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.
The Ramsey Conservation District is partnering with the Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization, St. Paul Regional Water Service, and Ramsey County Parks and Recreation to restore and stabilize approximately 550 linear feet of streambank along the Sucker Lake Channel in northeastern Ramsey County with a cost effective critical area planting, replacing the existing mix of turf grass and asphalt streambank with a native vegetation planting.
The Le Sueur Watershed Technician will provide highly focused targeting of conservation programs and practices in this key watershed. The technician will enhance current staff capabilities in the Le Sueur watershed by collecting landowner contact information, producing landowner mailings about funding opportunities, and meeting one-on-one with landowners to discuss conservation concerns they may have. This has been a highly successful method for targeting projects, project identification, landowner contact, and project follow through.
The Le Sueur Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), who acts as County Ditch Inspectors, will partner with the Le Sueur County GIS Coordinator to accomplish the inventory and inspection of drainage ditches. A database will be established for all 250 miles of Le Sueur County Drainage Authority ditches. The inventory will be conducted using Lidar, 2010 and 2013 Pictometry and onsite technical review. Sites that have potential water quality issues will be identified from worst to most stable for side inlets, buffers and retention storage.
The Lower Minnesota River Watershed is on schedule for monitoring in 2014 and 2015. The requested sample sites that are listed in the RFP for Le Sueur County are Le Sueur Creek, Forest Prairie, a joint drainage tributary in the NW part of the county and Lake Sanborn. The project goal is to obtain useful water quality data in the Lower Minnesota River Watershed. Project objectives are: 1. Complete project planning by April 15 2014. 2.
Minnesota’s environment is changing in response to a variety of stressors – including population growth, residential development, industry, agriculture, invasive species, and climate change – and the state’s iconic lakes, and the goods and services they provide (e.g., fishing and water recreation), are an important part of what’s being impacted. To manage effectively for these changes it is important to understand how the state’s many lakes respond to these stressors.
MNHS continues to strive for environmental, economic and social sustainability in its sustainability program. To pinpoint opportunities for ongoing progress, the sustainability program will harmonize a broader range of institutional needs and objectives. The program will establish integrated, continuous, electronic reporting that unites environmental, social and economic risk analysis. This reporting will be used to further reduce our environmental impact and improve the sustainability of our operations as a whole.
The Minnesota Historical Society continues to strive for environmental, economic and social sustainability with its third year of the sustainability program. Continued focus is being placed on educating staff and visitors about sustainability through the project's "More for the Mission" campaign. Sustainability campaigns include a staff alternative commuting event and an upcoming staff stair campaign. The goal of these projects is to engage staff in the significance of sustainability in their daily lives.
The goal of this project is to collect updated lake water quality data for the lakes in the Tamarack River chain to feed Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) modeling during the MPCA Watershed Monitoring program scheduled for 2015, and allow for better targeting of issues and lakes for implementation of clean water practices.
The LeSueur River Watershed is one of the highest nutrient loading watersheds for both phosphorus and nitrogen in the State of Minnesota. The LeSueur River Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) Report was completed in August 2015 and further identifies pollutant sources and reduction goals within the LeSueur River Watershed. The WRAPS report highlights the Beauford Ditch watershed and the Madison Lake watershed area amongst the highest sources of nutrient loading to the LeSueur River.
The Mississippi River is currently listed as impaired for turbidity. Eroding riverbanks are one of the causes of this impairment. An inventory was completed in 2016 of riverbank condition along 5.8-miles of the Mississippi River that is within the City of Ramsey. In this inventory, ten severe to very severe eroding stretches spanning 27 private properties and 6,550 linear feet were identified. Cumulatively, these sites contribute 5,148 tons of sediment per year to the river.
The objective of the project is to develop a targeted stormwater implementation and outreach program focused on non-profit partners. The Nine Mile Creek Watershed District is a 50 square mile fully-developed watershed with 15 major lakes and over twenty miles of creek system. Given that much development in this area occurred prior to the era of stormwater management regulations, runoff from many sites is untreated prior to discharge to downstream water bodies.
With the approval by the U of M Board of Regents of a recently proposed MA program in Heritage Studies and Public History, the Teaching Heritage Collaborative will shift focus to the development of program curriculum and recruitment. In addition, the History Day partnership between the U of M and MNHS will be enriched through further development of campus engagement programs.These will include new cohorts of the Summer History Immersion Program for high school students as well as on-campus research experiences during the school year.
Partner: University of Minnesota--Twin Cities
The University of Minnesota and Minnesota Historical Society are collaborating to enhance heritage education across Minnesota. One of the goals is to bring university students out of the classroom, engaging them in work in communities whose heritage may be overlooked or undervalued. The university will build educational programs that bring awareness for cultural heritage awareness and protection.
A new GIS technician will help prioritize and target conservation activities and protection strategies in nine north-central Minnesota counties. The GIS technician will create GIS products, assessments, and watershed analysis to identify the high priority areas in each County or watershed in need of protection or restoration using all available data, including LiDAR, soils, land use, completed WRAPS and other datasets. These areas will then be targeted for future resource management efforts, Clean Water Fund projects, and additional conservation activities.
