Our mission is to provide high quality early childhood experiences in conjunction with Ojibwe and Dakota language immersion to urban families in the Twin Cities area.
Twenty six easements protecting 1,173.3 were recorded which exceeded the original proposal by 173 acres (15%). 11.6 miles of shoreline were protected which exceeded the 8 acre goal by 30%. Total expenditure was $1,355,000 which was 17% lower than originally budgeted. No fee-title land acquisition opportunities on wild rice lakes that fit within DNR and other government agency land plans were available during this time period thus DU did not expend any of the $100,000 budgeted for fee-title acquisition. Instead the program focused on RIM easements.
This Phase III continuation of the Wild Rice Shoreland Protection project acquired 98 acres for Yaeger Lake Wildlife Management Area (total acquisition was 285 acres but a portion was funded with other LSOHC money, only the portion funded with this grant is reported here) and 14 RIM easements protecting 600 acres for a total of 698 acres of wild rice shoreland habitat in the Northern Forest Section. This exceeded this Phases overall goal by acres for RIM.
Increasing wildfires in Minnesota are mobilizing mercury and degrading water in wilderness lakes, potentially causing increased mercury concentrations in fish. We will develop approaches to protect our lakes and fish.
This program acquired, developed, and added 638 acres to the state Wildlife Management Area (WMA) system. These lands protect habitat and provide opportunities for public hunting, trapping and compatible outdoor uses consistent with the Outdoor Recreation Act (M.S. 86A.05, Subd.8).
This program acquired priority lands and developed them as Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) - six parcels protected totaling over 600 acres, Scientific and Natural Areas (SNA) - one parcel of 900 acres (287 acres credited to this funding ), and Native Prairie Bank (NPB) easements - two parcels totaling almost 200 acres. These lands protect habitat and some provide public hunting, trapping and compatible outdoor uses.
May Lee-Yang will collaborate with local Hmong filmmakers to produce two 30-minute episodes of Hmong Organization, a comedy web series about a Hmong nonprofit and the people who work there. The completed episodes will be made available for free on Youtube.
$530,500 of the allocated $600,000 was used to enhance 150 acres of Wirth Park habitat. This project included habitat enhancement of woodlands and wetlands involving invasive species removal and planting of native species. This project benefits animal species including the pileated woodpecker and the threatened Blanding’s turtle. Primary outcomes include better quality plant communities, reduced fragmentation, and higher functioning wetlands.
Wirth Lake is located in Theodore Wirth Regional Park in the City of Golden Valley. The lake was listed as Impaired due to excessive phosphorus levels. In recent years water quality goals were met except during instances where seasonal overflows from Bassett Creek into Wirth Lake occurred.With one relatively simple project, the Bassett Creek Watershed Management Commission anticipates that the excess phosphorus problem will be resolved once and for all.
In 2016, VocalEssence WITNESS welcomes artist Melanie DeMore to help us explore the Underground Railroad in Minnesota—specifically how our state has been a place of sanctuary for refugees from the time of slavery through today. As part of this project, Melanie will help record absent narratives of those who have found sanctuary in Minnesota, and these stories will be shared in video and written form to explore the concept of sanctuary as part of the WITNESS School Program.
Wolves are a hot topic in Minnesota, with the public sharply divided on management issues such as wolf hunting. The complexity of the topic lends itself to a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation that is not always helpful to resolving the polarized debate.
To hire a qualified historian to complete an evaluation to determine eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places for the Woman's Club of Minneapolis.
This project is comprised of a series of interrelated jazz activities, classes, and workshops, including: 1) Women in Jazz Ensemble (post-secondary students, ages 16-25); 2) introduction to jazz workshops; 3) Jazz jam sessions and rehearsals; 4) school residencies; 5) anti-oppression training/consultation for professional development and to educate, stimulate discussion, and increase awareness of oppressive gender systems; 6) panel discussions; 7) scholarship opportunities.
My proposed project is to create the Urban Native Plant Guide. This set of laminated cards will be a user friendly, portable guide to some of the native plants present in the Minneapolis-St. Paul community. The guide will be created through collaboration and insight from local Native elders and will include traditional uses of the plants, along with their names in Anishinaabe, Dakota, and Lakota where available.
