In this Phase 4 of our ongoing "Living Lakes" program to enhance shallow lakes and restore wetlands, DU successfully enhanced 5,952 acres of shallow lakes and wetlands and restored 59 acres of wetlands by completing 16 separate projects for waterfowl and other wildlife in the Prairie, Transition, and Metro Sections in partnership with Minnesota DNR, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and private landowners.
This Phase 9 request for Ducks Unlimited's Living Lakes program will enhance or restore 1,440 acres of wetlands and adjacent prairie grasslands for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Minnesota DNR on public lands and private lands under permanent easement. DU biologists and engineers will design wetland restorations and water control structures for active management of shallow lake water levels to enhance their ecology for ducks, other wildlife, and people, primarily in SW Minnesota's Prairie Pothole Region.
This Phase 10 request for Ducks Unlimited's Living Lakes program will enhance or restore 1,325 acres of wetlands and adjacent prairie grasslands for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Minnesota DNR on public lands and private lands under permanent easement. DU biologists and engineers will design wetland restorations and water control structures for active management of shallow lake water levels to enhance their ecology for ducks, other wildlife, and people, primarily in SW Minnesota's Prairie Pothole Region.
This Phase 8 request for Ducks Unlimited's Living Lakes program will enhance or restore 1,070 acres of wetlands and adjacent prairie grasslands for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Minnesota DNR on public lands and private lands under permanent USFWS easement. Where required, DU engineers will design water control structures to restore wetland hydrology and allow active management of shallow lake water levels to enhance their ecology for ducks, other wildlife, and people, primarily in Minnesota's Prairie Pothole Region.
Provide approximately 15 matching grants for local parks, trail, acquisition of natural areas and trails to connect people safety to desirable community locations and regional or state facilities.
Repointed mortar joints, repair/replaceed bricks and inspected south wall on Lodge Zare Zapadu #44, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Lower Mississippi River Feedlot Management in MN project will be leveraging State funding from BWSR to provide match for a United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) Regional Conservations Partners Program (RCPP). BWSR will provide technical and financial assistance to plan and design projects to mitigate feedlot runoff from smaller (less than 300 animal units or AUs*), open lot feedlots in southeastern Minnesota.
Leveraging new statewide climate data, we will assess future change in the duration, frequency and magnitude of heavy precipitation and drought events and engage communities to prepare for these extremes.
The Benton County Local Water Management Plan's first priority concern is feedlot and nutrient management. Our objective is to reduce or minimize the negative impact of animal manure and fertilizer on surface and ground water by increasing the adoption of feedlot, manure, fertilizer and pasture best management practices.
The Benton SWCD is applying to use Clean Water funds to work with livestock producers in implementing a variety of BMPs including, but not limited to cropland erosion control projects (water and sediment control basins, grade stabilization structures), extending buffers where appropriate to exceed state buffer laws, riparian pasture management and conversion to other uses, nutrient management and feedlot pollution control systems. Our goal is to reduce runoff from these sites and improve water quality within the Mayhew Lake and Big Elk Lake watersheds.
The ENRTF grant will introduce 12 young people to conservation careers through full-time, paid internships and apprenticeships on the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge (16 FTEs over 2 years).
This project will provide condition monitoring and problem investigation monitoring at the following sites. Mississippi River: Tributaries include Bassett Creek, Cannon River, Crow River, and Minnehaha Creek. Minnesota River: Tributaries include Eagle Creek, Riley Creek, and Willow Creek. St. Croix River: Tributary includes Valley Creek.
Expanding waste diversion practices across the state this project will: create 16 jobs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, provide data to measure the social, economic, and environmental benefits of waste diversion.
Legacy funds allow the Minnesota Zoo to extend the season of the Wells Fargo Family Farm beyond its historical May to September season to include full programming and exhibits from April through November.
The Civics Education Coalition will create opportunities for students, enrich teacher capacity to engage students, and build state-wide networks. Work will include an interactive website, online youth summit, youth conference, new lessons for educators, teacher institutes, and expansion of the statewide Civic Education Network and its activities.
The goal of this project is to extend existing Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) models through 2017 for the following major watersheds: Redwood, Cottonwood, Watonwan, Blue Earth, Le Sueur, Pomme de Terre, Minnesota River-Headwaters, and Lac Qui Parle watersheds.
The Minnesota Invasive Terrestrial Plants and Pests Center (MITPPC) requests $7 million to fund up to 20 new, high-priority applied TIS research projects to improve Minnesota's natural and agricultural resources.
We will investigate the potential of natural microbes indigenous to Minnesota to biodegrade conventional plastics in the environment as a means for cleaning contaminated soils and waters across the state.
This project proposes to expand recreational opportunities on Minnesota State Trails through the rehabilitation and enhancement of existing state trails and replacement or repair of existing state trail bridges.
Year 1: Arts and Cultural Heritage funding will allow us to identify and plan a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) exhibit experience, design and develop the exhibit, select a fabrication partner, and fabricate the exhibit components between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020. The STEM exhibit will be designed to help children practice critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Fifty-seven standard Minnesota history titles were added to the library to broaden public accessibility. The books are available for anyone to request and check out, though some titles will "float" and stay wherever they are returned. Some books books specifically have Foley Public Library as their "home" location and will automatically be sent to Foley, no matter where they are returned.
Mankato State University (MSU) will work with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) to plan a stakeholder process kick off meeting for the Minnesota River Ag/Urban partnership project. MSU will help to plan and facilitate the meeting.
This project will create a high accuracy elevation dataset - critical for effectively planning and implementing water quality projects - for the state of Minnesota using LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and geospatial mapping technologies. Although some areas of the state have been mapped previously, many counties remain unmapped or have insufficient or inadequate data. This multi-year project, to be completed in 2012, is a collaborative effort of Minnesota's Digital Elevation Committee and partners with county surveyors to ensure accuracy with ground-truthing.