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:
Identify forest management actions and guidelines that maximize breeding season productivity across breeding cycle (nesting through post-fledgling) for three bird species of conservation concern: Golden-winged Warbler, Veery, and American Woodcock.
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.
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.
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.
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.
To contract two entertainers for the free stage at the 2023 Big Stone County Fair. Both entertainers are from Minnesota. The first group will be a musical/comedy duo who will play mostly original musical material with comedy and funny stories mixed in with the songs and between songs. The second entertainer is a Native American stand-up comedian who will tell jokes and stories about his life and comment on current events.
The Koochiching County Fair will feature two Minnesota-based bands. Performances are open and free to the public. The kids tractor pull will also be featured and free to the participants.
We would like to use the Legacy Funds to provide live musical free entertainment during the fair. The Sloughgrass band is a local Minnesota musical group. We would like them to perform two days of the fair. We would also like to do a Landscape Photography "lecture" and show at this years fair featuring Ben Sunne, a local Minnesota photographer who specializes in Landscape Photography. The interest in Landscape Photography has grown over the past few years and this would be a real benefit to the entire community.
This application is to contract two entertainers for the 2024 Big Stone County Fair. Both entertainers are from Minnesota. The first group will be a Polka Band who will perform Polka music on the Free Stage. The second group will be a band playing a variety of modern to classic music on our free stage.
The Koochiching County Fair will feature two Minnesota-based bands. The Snowmen Band members come from the Bagley, MN area and the HWY 71 band is from Bemidji, MN. Both bands will be performing at the Grandstand on Aug. 10th. and are free and open to the public.
Grant funds will also assist in covering costs of the Kids Tractor Pull, also free to the public.
A portion of the legacy grant will also be used to fund our sound technician.
