Replacement of picnic tables and fire rings at various state parks with safer, accessible options. To date, picnic table purchases have been completed for 39 (69%) of all state park and recreations areas. New fire rings have been purchased for 36 (74%) of all state park and recreation areas.
MNHS and the Minnesota State Fair Foundation are increasing awareness and knowledge of Minnesota history by providing quality programming for visitors to the Great Minnesota Get-Together. In 2015, the partners added new visual and written content for the Minnesota State Fair History Walking Tour brochure. Audio and visual content was available with the smartphone tour component, and staff presented audio/visual content via social media throughout the fair. Some 40,000 brochures were distributed throughout the fairgrounds during the run of the fair.
The Historic Recognition Grant program will preserve, recognize, and promote the historic legacy of Minnesota, with a focus on commemoration of Minnesota's role in the American Civil War via media, materials, and public programs to underscore the Civil War-era origins of the state capitol to complement the visitor experience once the building reopens for public tours in 2017 is the second of three projects being administered by MNHS in cooperation with the state's Civil War Commemoration Task Force are in development
This agreement is for Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) to provide statewide conservation reporting system support services in order to support Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) programs. Support services will be aimed at both MPCA staff and local government recipients of grants.
The goal of this project is to create a single statewide authoritative enterprise spatial data set of Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) and Scenario Application Manager (SAM) catchment polygons which can be used and shared easily by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency along with other state agencies and local partners.
The Statewide Sediment Network was established to measure the levels of suspended sediment concentrations and particle size distributions at eight sites across Minnesota to evaluate the amount of sediment carried by rivers. USGS sample collection and laboratory analysis techniques provide a more rigorous, robust, and technically accurate measure of sediment in water than the current use of total suspended solids as the measure of sediment in water.
The Minnesota Historical Society created a new traveling exhibits program, called "Exhibits to Go," giving more than 15 communities across Minnesota the ability to experience Minnesota history in their own neighborhood.
Funding for the traveling exhibits came from multiple appropriation categories, including funding for Statewide Historic Programs and for History Partnership Projects.
Partner Organizations: Minnesota Landmark Center, Bakken Museum, Minnesota Humanities Center.
The Minnesota Historical Society partnered with three separate organizations to make the following traveling exhibits available to communities across the state.
Five traveling exhibits are making more than 45 stops in communities around the state in FY12 and FY13, giving more Minnesotans the chance to experience history in their own backyards. The exhibits feature freestanding displays, audiovisual and interactive components, and onsite and online educational programming. They are Minnesota on the Map, Minnesota Homefront, Electrifying Minnesota, Uncle Sam's New Deal and Minnesota Disasters. Two traveling exhibits were developed working with teens.
This project will support the MPCA’s water quality monitoring and assessment program. Specifically, the MPCA is developing a refined use designation process known as tiered aquatic life uses (TALU) to account for situations in which stream habitat has been compromised through hydrological alteration (e.g. channelization and ditching). An accurate state-wide determination of altered stream segments based upon the current National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) linework will assist in the assignment of the correct beneficial use within this new TALU framework.
Replace campfire rings in state parks and state recreation areas with accessible campfire rings. New fire rings have been purchased for 36 (47%) of all state park and recreation areas.
Minnesota's Scientific and Natural Area (SNA) Program is an effort to preserve and perpetuate the state's ecological diversity and ensure that no single rare feature is lost from any region of the state. This includes unique landforms, fossil remains, plant and animal communities, rare and endangered species, or other unique biotic or geological features. These sites play an important role in scientific study, public education, and outdoor recreation.
Replace worn and inaccessible picnic tables in state parks and state recreation areas. To date, picnic table purchases have been completed for 39 (51%) of all state park and recreations areas.
Each fiscal year of ACHF funding, a majority of the participating 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.
The goal of this project will be to research and develop statewide winter maintenance best management practices (BMPs) for inclusion in the Statewide Chloride Management Plan and Winter Maintenance Assessment tool (WMAt). The WMAt is a necessary technical resource and planning tool for stakeholders and permittees to implement the chloride reduction strategies described in the Statewide Chloride Management Plan. This project will enhance the WMAt so that it is an effective planning tool to assist local winter maintenance professionals to reduce salt use.
The goal of this project is to update and revise the Twin Cities Metro Area (TCMA) Chloride Management Plan to a Statewide Chloride Management Plan (CMP). The Statewide CMP will provide stakeholders the information and tools necessary to improve and/or maintain water quality with respect to chloride.
The Legislature created the Statewide Survey of Historic & Archaeological Sites to provide opportunities to expand our understanding of historic and archaeological sites statewide.
Projects are defined by an oversight board and are conducted through competitive-bid contracts.
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.
MNHS continued to support opportunities to help students, teachers and the public learn about Minnesota and the Civil War. Funding provided ongoing support and coordination. Production of 10 short films focused on this era yielded two documentaries repeatedly aired by Twin Cities Public Television. Topics included Dred Scott and Harriet Scott, Governor Ramsey and Minnesota's entry into the war, the Battles of Antietam, Nashville and Gettysburg, women warriors, perils and prison camps and the election of 1864, among others. Teachers were made aware of these resources via statewide workshops.