Hundreds of Minnesota women served on the French Front during World War I as volunteers for organizations such as the Red Cross. Their stories are often overlooked by history. The grand niece of Alice O'Brien, daughter of William O'Brien, has researched and developed a manuscript that combines chapters about Alice's life before and after the war with her letters home from the front during her service in France. The story is a personalized telling of what women volunteers experienced as Canteeners for the Red Cross. A copy of the manuscript was given to the Minnesota Historical Society.
Having completed one year in a new and expanded facility, the Duluth Children’s Museum focused on deepening and enriching the visitor experience. Minnesota Arts and Cultural Legacy funding allowed the Museum to focus on intensive educational program services; the rotation of the exhibits to bring fresh and new experiences to the visitor; and investment in a new tracking and reporting system, Altru by Blackbaud, a project begun with a previous Legacy grant.
Our Writing for Social Change project will have a lasting impact on MN's literary arts and multicultural education. We will equip African Americans to write their own stories as a manifestation of cultural resilience. Inspired by the African proverb until the Lion tells his side of the story, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the Hunter,the community will become the lions (leaders) who shape their own destiny through the transformative power of storytelling and cultural preservation.
The Writing for Justice and Cultural Preservation project creates space for the Somali diaspora, other African communities, and African Americans to create, re-imagine, and build a more just and inclusive world through the transformative power of storytelling and book publishing.
This project will provide a writer's cohort that will advance the work of twelve Black writers working in multiple genres. The goals are to 1) deepen individual vision and artistic development; 2) create a cohesive community of writers to support and encourage each other's work; 3) enrich communities of writers and readers with access to personal and cultural perspectives that will foster artistic growth, empathy, and collaboration.
Young Forest Conservation Phase III will continue American Bird Conservancy's successful, ongoing efforts to maintain, restore, and enhance Golden-winged Warbler, American Woodcock, and Ruffed Grouse breeding habitat on publicly protected lands in Minnesota. This work also benefits a suite of associated deciduous, mixed upland and lowland forest habitat species within a diverse, contiguous landscape-level forest matrix. Through Phases I and II, ABC completed 5,535 acres of high-quality early successional habitat projects.
Restore 3,647 acres of public forest to help meet wildlife and recreational goals within six Minnesota conservation plans, leverage $500,000 from outside sources for forest restoration on private lands and keep Golden-winged Warbler off the ESA.
Young Forest Conservation Phase IV will continue American Bird Conservancy's successful, ongoing efforts to maintain and enhance Golden-winged Warbler, American Woodcock, and Ruffed Grouse breeding habitat on publicly protected lands. This work also benefits a suite of associated deciduous and mixed forest habitat species within a diverse, contiguous landscape-level forest matrix. Through Phases I-III, ABC completed 9,204 acres of high-quality early successional habitat projects.
MNHS partners with diverse organizations to create in-depth, meaningful learning experiences for young people that help them develop career and life skills. The Mazinaakizige: American Indian Teen Photography Program welcomed six American Indian high school students who investigated historic and contemporary images of American Indians, learned digital photography, and created a gallery show to interpret the theme "Powerful." The opening was held at the Two Rivers Gallery on Dec. 9, 2016, with the gallery donating the space, announcement postcards and frames for the prints.
MNHS partners with diverse organizations to create in-depth, meaningful learning experiences for young people that help them develop career and life skills.
One example is the Mazinaakizige: American Indian Teen Photography Program.
This project will provide access to theater programs in schools, recreation centers, and other youth serving organizations. The theater arts program will be for BIPOC youth ages 12-17 years old. The program will run for six weeks each season throughout the year plus (spring 2024, summer 2024, fall 2024, winter 2024, and spring 2025) for two hours per day, three days per week.
The project is to research, develop, write and publish the rule and regulations for the sport of Sepak Takraw and Tujlub. Rules and guidelines for type material, size, weights, heights, softness, court sizes, court marking for the age appropriate level of plays. The funds will be used to contract local experts in coaching, officiating and other related athletic and educational areas of up to the publication phase.
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.