To research and share knowledge among diverse partners around Anishnaabe cultural practices and their ecological legacies in fire-dependent pine forests.
The Society purchased PastPerfect 4.0 software to track and record accessions. Previously, these records were kept in a hand-written logbook. To begin the process of reviewing and inventorying the collections, the artifacts were first re-organized and the storage rooms were thoroughly cleaned. Materials were divided and organized to be stored in two areas with different but appropriate temperature and humidity levels.
Trail reconstruction and renewal of 7.8 miles of portions of the segment from Hackensack to the Chippewa National Forest on the Paul Bunyan State Trail.
Provide expanded state trail safety and efforts to protect the integrity of the paved surfaces. This included erecting larger stop and stop ahead signing to be consistent with national standards. Also included additional crack sealing efforts in a more timely manner, increase effort in mowing to increase user safety, reduce woody vegetation close to the trail and reduce the damage to trail surface caused by root suckering. More mowing and timely mowing also reduces the threat of invasives be spread by seeds by mowing prior to that.
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.
Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions, Inc. (Wood) was selected for this project to conduct work in support of the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) program. This project is a multi-phased pilot study to further validate and refine potential locations across Minnesota that may have historically been, or are currently, contaminated with PFAS. The primary objective is to evaluate potential PFAS locations, specifically compost sites, to determine presence or absence of PFAS at each site.
This new initiative aims to increase student achievement in and through the arts in nine west-central Minnesota schools. With the ultimate goal of positively impacting the learning of more than 1,500 students this year in the Lakes Country region, 40 teachers in the arts and in other content areas are engaged in professional development, curriculum development, and assessment literacy, leading to the development and implementation of arts-integrated lessons and units tied to the Minnesota Academic Standards.
The Arts Education in Minnesota Schools Research Project is surveying all public and private schools to collect baseline data on the status of arts education statewide to serve as a resource for making data-driven decisions. A national research and evaluation company, Quadrant Arts Education Research, is conducting the study, comprised of three elements.
The purpose of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's monitoring activities is to determine the presence and concentration of pesticides in Minnesota's groundwater and surface water. Monitoring information is used to characterize and assess the extent of pesticide impacts to Minnesota's water resources.
Two storms in July and August of 2010 caused the east wall and gables of the historic North Peterson Barn, a structure on the Andrew Peterson Farmstead listed on the National Register of Historic Places, to collapse. The already deteriorating barn required stabilization to preserve what remained for eventual restoration. The firm of Hansen Hometech was contracted to carry out the stabilizing process.
Phased design and construction of ADA access deficiencies throughout the Regional Park and Trail System that are identified in the Ramsey County Parks and Trails ADA Transition Plan including Design/engineering, for building and site improvements such as access improvements for walkways, hardware components, doors, window, restroom components, building interiors, utilities, stair and railings, sidewalk, trail, shelters, play elements, parking lots, grading, signs and site amenities
The most imminent threat to Phelps Mill, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, is fire. If struck by lightning the wood frame building would be destroyed in minutes. Period photographs indicate that at least three lightning rods were on the mill as early as 1900. When the mill closed in 1939, the rods remained on the roof until 1965 when the county board purchased the site as a county park. Shortly thereafter, the rods were removed when the roof was repaired and shingles replaced.
To contractor will develop materials on the topic of phosphorus retention by bioretention media components. Information from the deliverables will be incorporated into the Minnesota Stormwater Manual, with the goal of providing information to MS4 permittees to facilitate compliance with Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) requirements in stormwater permits.
A book on the historical development of the built environment of Montevideo was published by the Clean Up the River Environment group. The full-color, softcovered book of photographs was researched, developed and written by authors: Dr. Odell M. Bjerkness, Wayne R. Ostlie and Dr. Paul E. Ostlie. The book details the pictorial history of Montevideo, and its vicinity, from 1870-1940. 1000 copies were stipulated for this project.
A new interpretive exhibit was installed in the North Gallery of the History Center of Olmsted County. The exhibit examines the interaction between culture, place and the environment. Comparisons between the natural and the man-made help to inform perceptions of home and the familiar. The public is able to explore the relationship of the built environment to the natural environment.
A pilot program of wastewater treatment optimization without costly facility upgrades. This will lead to cleaner lakes and rivers without needless costs, and achieve significantly better treatment results.
Minnesota's twelve regional library systems, which encompass more than 350 public libraries in all areas of the state, can benefit from a portion of the Legacy Amendment's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Through State Library Services, a division of the Minnesota Department of Education, each regional library system is eligible to receive a formula-driven allocation from the annual $2.5 million Minnesota Regional Library System Legacy Grant. Pioneerland Library System (PLS) is a consolidated regional public library system in west central Minnesota.
Minnesota’s Legacy Amendment raises revenue for Clean Water, Outdoor Heritage, Parks and Trails, and Arts and Cultural Heritage. Libraries are beneficiaries of a portion of the Arts and Cultural Heritage Funding.
Minnesota's twelve regional library systems, which encompass more than 350 public libraries in all areas of the state, can benefit from a portion of the Legacy Amendment's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Through State Library Services, a division of the Minnesota Department of Education, each regional library system is eligible to receive a formula-driven allocation from the annual $2.5 million Minnesota Regional Library System Legacy Grant. Plum Creek Library System (PCLS) is a federated regional public library system with central services located in southwestern Minnesota.
Minnesota’s Legacy Amendment raises revenue for Clean Water, Outdoor Heritage, Parks and Trails, and Arts and Cultural Heritage. Libraries are beneficiaries of a portion of the Arts and Cultural Heritage Funding.
The Pollinator Ambassadors for Urban Gardens project will enhance outreach capacity for pollinator education by creating an outreach toolkit and training educators and youth for engagement in native pollinator education.
This project will develop the Pomme de Terre Watershed Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study for the second round of the 10-year watershed approach cycle in the Pomme de Terre watershed. This phase of the project will address 4 stream impairments and 3 lake impairments and produce a draft TMDL document. A second phase may be needed as the stressor ID report identifies more stream reaches with TMDL relevant stressors.
The goal is to facilitate strategic networking, learning, and participation of targeted groups to assess, build, and leverage community capacity (i.e. community resources and values) to become aware of water quality issues and increase best management practice adoption to restore and protect water quality in the Pomme de Terre River watershed. This goal will benefit the completion of the second cycle of the watershed approach by providing useful information important in the completion of Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) report.
The Pomme de Terre River watershed is located in west central Minnesota and occupies a portion of six counties. For many years surface water quality within the watershed has been a concern to local government, and in 1982 the Counties and SWCDs within the watershed area formed the Pomme de Terre River Association Joint Powers Board to begin addressing this issue. In 2002 the Pomme de Terre River was placed on the Impaired Waters list for turbidity.The project partners are collaborating to improve surface water quality within the watershed with a grant from the Clean Water Fund.
Certain stretches of the Pomme de Terre River have been identified as impaired. This project will quantify the reductions in pollutant loading that would be necessary to bring water quality in the impaired stretches to an acceptable level. It will also identify strategies that would improve water quality in these impaired stretches. Some funds will support public input activities into the Pomme de Terre River watershed management plan.
The Pope Soil and Water Conservation District Chippewa River Watershed Surface Water Assessment Grant (SWAG) monitoring program will provide knowledge of water quality to local partners and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Five sites, comprised of two lakes and three along two streams, will be monitored over the course of two years. There are 5 townships throughout the Chippewa watershed that each house a monitoring site: Nora, New Prairie , White Bear Lake, Barsness, and Gilchrist.
