Goals for Phase 2 of the MN Prairie Recovery Program were to: protect 1200 acres native prairie/savanna; restore 250 acres grassland; enhance 6000 acres grassland/savanna with fire, invasive species removal, and grazing; and continue a new prairie conservation model.
To hire a qualified interpretive specialist to develop an interpretive plan for the history along 287 miles of the Minnesota River Valley National Scenic Byway.
This Minnesota Forests for the Future project protected 3,293 acres of forest and forested wetlands with perpetual working forest conservation easements in Lake and Crow Wing Counties ensuring public benefits, management access and sustainable managed forests.
The Mississippi Headwaters Board (MHB) will work with the Board of Water & Soil Resources (BWSR), The Trust for Public Land (TPL), headwaters' counties and Soil & Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) to protect and preserve targeted upland and aquatic habitats through fee title and permanent easement acquisition in high quality shoreland areas along the Mississippi River main stem, headwaters' reservoirs, and major Mississippi River tributaries.
The Mississippi Headwaters Habitat Corridor Project Phase III (ML 17) achieved permanent protection of 1,694 acres of critical fish and wildlife habitat, including 14.5 miles of shoreland on the Mississippi River and adjacent lakes/tributaries. This accomplishment exceeded the appropriation goal by over 200%. Fee-title acquisitions and RIM conservation easements adjacent to public land created or expanded large habitat protection complexes, including a new 232 acre WMA in Crow Wing County.
In Phase 6, The Mississippi Headwaters Board in partnership with The Trust for Public Land and BWSR assisted by 8 County SWCDs will permanently protect an additional 1,235 acres of critical fish and wildlife habitat along the first 400 miles of the Mississippi River, its major tributaries, and 9 headwaters lakes.
The Mississippi Headwaters Board in partnership with The Trust for Public Land and the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources, assisted by 8 County Soil and Water Conservation Districts, will continue to permanently protect critical shorelands and wildlife habitats along the first 400 miles of the Mississippi River. Fee title acquisitions and conservation easements on priority lands will create and expand contiguous habitat corridors/complexes and reduce forest fragmentation from development to benefit fish, game and non-game wildlife, and migratory waterfowl.
Maritime Heritage Minnesota completed a side and down imaging sonar survey of 104 miles of the Mississippi River in Aitkin County, as well as a small portion of Itasca County when the river meandered across the county line, in August 2010.
The DNR has been charged by the legislature to develop rules that protect and manage the Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area (MRCCA) for natural resource, economic development, transportation, historic preservation, and other values. This project engages stakeholder groups in a public process to balance regulatory protections with local flexibility and control.
This project will focus on creating a watershed identity, monitoring & assessment, stressor ID assistance, Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) report development, Watershed Restoration & Protection Strategy (WRAPS) report development, watershed prioritization and targeting, and the continuation of the Civic Engagement components of the project. Currently, this watershed has seven listed conventional impairments (Lake Eutrophication); however, it is possible that additional stream impairments (up to four) may be identified during the IWM process.
Phase 1 of this project is primarily geared towards project planning and coordination among project partners, developing an initial civic engagement strategic plan, holding a watershed kick-off meeting, and gathering and summarizing available water quality data.
Phase 2 of the Mississippi River - Brainerd Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) project will: develop the WRAPS report and the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study, which allocates pollutant load reductions for impaired waters; implement a civic engagement plan; and develop watershed modeling scenarios to help understand implementation needs in the watershed.
This project will develop a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) report as well as Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) studies where needed. The TMDLs will provide the quantitative pollutant load reduction estimates and a set of pollutant reduction and watershed management strategies to achieve water quality standards for the impairments within the watershed. Strategies for protecting the unimpaired waters within the watershed will also be included.
This acquisition protected 2.7 miles of Mississippi river shoreline and nearly 2,000 acres of wetland and forest/upland habitat through fee title acquisition just east of Brainerd, MN.
Through the ML2015 Mississippi Headwaters Habitat Partnership appropriation, we permanently protected 1,923 acres of wildlife habitat in the quickly developing Mississippi Headwaters area. These accomplishments exceed the appropriation goal by 209%. Utilizing both fee-title acquisition and conservation easements, the partnership protected 10 projects, totaling over 11 miles of shoreline along the Mississippi River, its tributaries and nearby lakes.
The Mississippi Headwaters Habitat Corridor Project Phase 1 (ML 16) achieved permanent protection of 1,478 acres of fish and wildlife habitat, including 11 miles of shoreland on the Mississippi River and on an adjacent lake. This accomplishment exceeded the appropriation goal by 178%. Utilizing fee-title acquisition and RIM conservation easements adjacent to public land, large habitat protection complexes were established, including one complex in Crow Wing County that protected over 9 contiguous miles along the Mississippi River.
To further the affiliation between Mitchell Hamline and Hamline University with a partnership for the initial development of the MHSL History Center and meaningful public programming.
