We will assess the environmental quality of prairies across Minnesota. On-the-ground surveys and contaminant risk assessments will help inform partner management actions, endangered species recovery plans, and pollinator reintroduction efforts.
The Berger Fountain, known as the dandelion fountain to most, was installed in 1975 by Benjamin Berger and has been a beloved neighborhood landmark in Loring Park and a favorite location for wedding photographers and children ever since. Ben Berger was a park board commissioner and, after seeing a dandelion fountain in Australia, fundraised to build a sister fountain right here in Minnesota.
This project will support a co-creative engagement program with Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe children, families, and educators, highlighting the art, culture, and heritage of North Central Minnesota from the perspectives of Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe children.
The Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) proposes to complete stormwater best management practices (BMPs) that will reduce 40 pounds of phosphorus and 40 tons of sediment per year from entering Big Trout Lake. The Crow Wing County (CWC) Water Plan identifies Big Trout Lake as a priority lake to enhance due to its significant decline in water clarity and high ratio of impervious surface surrounding the lake. The 2015 CWC Assessors Property Tax Assessment reports that Big Trout has the second highest taxable land value in CWC at $4,200 per foot of shoreline.
This study will leverage our current bioacoustics monitoring framework to assess avian diversity at the statewide scale through a citizen science acoustic monitoring program, with a focus on private lands.
Humanities Center support will enable More Than A Single Story to respond to multiple requests for support in dealing with personal and cultural trauma with the conference Black Writers Healing Black Writers(working title). In times of great stress, such as the COVID experience and the murder of George Floyd, artists go to their creativity to heal. This project brings that opportunity to Black writers who are reeling from continuing violence that impacts that communities.
Healthy communities and healthy water is a priority in Crow Wing County (CWC). The County and the Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) propose to enhance and improve the water quality of Little Buffalo Creek, a tributary to the Mississippi River. The SWCD will partner with CWC, the City of Brainerd, citizens, Central Lakes Community College, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to complete raingardens, shoreline stabilizations, and bioretention areas within the Little Buffalo Creek subwatershed.
Based on the Minnesota Waters Lake and River Association database, Crow Wing County has the highest number of lake associations in Minnesota. Currently, there are over 136 lake association groups in the county, which does not include neighborhood, resort or religious groups. These lakes aer a cornerstone to the state's tourism econmy and there is a great demand for stormwater management incentive program to protect these local water resources.
To hire a qualified consultant to develop a Historic Structure Report that will help preserve the Brainerd Water Tower, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) will engage citizen and nonprofit groups to enhance, improve, and protect Crow Wing County (CWC) lakes and rivers. To do this, the SWCD will partner with the University of Minnesota Extension, MN DNR, CWC, nonprofits, and lake associations to implement a mini grant program and provide grant funds to 20 community groups.
The Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) will partner with citizen groups and nonprofit groups to complete projects to reduce stormwater runoff and retain water on the land in Crow Wing County's (CWC) 125 minor watersheds. The SWCD will implement a mini grant program and provide competitive grant funds to an anticipated 12 groups. This project will also address CWC Water Plan priorities one, two, and six, which involve stormwater management and sediment control, shoreline buffers, and agriculture best management practices.
The Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) proposes to partner with citizen groups and nonprofit groups to complete projects that will reduce polluted runoff and keep water on the land in Crow Wing County's (CWC) 125 minor watersheds. To do this, the SWCD will implement a mini grant program and provide competitive grant funds to an anticipated 12 groups. Citizens groups will use their innovation and creativity to apply for project funds through the SWCD.
This full-scale pilot will evaluate supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) for managing PFAS in biosolids and water treatment residuals. SCWO can destroy PFAS in a variety of wastes and recover energy.
We will partner with urban municipalities and school districts to support planting of climate-resilient tree species. Activities include planting trees, gravel bed nursery creation, tree assessment and mapping, and community.
Funds are to be used to protect, enhance and restore water quality in lakes, rivers and streams and to protect groundwater and drinking water. Activities include structural and vegetative practices to reduce runoff and retain water on the land, feedlot water quality projects, SSTS abatement grants for low income individuals, and stream bank, stream channel and shoreline protection projects. For the fiscal year 2012, BWSR awarded 12 local governments with funds.