The Statewide Survey of Historical and Archaeological Sites focuses on tangible aspects of Minnesota's cultural heritage including historic places, archaeological sites, places with spiritual and traditional importance, and cultural landscapes. The survey focuses on the identification and evaluation of these places in order to improve their management and enhance their interpretation.
The Statewide Survey of Historical and Archaeological Sites focuses on tangible aspects of Minnesota's cultural heritage including historic places, archaeological sites, places with spiritual and traditional importance, and cultural landscapes. The survey focuses on the identification and evaluation of these places in order to improve their management and enhance their interpretation.
This project will use state-of-the-art microbial source tracking (MST) methods to determine the sources of fecal contamination in urban, agricultural, and natural watersheds in Minnesota. Water samples will be collected from multiple tributaries within each watershed over time and during both low and high flow conditions to analyze the temporal and spatial dynamics of fecal contamination sources. In addition to fecal contamination sources, basic water quality parameters and the occurrence of human pathogens will be also quantified. Results will provide region-specific Escherichia coli (E.
Nitrate-nitrogen (nitrate) is one of the contaminants of greatest concern for groundwater in Minnesota. This funding is being used for activities that help identify the severity and magnitude of nitrate contamination and implement practices at the local level to reduce nitrate in groundwater. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is working with many local partners and passing funding through to local government units (counties, cities, soil and water conservation districts) to address this concern.
The MDA's technical assistance helps ensure that current and accurate scientific information is made available and used to address water quality concerns in agricultural areas of Minnesota. This funding has been used to evaluate the effectiveness of conservation practices, share information from research and demonstration sites and enhance outreach and education to the agricultural community and local government partners.
In FYs 14 and 15, MNHS staff reviewed thousands of Native American items and records resulting in the identification of nearly 500 objects as culturally sensitive. This material will require a higher standard of research, care and preservation. In addition, MNHS staff visited elders and professional staff at two tribal communities in the state explicitly to discuss culturally sensitive material. In FY 15, MNHS received a formal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act claim to repatriate approximately 36 items.
The overall goal of this process is to compile the information developed by the MPCA into summaries, tables, graphics and tools that the MPCA can use to replace sections of the Stormwater Manual. CDM Smith has developed an approach and workplan that is aimed at complimenting the knowledge of the MPCA and assisting the MPCA through supplemental literature searches, compilation of materials into usable formats, and facilitation of discussions when needed.
The Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) program is in the process of issuing the small MS4 general permit to new permittees who have been designated based on the results of the 2010 Census. These permittees were notified on February 25, 2015 that they will need to apply for the Permit within 18 months. We need to provide outreach on stormwater management and environmental impacts to ensure that they achieve a basic understanding of why the MS4 Permit exists, and why their municipality is in the program.
This project will result in updates to existing information and incorporation of new information into the Minnesota Stormwater Manual. The information is used by stormwater practitioners to implement the most effective and cost-efficient practices for managing stormwater runoff volume and pollutants, in addition to meeting regulatory requirement associated with stormwater permits.
This project will result in updates to existing information and incorporation of new information on active construction site erosion prevention and sediment control into the Minnesota Stormwater Manual. The information is used by stormwater practitioners to implement the most effective and cost-efficient practices for managing stormwater runoff volume and pollutants, and to meet regulatory requirements associated with stormwater permits.
This project will result in updates to existing information and incorporate new information into the Minnesota Stormwater Manual. The information is used by stormwater practitioners to implement the most effective and cost-efficient practices for managing stormwater runoff volume and pollutants, and to meet regulatory requirement associated with stormwater permits.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) each collect similar information on streams in Minnesota such as water quality, fish species presence, or the quality of fish habitat. For example, the DNR might sample stream fish to assess whether the agency’s management activities such as fishing regulations or stocking are creating good angling opportunities for the public, while MPCA might sample fish to assess whether a stream meets regulatory standards for a healthy fish community.
Stream flow information is essential for understanding the state of Minnesota's waters. Clean water funding has allowed the DNR to expand a network of stream gages that support planning and implementation for clean water protection and restoration. These gages are also used as part of the interagency Flood Forecasting/Warning System. This expanded stream gaging network has also significantly increased the real time data available to recreational water enthusiasts via the internet.
This project will provide information and tools for a method to credit street sweeping that can be implemented by Municipal Separate Storm Sewer (MS4) permittees to help meet permit requirements for phosphorus and total suspended solids (TSS). The contractor will develop and submit a communication-outreach plan for the credit method.
In the design phase, this new 5,000-square-foot exhibition will focus on the history of the explosive growth of the Twin Cities suburbs, particularly in the years after WW II, and the aspirations driving the suburban dream. This exhibit will open October 10, 2015, and run through March 20, 2016.
