All Projects

This program is designed to attract new audiences to Minnesota State Parks. Primarily young families and young adults that often look beyond state parks for their means of recreation, along with youth looking for an “extreme” or “adventure” experience. Programs will offer participants the opportunity to experience rock climbing, outdoors on real rock. This program targets the state’s climbing parks (Blue Mounds, Interstate and Tettegouche State Parks) by offering one “I Can Climb!” - rock climbing experience - every month from June to August at each of the climbing parks.

Many people are interested in paddling but don’t have the equipment or expertise to head out on their own. The “I Can Paddle!” program is designed to provide participants with first-hand opportunities to learn basic skills necessary for planning and taking a safe, fun and efficient canoe trip on both Minnesota’s lakes and rivers.

Permanently protected 496 acres (142% of our protect goal) within the Cannon River watershed; areas include wetlands, prairies, Big Woods forest, and shallow lake shoreline. This has reversed habitat loss, improved watershed function, and increased access to public lands.

Acquire 105 acres along the Cannon River and development of a biking trail, picnic shelter and shore fishing.

Caponi Art Park contracted with the Dakota County Historical society to survey and assess the general condition of the many materials in their collection documenting the history of the organization and it's founder, Anthony Caponi. As a result the Caponi Art Park organization now knows the size of the collection, the staff are properly trained and professional systems and policies have been implemented that document and present an informative, usable collection.

Carver County has completed a Fecal Coliform Total Maximum Daily Load(TMDL) and Implementation Plan (IP).

This project will increase the ability of the Carver County Water Management Organization (CCWMO) to approach local community partners and fund projects that treat stormwater runoff at the source instead of treating stormwater downstream at a regional pond or through other large scale best management practices (BMPs). The CCWMO will target three geographic areas that have demonstrated strong community involvement, effective partner relationships, and support for the goal of improving water quality of locally impaired waters or regionally significant water body.

Carver County Staff will monitor Silver Creek at station S000-843 following the basic monitoring regime. S000-843 is located in the Lower Minnesota subwatershed in southeastern Carver County. The monitoring will be conducted from 2014 to 2015 and include 13 site visits in 2014; collecting TSVS, TSS, Total P, Ammonia-N, TKN, NO2+NO3, Sulfate, Chloride, and Hardness as CaCO3 ten times. E.coli will be collected nine times in 2014.

This project saw the electrification of 20 campsites in Cascade State Park. RV camping is extremely popular, and the North Shore has very few electrified campsites within our state park system. These new electric sites satisfy some of the incredible demand for this amenity.

Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District (RWMWD) will improve water quality in Casey Lake and ultimately Kohlman Lake through the installation of approximately 25 rain gardens on priority properties identified as part of the Casey Lake Urban Stormwater Retrofit Assessment completed by Ramsey Conservation District (RCD) in 2011.

This 3-part project is developing and installing shoreline buffer projects on Ten Mile Lake, and the Roosevelt, Lawrence, Leavitt Lake area (RALALA).An additional part will correct roadway erosion contributing to sedimentation and water quality degradation on Buxton Road between McKeowen and Mann Lakes. Woodrow Township will work with Cass County SWCD/ESD and adjacent landowners to construct sedimentation basins and rain gardens and restructure the roadbed by reducing the slope to eliminate erosion and sedimentation.

Preservation of a historically important collection of photographs, taken for the purposes of insurance underwriting in the mid-1950's, was the goal of this project. Appropriate storage was researched and determined. Archival grade sleeves and storage boxes were obtained. An inventory of all photographs was performed, cataloged and entered into a professional software database. Digital imaging of the original photographic prints provides researchers with a sustainable alternative to viewing the prints.

Crow Wing SWCD is building off its success with Project Recharge and expanded the program to target Gull and Big Trout lakes. The SWCD selected these two lakes because of their declining transparency readings, 25 interested landowners, 2 adjacent resorts, and the community support, past partnerships, valuable fisheries, high ratio of forested land, and low ratio of impervious area in the lakeshed.The SWCD worked with partners to find willing landowners and businesses to complete the following types of projects:Swap Rock for Native Stock: Implement bioengineering to stabilize shorelines.

This project targets stabilizing 900+ feet of eroding shoreline in the Cedar Lake Farms Regional Park converting it into a healthy native buffer on Cedar Lake.The project addresses phosphorus loading by reducing erosion from unstable shoreline banks adjacent to Cedar Lake. This will increase infiltration, intercept upland runoff, and stabilize the soil at the water's edge to decrease erosion and the addition of phosphorus into the lake. It is estimated that a shoreline stabilization at Cedar Lake will reduce 12-25 lbs/ year phosphorus depending on the regression rate.

Cedar and Farm Island are large recreational lakes located in the Aitkin/Brainerd Lakes area. Both lakes are showing significant downward trends in water clarity. The trend coincides with watershed development that increases water runoff. This project seeks to reverse that trend before these lakes degrade further and become impaired. Changing land uses now through incentives is a very cost-effective way to manage these lakes.

The City of Grand Rapids replaced 26 existing light bulbs and fixtures with more energy efficient bulbs and fixtures that more closely resemble the original ones installed in 1895 in the Old Central School, listed in the National Register of Historic Places. 

In 2010, Legislation allocated Clean Water Fund (CWF) dollars to the Anoka Conservation District to initiate an 11 county metro subwatershed assessment program. The purpose of subwatershed assessments is to improve water quality, increase groundwater recharge and reduce runoff volumes. These goals are achieved by identifying opportunities in the subwatersheds most contributing to the degradation of the high priority water bodies and developing designs for Best Management Practices (BMPs) that treat stormwater runoff.

To prepare a Historic Structure Report for Glensheen, the Historic Congdon Estate, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

In May 2009, the Minnesota State Legislature asked the Minnesota Humanities Center and four state councils-the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, the Council on Black Minnesotans, the Chicano Latino Affairs Council, and the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans-to collaboratively create new programs and events that celebrates and preserves the artistic, historical, and cultural heritages of the communities represented by each council. 

The Latino population in Minnesota has grown dramatically since 1980, both in the Twin Cities and in Greater Minnesota, in cities such as Worthington, Willmar, St. James, Moorhead, Melrose, Long Prairie and Albert Lea. This project involves interviewing Chicano-Latino elders and community leaders from approximately a dozen Latino population centers in the state.

This project will complete a comprehensive and sustainable Major Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies report for the Chippewa River, its tributary streams, and the many lakes in the Chippewa River watershed that is understandable and adoptable by local units of government and residents.