Continue full time position of Recreation and Volunteer Specialist. The position entails focused work in recreation programming, special events, volunteer recruitment and programming. Specifically, the position develops, implements, instructs, markets recreation and volunteer programs. Additionally, the position contributes to the overall planning, evaluation, and promotion of recreation and volunteer services for the Parks Department.
Continue to support a volunteer corps for the Tamarack Nature Center and Discovery Hollow and Garden Area. Volunteers assist with programs, assist with animal care, assist with natural resource preservation and restoration, and assist with special events and projects. Recruit, train, recognize, and manage volunteers.
Phase 5 of the Sate Forest Acquisition project protected 43 acres of critical forest habitat in the southeastern ecological section of the state. These lands have been incorporated into the State Forest program of the Outdoor Recreation System, and will be sustainably managed for quality wildlife habitat, timber production, and public recreation in perpetuity. Additionally, over 300 acres of sensitive floodplain forest habitat were enhanced using a variety of methods.
Minnesota’s extensive state park and trail system, the second oldest in the country, is currently comprised of a total of 76 state parks and recreation areas and 13 state trails scattered throughout the state. Some of Minnesota’s state parks and trails have privately owned lands within the designated park boundaries or trail corridors. Purchase of these lands from willing landowners for addition to the state park and trail system makes them permanently available for public recreation and enjoyment and facilitates more efficient management.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Stearns History Museum wrote the biographies of 25 identified women from Stearns County who have made a direct contribution to the history of sports and the passage and implementation of Title IX Education Amendments on June 23, 1972. The project addresses how the women's experiences influenced their lives and careers beyond athletics.
Source Water Protection is one of the three priority concerns identified in the Stearns Comprehensive Local Water Managment Plan. Currently, Stearns County has 23 public water supplies with approved Wellhead Protection Plans. This encompasses approximately 65,000 acres of land in Drinking Water Supply Management Areas (DWSMA). This proposal will fund at least 10 unused well sealing projects within these sensitive areas.
The Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District's (SWCD) Stump and Sagatagan Lakes Subwatershed Stormwater Treatment Projects will retrofit sub-catchment drainage areas on St. John's University (SJU) campus that drain untreated stormwater runoff directly into Stump and Sagatagan Lakes. This area of the region has been identified as ecologically significant by the Nature Conservancy's Eco-Regional Plan and the MN DNR's County Biological Survey.
The project will develop, adopt, and implement an agricultural erosion control ordinance for Steele County. Project funds will be used to hire a consultant to assist in this endeavor to gather input from citizens, organize meetings and develop a draft ordinance. County staff will assist with organizing meetings, holding hearings, and the formal process of adopting the developed ordinance.
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.
To hire a qualified historian to write an evaluation to determine eligibility for listing the Stickney Building in the National Register of Historic Places.
This grant seeks to build the top 5 prioritized projects (2 iron-enhanced sand filters, 1 rain garden, 1 infiltration trench, and 1 tree trench) within the City of New London. Installation of these project will result in a cost-effective pollutant reduction from city runoff to various nearby water resources. The project is estimated to reduce sediment by 2 tons and phosphorus by 8 pounds annually.
This project is located in an area in the City of Isanti that developed before modern-day stormwater treatment requirements. It will result in the installation of a new stormwater pond in a historic core neighborhood. The urbanized drainage area presently has no other stormwater treatment, except for street sweeping. The new stormwater pond will reduce discharges from a 55 acre site draining to the State Scenic and Recreational Rum River by 12 pounds/yr for phosphorus and approximately 3 tons/yr of sediment.
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.
This project will generate water quality data for 10 stream locations MPCA designated for their 2012 and 2013 open-water sampling seasons (8 by NRRI-UMD and 2 via subcontract to the North St. Louis SWCD). The overall project goal is to collect event-based physical and chemical data sets for 10 agency-prioritized stream sampling sites in NE Minnesota for calculating pollutant loads and for incorporation into the overall State database for MPCA assessment purposes.
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.
Stearns History Museum wrote the biographies of 25 identified women from Stearns County who have made a direct contribution to the history of sports and the passage and implementation of Title IX Education Amendments on June 23, 1972. The project addresses how the women's experiences influenced their lives and careers beyond athletics.
