The goal of this project is to establish a framework that the local government can use to guide their involvement as the UMR Watershed Project progresses over the next four years. This will result in strategies to protect or restore the waters in this watershed. These strategies will be used as the basis for making informed local water quality and land use planning decisions, as well as development of grant applications to implement the restoration and protection of waters in the UMR watershed.
The goal of this project is to analyze and document database architecture, platform, table structures, systems and data fields at six Minnesota agencies (Board of Soil and Water Resources, Department of Natural Resources, MN Department of Agriculture, MN Department of Health, Metropolitan Council, and MN Pollution Control Agency) for 30+ databases related to water.
This appropriation allowed the permanent protection of 887 acres in western Minnesota. These properties included 664 acres of remnant native prairie, 76 acres of associated wetlands complexes, and 8,500' of streamfront. For this phase we originally planned to protect 740 acres with a minimum of 375 native prairie. Both targets were exceeded - 120% of total acres and 177% of native prairie acres.
Minnesota’s 12 regional public library systems, which encompass 350 public libraries in all areas of the state, benefit from a portion of the Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Through State Library Services, a division of the Minnesota Department of Education, each regional public library system receives a formula-driven allocation from the annual $3 million Minnesota Regional Library Legacy Grant. Pioneerland Library System (PLS) is a consolidated regional public library system in west central Minnesota.
To develop a partnership between historic preservationists and university faculty to integrate preservation curriculum into existing educational programs.
This project contributed to the goals of the MN Prairie Conservation Plan by protecting 698 acres of native prairie/wetland/savanna; restoring 698 acres prairie/wetland; and enhancing 18,839 acres grassland/savanna. When combined with Phases 1-4 of the Prairie Recovery Program we have cumulatively protected 6,475 acres, enhanced 114,595 acres and restored 1,452 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.
Each fiscal year of ACHF funding, a majority of the twelve regional library systems agree to allocate 10% of their ACHF funding to support statewide partnership projects. SELCO serves as the fiscal agent for statewide projects.
Adoption of renewable energy technologies and energy conservation practices can contribute in a variety of ways to the environmental and economic health of rural Minnesota communities through costs savings and emissions reductions. Engaging and coaching students as the leaders in the process of implementing such practices provides the added benefit of increasing knowledge, teaching about potential career paths, and developing leadership experience.