The proposal was to accelerate the protection of 1,220 acres of prairie grassland, wetland, and other wildlife habitat as State Wildlife Management Areas open to public hunting. Over the course of the appropriation, we acquired 11 parcels for a total of 1,484.05 acres which exceeded our total acre goal of 1,220 acres by 264.05 acres. Breaking down acres by ecological section we acquired 876 acres in the metro, 152 acres in the forest/prairie, and 456 acres in the prairie. We have a balance of $52,798 that will be returned to the Fund despite exceeding our acre goals.
Spring Park watershed is over 225 acres. Most of the watershed has been fully developed into a variety of residential, commercial, and institutional land uses. Project funds would be utilized to conduct a watershed analysis with the goal of identifying pollutant load sources and potential areas for structural stormwater BMPs for future retro-fit projects to reduce instances of localized flooding, reduce peak storm flows, and improve the quality of stormwater runoff discharging into Crocker's Creek.
To hire a qualified archaeologist to conduct a survey of the circa 1848-1853 William Warren homesite in Morrison County, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Albert Lea Lake Management project replaced the previous Albert Lea Lake fix-crest dam with a 3-in-1 structure that included a rock riffle dam, a lake level management structure, and an electric fish barrier. The benefits from this project include improved aquatic and waterfowl habitat, invasive species management, and improved desirable fish populations.
The Minnesota County Geologic Atlas program is an ongoing effort begun in 1982 that is being conducted jointly by the University of Minnesota's Minnesota Geological Survey and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The program collects information on the geology of Minnesota to create maps and reports depicting the characteristics and pollution sensitivity of Minnesota's ground-water resources.
This project will establish a groundwater monitoring network in the 11 county metropolitan area. The network will provide information about aquifer characteristics and natural water trends by monitoring healthy aquifers (non-stressed systems). The project will also develop an automated system that captures groundwater level and water use data. This system will enhance evaluation of changes in aquifers that are stressed by pumping from existing wells.
Many of the aquifers that are located under Otter Tail County are susceptible to contamination from nitrates and other water soluble contaminants due to the coarse grained soils of the area. These aquifers are used by municipalities and rural residents. One of the common agricultural practices in the area that can have an effect on these aquifers is agricultural irrigation. Over application of irrigation can directly lead to leaching of nutrients that can contaminate our groundwater resources.
Prior to European settlement more than 18 million acres of prairie covered Minnesota. Today less than 1% of that native prairie remains, and about half of those remaining acres are in private landownership without any formal protection currently in place. Through this appropriation the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will work with private landowners of high quality native prairie sites to protect remaining native prairie using a variety of tools. Approximately 200 acres are expected to be permanently protected through Native Prairie Bank conservation easements.
This program will protect 800 acres of new wildlife habitat in the Prairie, Deciduous Transition, and Southeast Bluffland ecological sections of Minnesota through fee title acquisition. Title of all lands acquired will be held by the State and designated as Wildlife Management Area open to hunting, trapping, fishing and compatible outdoor recreation uses.
Grassland ecosystems evolved to depend on periodic disturbances, such as fire and grazing, to maintain their health and stability. Periodic disturbances help control invasive species, add nutrients back into the soil, germinate plant seeds, enhance wildlife habitat, and more. In Minnesota habitat managers have used fire as a disturbance tool for decades but the use of grazing has been much rarer, mostly because of a lack of necessary infrastructure such as fencing.
PROJECT OVERVIEW The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages over 2,135 state Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) and Aquatic Management Areas (AMA) containing over 1.3 million acres. This appropriation is enabling the DNR to develop an information system that will better facilitate the management of the state's WMAs and AMAs by helping to identify needs; prioritize, plan, and carry out related activities; track and assess results of activities; and make the information available to resource management professionals and the public.
