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 project will advance the prairie protection, restoration and enhancement goals established in the 2011 MN Prairie Conservation Plan. It builds upon the successful model established in Phases 1 - 6 and seeks to protect 200 acres in fee without PILT obligations to be held by The Nature Conservancy, protect an additional 100 acres with PILT for inclusion in the State's Wildlife Management or Scientific Natural Area systems, enhance 7,500 acres of permanently protected grasslands, and restore 100 acres of prairie habitat.
This project contributed to the goals of the MN Prairie Conservation Plan by protecting 284 acres of native prairie/wetland/savanna; restoring 102 acres prairie/wetland; and enhancing 10,045 acres grassland/savanna. When combined with Phases 1-7 of the Prairie Recovery Program we have cumulatively protected 7,734 acres, enhanced 154,814 acres and restored 2,036 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 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.
To create a permanent, outdoor historical art sculpture, and honor the legacy of female contributors to agriculture in a new venue, "Women in Agriculture Day."
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.
Collaboration between African and Asian American artists to jointly create/present a new dance drama - Resonance.
Project Resonance orchestrates new creations of music and dances to serve as a communication bridge across cultural/racial lines, to mitigate racial tensions between African and Asian communities, to illustrate the cross-cultural experience, and eventually promote Intercultural Harmony.
Resonance inspires inner/outer connections to create sustainable impacts.
Granite rock outcrops along the Upper Minnesota River are among the oldest exposed rock in North America, dating back approximately 3.6 billion years. These outcrops are also home to rare and specialized plant and animal communities rarely found elsewhere in Minnesota, including several types of cactus and one of Minnesota's only three lizard species, the five-lined skink. However, these rock outcrops are increasingly threatened by mining, overgrazing, and development.
Del Clark Lake is a regionally unique resource in the Lac qui Parle Watershed. This grant contains both restoration and protection strategies aiming to maintain the quality of this rare and valuable resource in addition to restoring the recently impaired Canby Creek, which feeds into Del Clark Lake. Three grade control structures will be implemented just upstream of Del Clark to protect against sediment and aid in regulating flows. An estimate 240 pounds of phosphorous and 2,700 tons of sediment will be reduced annually.
We will characterize environmental drivers contributing to the decline of wild rice using lake sediment cores to reconstruct historical wild rice abundance in relation to lake and watershed stressors.
In 2017 and 2018, Redwood-Cottonwood Rivers Control Area (RCRCA) will collect water chemistry samples from the 10 lakes and 24 stream sites identified in the Redwood and Cottonwood River watersheds. Six samples will be collected at 10 lakes from May through September in 2017; five samples will be collected at 5 lakes in 2018 from May through September. Eleven samples will be collected at each of the 24 stream sites following the Basic Regime in 2017. Sixteen samples at each stream site will be collected in 2017 and 2018 following the E.coli monitoring regime.
The Redwood and Cottonwood River Watersheds have been assessed and many reaches have been impaired for turbidity, bacteria, and low dissolved oxygen. This project will accelerate conservation efforts to reduce overland runoff sediment, bacteria, and nutrient loadings contributing to water quality impairments in targeted subwatersheds.
The Redwood River and Cottonwood River watersheds encompass approximately 2,020 square miles of southwestern Minnesota in the Minnesota River Basin. Land use in these watersheds is mostly agricultural and area geology makes them prone to erosion. Surface water issues within the two watersheds are a concern of local leaders. The counties and Soil and Water Conservation District leaders formed the Redwood Cottonwood Rivers Control Area (RCRCA) Joint Powers Board in 1983 to address sedimentation, water quality and quantity, and erosion issues.
Under the CREP partnership with USDA, 71 easements were recorded on a total of 4,365 acres to restore previously drained wetlands and adjacent uplands. The easements were accomplished with local implementation done by SWCD, NRCS and FSA staff within the 54 county CREP area and leveraged federal funds for both landowner payments and cost share for conservation practice installation.
Under the CREP partnership with USDA, 38 easements were recorded on a total of 2,732 acres to restore previously drained wetlands and adjacent uplands. One easement is a flowage easement that was required to complete wetland restoration work on an adjacent
The Clean Water Fund (CWF) and Outdoor Heritage Fund (OHF) were used together to secure easements on buffer areas. 84 easements have been recorded for a total of 1,441 acres and are reported in the output tables for the final report (acre total does not include Clean Water Fund acres). The total acreage from both CWF and OHF sources for recorded easements is 2,793.2 acres. Only the OHF acres are being reported in this final report to be consistent with the approved accomplishment plan.
This continuation of the Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) Reserve buffers program will protect and restore riparian areas, permanently protecting approximately 600 acres on 17 easements. This program will continue utilizing a science-based ranking and selection process and be implemented locally, working with Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) staff in targeted areas in the state. Historically, buffer funding was used to expand basic water quality buffers into larger buffers.
