This project includes new exhibit components and enhancements; facilitating diverse workshops and performances for children and families, and four mini camps for children ages 6-12 during school/summer breaks.
Wilderness Inquiry engages 20,000 Minnesotans through outdoor adventures, promoting equity in access to outdoor activities, places, and careers and supporting stewardship and conservation values for current and future generations.
The Conservation Partners Legacy Grant Program (CPL) is managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to provide competitive matching grants of up to $400,000 to local, regional, state, and national non-profit organizations and governments. Grant activities include the enhancement, restoration, or protection of forests, wetlands, prairies, and habitat for fish, game, or wildlife in Minnesota. A match of at least 10% from nonstate sources was required for grants of $100,000 or less, and a match of at least 15% from nonstate sources was required for grants over $100,000.
Passport to Culture: Removing barriers to participation will serve 1500 households, reaching approximately 6,000 children and their adult caregivers from across the region. Passport to Culture eliminates the financial barriers to participation by families most vulnerable in our society, providing membership, enhanced by direct program opportunities targeted to serve low income households designed to create a pattern of use of cultural organizations by families.
This project entailed the reconstruction and resurfacing of 5.3 miles of segments of the Paul Bunyan State Trail from Pine River to Merrifield to Brainerd.
Paul & Babe’s GeoHunt is a summer-long geocaching event that features unique sites along the 54-mile Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway driving route. The sport of geocaching involves hiding camouflage containers (which are called caches) so that people can look for and find the containers using GPS technology. Once they find the containers, participants collect special cards (found in the caches/containers). After collecting a series of 10 cards, participants can earn a GeoCoin.
There are 3 million acres of peatland forests in Minnesota. This proposal will identify management actions that maximize ecosystem benefits of peatland forests, including wildlife, water, timber, and native plants.
Provide professional development workshops at three Greater Minnesota locations for 60 teachers to use phenology education curriculum and community science resources, reaching >7,000 students in the first three years.
Phase II of this project will focus on source assessment, running watershed scenarios, Kego Lake TMDL, lake protection planning, Stressor identification and the continuation of the Civic Engagement components of the project. Information gathered in Phase II will be utilized in developing the WRAP report which will be developed in the future Phase III of the project.
This project is a continuation of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study that addresses lake eutrophication (phosphorus) in two lakes that are on the 2014 United States Environmental Protection Agency 303(d) list of impaired waters, located in the Pine River Watershed. The contractor will be responding to public comment on the Pine River TMDL.
The purpose of this project is to address Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) comments on the pre-public notice draft Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) report that were received by Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) in January 2016.
We will partner with the BWSR RIM Easement Program, Hubbard, Crow Wing, and Cass Counties and Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) to protect 610 acres of high-quality private forest, wetlands, and shoreline in the Northern Forest Ecological Section. This project will be successful because of the sophisticated RAQ scoring, integrative parcel selection, proven outreach tactics, SWCD landowner relationships, and BWSR and SWCD RIM partnership.
The Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) partnered with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR), Crow Wing County (CWC), Technical Service Area VIII (TSA8), Big Pine Lake Association, the City of Crosslake, and the Crosslake Army Corps to construct five-rock riffle structures that added 40,000 square feet of key spawning habitat for walleye, smallmouth bass, shorthead, greater redhorse, and several minnow species plus restore access to the 15 lakes upstream.
The Brainerd Lakes area is one of Minnesota's most beloved "up north" destinations. With a population of 162,000 that expands by approximately 300,000 annually, North Central Minnesota is home to a complex mix of year-round residents, second home owners, seasonal visitors, and a growing immigrant population. The area is home to both promise and challenge. WonderTrek Children's Museum and its partners envision a more connected region and state and actively works to create connections by bringing together visitors and residents from diverse backgrounds in shared experiences.
Continuing pollinator habitat creation and enhancement on 11 sites from Lakeville to St. Cloud, with public engagement and education centered on youth, schools, and community awareness of natural resource stewardship.
Mille Lacs Lake is recognized as one of the premier walleye producing lakes in the world. The current water quality of the lake is good, however recent monitoring of the lake and its watershed indicates the potential to develop problems. Since 1997, the Mille Lacs Lake Watershed Management Group has worked to preserve the water quality of Mille Lacs Lake. Five priority projects were identified by the Group partners in an effort to preserve water quality. Support for these projects was provided by a grant from the Clean Water Fund.
To hire qualified professionals to replace the roof and do additional restoration on the City of Brainerd Water Tower, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
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.
The 400-mile stretch of the Mississippi River from its headwaters at Lake Itasca to Morrison County near Little Falls is the focus of this project. Working in cooperation with the eight member counties, this project will develop implementation plans and strategies geared specifically for the Mississippi River and incorporate them into the individual County Comprehensive Local Water Plans. These recommendations will be for specific strategies, often crossing county boundaries for implementation.