can readily be used to provide information to support conventional parameter Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). The contractor will clearly demonstrate that this model generates predicted output timeseries for hydrology, sediment, nutrients, and dissolved oxygen that are consistent with available sets of observed data.
The Otter Tail River is impaired for turbidity. This project involves the installation of 45 side-inlet structures into Wilkin County Ditch 3-2 and 7-1 and 22 acres of buffer strips along the entire systems. Eleven miles of continuous berm will also be constructed along the ditch. When installed these water quality practices will become a permanent part of the ditch system and will be maintained by the ditch authority. These ditches outlet to the Otter Tail River just upstream from Breckenridge, MN. Together these water quality BMPs will reduce sediment loading by 1,375 tons/year.
Wilderness Inquiry engages 20,000 Minnesotans through outdoor adventures, promoting equity in access to outdoor activities, places, and careers and supporting stewardship and conservation values for current and future generations.
The Good Vibrations Project will bring musical artists to the senior living community and will focus on relationships, social connections, and a positive musical experience. Music creates an environment for increased quality of life and satisfaction with life.
There are 3 million acres of peatland forests in Minnesota. This proposal will identify management actions that maximize ecosystem benefits of peatland forests, including wildlife, water, timber, and native plants.
The Perpich Arts Integration Network of Teachers (PAINT) fosters collaborative arts integration in Minnesota through K-12 teacher professional development and funding to schools. With Perpich Center facilitation, teacher teams develop and implement arts-integrated lessons and units. PAINT program components include:
Provide professional development workshops at three Greater Minnesota locations for 60 teachers to use phenology education curriculum and community science resources, reaching >7,000 students in the first three years.
The study will assess existing phosphorus data records and create a model to explain phosphorus loading into the Red River of the North. Studies have found that the majority of nutrient loading in the stream located in agricultural areas occurs with sediment loading since nutrients are typically bound to sediment particles.
The Brainerd Lakes area is one of Minnesota's most beloved "up north" destinations. With a population of 162,000 that expands by approximately 300,000 annually, North Central Minnesota is home to a complex mix of year-round residents, second home owners, seasonal visitors, and a growing immigrant population. The area is home to both promise and challenge. WonderTrek Children's Museum and its partners envision a more connected region and state and actively works to create connections by bringing together visitors and residents from diverse backgrounds in shared experiences.
Continuing pollinator habitat creation and enhancement on 11 sites from Lakeville to St. Cloud, with public engagement and education centered on youth, schools, and community awareness of natural resource stewardship.
The Prairie Chicken Habitat Partnership IV permanently protects 303 acres of greater prairie chicken habitat in the Southern Red River Valley of Minnesota. This partnership protects and restores strategic habitat that builds onto or creates corridors between existing protected lands. Acquired lands will be transferred to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) to be included as a Wildlife Management Area (WMA) or to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as a WPA.
The project will advance the protection, restoration and enhancement goals for prairie and grassland habitat as described in the 2018 update of the MN Prairie Conservation Plan. It builds upon the highly successful model established in prior Prairie Recovery Phases and seeks to protect approximately 600 acres in fee without PILT obligations to be held by The Nature Conservancy, enhance approximately 10,000 acres of permanently protected grasslands, and restore roughly 200 acres of prairie and wetland habitat.
This proposal protects and restores 400 acres of land in the Minnesota prairie-chicken range, that will be transferred to the MNDNR as a WMA or to the USFWS as a WPA. All land will be open to public hunting. MN Prairie Chicken Society and Pheasants Forever will be protecting parcels that focus specifically on prairie chicken benefits, which makes this proposal unique and highly focused. All acquisitions will occur within the prairie and prairie/forest planning regions with a focus in Clay, Norman, Mahnomen and Wilkin counties which is the primary range of prairie chickens in Minnesota.
Phase Four of the MN Prairie Recovery Program resulted in a total of 1,707 acres protected, 37,567 acres enhanced, and 440 acres restored. When combined with Phases 1-3 of the Prairie Recovery Program we have cumulatively protected 5,777 acres, enhanced 95,701 acres and restored 754 acres using Outdoor Heritage Fund dollars. We will continue to implement subsequent Phases toward meeting the conservation goals described in the MN Prairie Conservation Plan.
The project will advance the protection, restoration and enhancement goals for prairie, grassland and wetland habitats as described in the 2018 MN Prairie Conservation Plan. It builds upon the highly successful model established via prior Prairie Recovery Phases and seeks to protect 400 acres in Fee without PILT obligations to be held by The Nature Conservancy, enhance 18,000 acres of permanently protected grasslands, and restore 100 acres of prairie and wetland habitat.
This proposal protects and restores 651 acres of land in the Minnesota prairie-chicken range, that will be transferred to the MNDNR as a WMA or to the USFWS as a WPA. All land will be open to public hunting. MN Prairie Chicken Society and Pheasants Forever will be protecting parcels that focus specifically on prairie chicken benefits, which makes this proposal unique and highly focused. All acquisitions will occur within the prairie and prairie/forest planning regions with a focus in Clay, Norman, Mahnomen and Wilkin counties which is the primary range of prairie chickens in Minnesota.
The Minnesota Prairie Chicken Society in partnership with Pheasants Forever seek to protect and restore parcels within the Minnesota prairie chicken range. Focus will be on parcels that will specifically benefit prairie chickens, a species of special concern. Acquisitions will be located in the prairie or prairie/forest planning regions with an emphasis in the primary prairie chicken range. Parcels will be transferred to either the MN DNR as WMA's or the USFWS as WPA's and will be open to the public.
The project will advance the protection, restoration and enhancement goals for prairie, grassland and wetland habitats as described in the 2018 MN Prairie Conservation Plan. It builds upon the highly successful model previously established in prior Prairie Recovery Phases and seeks to protect 500 acres in Fee without PILT obligations to be held by The Nature Conservancy, enhance 18,000 acres of permanently protected grasslands, and restore 200 acres of prairie and wetland habitat.
This proposal protects and restores 760 acres of land in the Minnesota prairie-chicken range, that will be transferred to the MNDNR as a WMA or to the USFWS as a WPA. All land will be open to public hunting. MN Prairie Chicken Society and Pheasants Forever will be protecting parcels that focus specifically on prairie chicken benefits, which makes this proposal unique and highly focused. All acquisitions will occur within the prairie and prairie/forest planning regions with a focus in Clay, Norman, Mahnomen and Wilkin counties which is the primary range of prairie chickens in Minnesota.
We propose to integrate Minnesota Wildflowers Information, an online tool for plant identification, with the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas, to preserve and extend this popular ENTRF-supported resource for future use.
This project helps Minnesota entities that directly or indirectly cause PFAS and microplastics contamination stop the flow of the contaminants by developing strategies to manage solid waste streams.
The 400-mile stretch of the Mississippi River from its headwaters at Lake Itasca to Morrison County near Little Falls is the focus of this project. Working in cooperation with the eight member counties, this project will develop implementation plans and strategies geared specifically for the Mississippi River and incorporate them into the individual County Comprehensive Local Water Plans. These recommendations will be for specific strategies, often crossing county boundaries for implementation.
This project will result in the development of three critical pieces of information. They include: 1. Development of restoration and protection strategies for all waterbodies in the district relative to the State's Non-point Source Funding plan 2. Use of PTMApp to tie the WRAPs implementation tables from the Buffalo and Red River Watersheds to targeted on-the-ground projects and practices that will provide measurable water quality improvements, and 3.