The Camp Ripley ACUB Phase VI project protected almost 1070 acres of high quality habitat along the Mississippi and Crow Wing Rivers and near the Nokasippi and Gull River WMAs through approximately 14 conservation easements.
Phase 11 of the Camp Ripley Sentinel Landscape ACUB Partnership will utilize permanent conservation easements (BWSR RIM) to acquire 1,150-acres of high quality habitat in order to accomplish: PERMANENT PROTECTION of habitat corridors and buffers around public lands, PRESERVE open space within the CRSL, and conservation enhancement and restoration PRACTICES to protect soil and water quality and habitat corridor connectivity.
Phase VIII of the RIM Camp Ripley Sentinel Landscape ACUB Partnership utilized permanent RIM conservation easements to acquire 1,755-acres of high quality habitat within the ACUB work area. We secured 7 easements including the two one contiguous block but done as two easements for legal reasons) Cushing Land Company easements that totaled 1,464 acres. In total one of the largest RIM easements ever acquired.
Phase IX of the RIM Camp Ripley Sentinel Landscape ACUB Partnership secured 7 permanent RIM conservation easements to protect 539-acres of high quality habitat. We hit the estimated number of acres from the original Accomplishment Plan. BWSR utilized the RIM easement process in partnership with the Morrison SWCD to secure habitat corridor easements on sites within Crow Wing, Cass, and Morrison counties during the appropriation term.
The Camp Ripley ACUB Phase VII project protected 598.2 acres of high quality habitat along the Crow Wing, Gull, Nokasippi, and Mississippi River corridors through nine conservation easements.
The project protect approximately 1090 acres of habitat for fish, game and wildlife with easements along the Mississippi and Crow Wing Rivers and tributaries. Protection will reduce infringement and development and improve watershed function.
While aspen is one of the most dominant forest types, predicted future conditions will negatively impact aspen growth. Increasing tree diversity can provide increase ecological and economic resilience.
Revitalizing the old deer yards into Caribou Yards is a transformative initiative aimed at creating habitats for a herd of caribou. The need for this project arises from the closure of the old deer yards, which were previously inhabited by white-tailed deer until the last one passed away of old age. Subsequently, the fencing surrounding these three habitats has weathered and suffered damage during the years of inoccupancy.
This monitoring project includes lake and stream monitoring and encompasses all of Cass County, and surrounding counties. The project will obtain water quality data for streams; in 2009, lakeshed assessments indicated that many surface waters throughout the county were data deficient. This project will address the need for sufficient data on a county-wide basis and fulfill the State’s intensive watershed monitoring program goals by obtaining water quality data at targeted lake and stream sites.
This project will include lake and stream monitoring on 23 lakes and 4 streams found within the Leech Lake River and Pine River watersheds in Cass County. The project will be conducted in an effort to gain sufficient data on these data-deficient lake and stream sites within these watersheds. All of the proposed monitoring sites are target sites located in the targeted watersheds for 2012. Cass ESD is partnering with Hubbard SWCD, the Leech Lake Band of Objibwe, and RMB Environmental Laboratories to conduct the fieldwork for this project.
Crow Wing SWCD is building off its success with Project Recharge and expanded the program to target Gull and Big Trout lakes. The SWCD selected these two lakes because of their declining transparency readings, 25 interested landowners, 2 adjacent resorts, and the community support, past partnerships, valuable fisheries, high ratio of forested land, and low ratio of impervious area in the lakeshed.The SWCD worked with partners to find willing landowners and businesses to complete the following types of projects:Swap Rock for Native Stock: Implement bioengineering to stabilize shorelines.
The Children's Discovery Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota aims to strengthen its highly successful School Service Program by retaining a Program development coordinator, changing core interactive exhibits and creating new curriculum for pre-school and K - 5 students in ten northern Minnesota counties.
The Children's Discovery Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota will strengthen its acclaimed school service program by: (1) continued leadership of a new Program Director retained on January 1, 2016 (2) creating a new (Minnesota built) core interactive exhibit; (3) developing new curriculum for pre-school through 3rd grade students in ten northern Minnesota counties.
Pileated Woodpeckers are keystone habitat modifiers that support an array of game, non-game, and conservation concern species. Additional information is needed to understand cavity dynamics for these species.
