Funding through this appropriation enhanced 8,359 acres of wetland habitat. Included in this work were six infrastructure projects that enhanced 871 acres and a Douglas County wetland restoration was done in cooperation with Pheasants Forever. Wetland management actions by the Region 1 Roving Habitat Crew enhanced almost 7,500 wetland acres through work on prescribed burns, herbicide applications, and removal of woody vegetation. Survey and design work in Rice County gathered information for possible future construction.
This is Phase 13 Ducks Unlimited's of prairie wetland acquisition and restoration program in Minnesota. DU proposes to acquire and restore land containing wetlands and drained wetlands, and land bordering shallow lakes in Minnesota's Prairie Pothole Region for inclusion in MNDNR state WMAs and USFWS federal WPAs/NWRs. This ongoing land acquisition/restoration program focuses on restoring cropland with drained wetlands near existing WMAs and WPAs/NWRs to help restore prairie wetland habitat complexes for breeding ducks, other wildlife, and people.
Funding through this appropriation enhanced 4,745 acres of wetland habitat. Four wetland/shallow lake infrastructure projects were competed that enhanced 1,020 acres and and another project restored 50 acres. Wetland management actions (wild rice seeding, a significant drawdown, and a major large prescribed burn) enhanced 1,997 acres. Work by the Region 3 Roving Habitat Crew enhanced 1,678 wetland acres through work on prescribed burns, drawdowns, herbicide applications, and removal of woody vegetation.
This Phase 11 request supports Ducks Unlimited's prairie land acquisition and restoration program. DU proposes to acquire and restore 550 acres of land containing drained wetlands and land on shallow lakes in SW Minnesota's Prairie Pothole Region for transfer into the Minnesota DNR's state WMA system. This land acquisition and restoration program focuses on restoring cropland with drained wetlands along shallow lakes and adjoining WMAs to help restore prairie wetland habitat complexes for breeding ducks and other wildlife.
State leadership for the 4-H Shooting Sports & Wildlife Program, including staff and 4-H volunteer committee members, will provide a menu of equipment options for local programs to choose from as a means to build their Shooting Sports & Wildlife project. Local programs will submit a grant application justifying how the new equipment will help them build and grow their program, attract and engage new audiences, and provide sustainability in their local chapter.
Identify and update Potential Contaminant Source Inventory to eliminate private wells with potential pathway for contamination. Purchase, replace 2 data loggers, 1 indicator for data collection equipment
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.
This project seeks to provide data on insecticide contamination in the soil and the insect community across the state and the effect of sublethal insecticide exposure on insect reproduction.
To support teachers in addressing new science standards , we propose a series of workshops across Minnesota facilitating conversation about sustainability and water conservation, specifically integrating western science and Indigenous perspectives.
This project will allow monitoring to take place on nine stream sites and characterize their water quality and determine their impaired status for biological and chemical parameters. The physical and chemical measurements will include dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, conductivity, transparency, total phosphorus, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, total suspended solids, total volatile solids, nitrite-nitrate nitrogen, chloride, sulfate, hardness and e-coli.
The soil and water conservation districts within the watersheds for the Redwood and Cottonwood Rivers have been putting conservation practices on the ground for years in a long-running collaborative effort.
To hire a qualified historian to complete an evaluation to determine eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places for the 1938/1957 Tracy Municipal Building and Armory.
The Southwest Prairie Technical Service Area 5 (SWPTSA), located in the southwest corner of Minnesota, encompasses 11 Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs): Cottonwood, Jackson, Lac Qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, Rock, and Yellow Medicine. This project will protect natural resources within the three major river basins of Minnesota, Missouri and Des Moines Rivers. The SWPTSA will assist member SWCDs in locating and identifying priority subwatersheds that have soil erosion and water quality issues using terrain analysis.
Turtle Island Skywatchers - Innovative Research and Data Visualization project works to protect Minnesota water, wildlife, and natural resources while empowering Indigenous youth as leaders and all citizens as researchers.
Acquisition of 40 acres the borders both East and West Twin Lakes adjacent to an existing 28 acre park. Development of a picnic shelter, restrooms and parking.
We will reconstruct historical lake conditions to identify factors linked to successful walleye fisheries and guide effective management in the face of warming temperatures, invasive species, and nutrient loading.
Minnesotans increasingly value native fishes. For example, >95% of bowfished species in MN are native, yet all are poorly understood. Foundational natural resource data is absolutely necessary for all stakeholders.
Our goals are to engage 100,000 underserved youth statewide in environmental education, engaging them in the conservation and preservation of Minnesota wilderness through the experiences in the outdoors.
Minnesota Sea Grant seeks to create a science-policy fellowship program to train Minnesota's science-policy workforce and advance Minnesota's water resource policy, emulating Sea Grants successful federal-level fellowship program.
We propose robotics-based educational activities for middle-school youth on water quality in Minnesota. Youth will gain skills for measuring water quality and communicating results through group study and hands-on projects.
Tetra Tech will work to support the science needed when planning in Minnesota for water storage practice implementation. The goal is to provide practical water storage recommendations that can be incorporated into smaller scale planning within major watersheds (HUC 8), as well as larger scale planning for the Sediment Reduction Strategy for the Minnesota River and South Metro Mississippi River.
The Yellow Medicine One Watershed One Plan has identified Protecting and Preserving Groundwater Quality and Quantity as one of the three priorities addressed in the Plan. Seven priority sub-watersheds have been identified as priority areas, as well as two townships that have been identified by the Department of Agriculture to have vulnerable groundwater areas. Our goal is to provide 50% cost share to seal 34 abandoned wells that are located in these priority areas.
Locating the sources of sediment, phosphorus, and bacteria is integral to reducing the effect they have on a water body. The completion of the West Fork Des Moines River (WFDMR) Targeting and Prioritizing Endeavor will result in a set of data that is the most cost-effective for the implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for all identified priority resources. The results will be expressed as the maximum reduction of a water quality contaminant (e.g. sediment, phosphorus, bacteria) at a priority resource (e.g. an impaired stream) for a given level of investment.
This monitoring work expands on previously established routine water quality and flow sampling to include extensive fish and aquatic invertebrate surveys. Subsequent steps include assessment of the monitoring data to determine impairments, identification of stressors that are causing impairments, development of Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) studies using identification of pollutant sources using computer modeling and other techniques, civic engagement, and public education as approaches in progress towards water quality goals.