Design, engineer and reconstruct parking lots and driveways including demolition, grading, curb and gutter, paving, landscaping, parking lot lighting, trail lighting, utilities, retaining walls and associated storm water improvements at the Hyland-Bush-Anderson Lakes Regional Park Reserve, in particular, West Bush Lake Park. If project costs come in lower, City would utilize funds to install lighting on trail between Bandshell and Chalet parking lot.
County-wide, complete natural resource planning, restoration and management and other land cover improvements, throughout the park and greenway system.
County-wide, complete natural resource planning, restoration and management and other land cover improvements, throughout the park and greenway system.
This proposal accelerates the protection of 900 acres of prairie grassland, wetland, and other wildlife habitat as State Wildlife Management Areas open to public hunting.
This phase of WMA acquisition protected 1,102 acres of prairie grassland, wetland, and other wildlife habitat as State Wildlife Management Areas open to public hunting. With these 5 acquisition we have exceeded our planned acres of 680 by more than 400 acres. All of the acquired properties had wildlife habitat restored to the highest quality possible.
Minnesota Trout Unlimited and its partners, chapters, and volunteers enhanced habitat for trout, as well as other fish, game and wildlife, in or along 9 miles of coldwater streams around the state. We met our target for acres of enhanced habitat, by adapting to challenging conditions caused by the pandemic.
-Create and execute internship program for four Ojibwe students per academic year
-Strengthen and enhance Ojibwe curriculum for college levels 4 and 5
-Increase the number of near-fluent speakers of Ojibwe language
Overall Project Outcome and Results
The Minnesota Valley Trust acquired 78.5 acres of priority lands in Lincoln Township of Blue Earth County to expand the Lincoln Waterfowl Production Area for the Minnesota Valley Refuge and Wetland Management District, US Fish and Wildlife Service. Of the 78.5 acres, 21 acres were acquired with Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund; the other 56.5 acres were acquired with nonprofit / other, non-state funds.
Minnesota Trout Unlimited enhanced in-stream and riparian habitat for trout and other wildlife along more than 11 miles of coldwater streams across the state. We far exceeded our original targets, enhancing habitat on 135 acres rather than 78. We completed 16 separate stream habitat projects. Leveraging other funding and efficiently contracting projects allowed us to add habitat projects and adjust to changing conditions.
The Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge Trust is using this appropriation to purchase a total of approximately 80 acres of high quality grasslands and wetlands in Blue Earth or Le Sueur County to be managed as a federal Waterfowl Production Area (WPA) in the Minnesota Valley Wetland Management District.
To provide grants to local units of government to support parks and trails of regional or statewide significance outside of the seven county metropolitan area. Funding for this grant program is from the Parks and Trails Fund created by the Minnesota Legislature from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment passed by the voters in 2008. Beginning July 1, 2015 (fiscal year 2016), the Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission (GMRPTC) assumed management of reviewing and awarding these grants.
Work resulting from this appropriation resulted in the acquisition, development, and inclusion of 1,733 acres into the state Wildlife Management Area (WMA) system. We exceeded the projected acres by 56% and exceeded leverage by nearly 20%.
The goal of this project is to establish load reduction requirements for impaired waters and to develop restoration strategies to improve water quality for impaired waters and protection strategies to maintain the quality of water for water bodies meeting standards.
Overall Project Outcome and Results
To better understand the recharge dynamics of the Mt. Simon aquifer the western edge of this aquifer was investigated through observation well installations, water level monitoring, groundwater chemical analysis, and aquifer capacity testing. Most data collected for this study are derived from the 27 observation wells, drilled to depths of 70 to 718 feet, that were installed at 14 locations by contracted drilling companies.
This project acquired 84 acres of conservation easements along the Mississippi, Cannon and Vermillion Rivers. Through amendments, the acquisition acreage was decreased from the original proposal, due to landowner changes and project withdrawals. This project also restored/enhanced 220 acres within associated habitat corridors. Through amendments, the restoration/enhancement acres were increased from the original proposal by adding specific restoration projects.
