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.
The goal of the Chippewa River Watershed Protection project is to protect unimpaired areas of the watershed. This will be accomplished through education and outreach with landowners and through implementation of best management practices.
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.
The Chisago Lakes Chain of Lakes Stormwater Retrofit Assessment has assessed 54 small watersheds for the optimal locations for best management practices. A long list of Best Management Practices has been identified, the next step is to design and install the most cost effective projects.
This study will test groundwater and drain tile waters at concentrated animal feedlot opperations (CAFOs) to evaluate the presence of intibiotics and hormones. Samples will be collected from monitoring wells, tile drain sumps, and tile line discharges.
Water samples will be sent to Axys Analytical Services as they are colleced from each monitoring site. A total of 18 samples will be generated in the field by pumping ultrapure water through the sampling system.
To hire a qualified architect to conduct a conditions assessment of the Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Fergus Falls Heritage Preservation commission, in cooperation with the Otter Tail County Historical Society, produced a brochure with the help of a qualified historian. The brochure consists of photographs, descriptions and maps to locate historically significant buildings and homes in the city. It was designed for use as a self-guided tour of the city's historical and architectural landmarks. The 40-page brochure is available through the Otter Tail County Historical Society, the Fergus Falls Heritage Preservation Commission and the Fergus Falls Convention and Visitors Bureau.
This is the third installment of a project to purchase microfilmed Minnesota city directories to add to the Minnesota Genealogical Society's research collection. Eighty-one rolls of microfilm, covering the post-1930's period, were acquired this time.
To implement a self-guided walking tour of the city of Pine River, Heritage Group North Inc. purchased thirteen kiosk displays and installed them at various historic building sites. Each kiosk, made of recycled plastic, displays historic information and photographs from an earlier period. In addition to the kiosks, a tri-fold brochure was designed showing the locations of the walking tour. They are available at the Pine River Chamber Information Center. The walking tour serves to remind residents and visitors of the inherent history to be found in many of the city's structures.
With a population of approximately 3,500, the City of Mora is the largest municipality in the Snake River watershed. Monitoring indicates the city's Lake Mora has high levels of total phosphorus, total suspended solids, and other pollutants. This project will develop a plan that identifies several stormwater best management practices (BMPs) for the City of Mora and surrounding rural areas to address these impairments. Modeling and analysis will be used to target projects where they can provide the most benefit.
The primary objective of this workplan is to demonstrate the ability of the City of Paynesville to meet the current and future wastewater treatment needs and achieve beneficial use of wastewater effluent, to replace the use of groundwater.
Minnesota ranks #2 in hog production and #1 in sugar beet production in the U.S., generating about 11 million tons of pig manure and over one million tons of sugar processing wastes annually. Presently there are not cost-effective methods available to deal with these waste streams other than land application, which usually results in nutrient runoff into ground and surface water resources.
The goals of the program are to evaluate the effectiveness of agricultural conservation practices, identify underlying processes that affect water quality, and develop technologies to target critical areas of the landscape. Funded projects provide current and accurate scientific data on the environmental impacts of agricultural practices and help to develop or revise agricultural practices that reduce environmental impacts while maintaining farm profitability.
The nine member Counties and Soil and Water Conservation Districts of the Greater Blue Earth River Basin Alliance (GBERBA) will be able to enhance our effectiveness to provide elevated levels of technical assistance, education and outreach in the areas of urban stormwater, wellhead protection, nutrient management, conservation agronomy, drainage and agricultural best management practices to reduce nonpoint source pollution in the Blue Earth, Le Sueur and Watonwan River Watersheds.
The goal of this project is to update existing bacteria and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) source inventory through desktop survey and field reconnaissance to identify and prioritize locations to reduce sediment and bacteria loading to the Clearwater River; then, design and implement best management practices (BMPs) at prioritized locations to reduce loading.
This project addresses the northeast St. Cloud drainage basin, the highest priority in the St. Cloud Stormwater Management Plan. St. Cloud has observed and documented ongoing sediment loading to the Mississippi River from the 367 acre watershed. The project is also a companion to the Green Roofs Blue Waters program in which several sediment reduction BMPs are being identified and installed along the Mississippi River.
The City of Cold Spring is looking to retrofit 24 acres of existing development within a 138 acre subcatchment of the City to improve the water quality of Cold Spring Creek, a designated trout stream. The large amounts of hard surfaces within the subcatchment area do not allow for rainfall or snow melt to soak into the ground. The stormwater carries with it sediment, bacteria, automotive fluids, and other pollutants. Cold Spring staff has frequently witnessed sediment plumes, the color of chocolate milk, at the storm sewer outfalls.
This program will restore and/or enhance in-stream and riparian fish and wildlife habitat in six coldwater streams located in existing Aquatic Management Areas and one Minnesota State Park. The proposed projects will improve habitat for both game and non-game fish and wildlife species uniquely associated with coldwater trout streams and provide expanded recreational opportunities for Minnesota anglers.
To replace the furnace and air conditioner with high-efficienty units and repair roof on the Coleraine Library, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
A vital part of the Minnesota Historical Society's mission is preserving and making available a wide range of artifacts and materials chronicling our state's history. ACHF support is allowing the Society to create a more comprehensive legacy for future generations through the acquisition of important Minnesota artwork, books and manuscripts.
Art:
Arthur Allie, Street Corner on W. 7th Street in St.
Twelve northwestern MN museums joined together to form the Minnesota's Historic Northwest group. The group, which includes: Beltrami, Clearwater, Kittson, Mahnomen, Norman, Lake of the Woods, Roseau, Pennington, Red Lake, Polk County Historical Societies, the East Polk heritage Center and the McIntosh Arts and Heritage Center collaborated to purchase supplies and to conduct workshops about artifact storage.
The AHS hired part-time, temporary staff to input data into their PastPerfect collections management system. This was Phase II of a cataloging project and the data had been gathered during Phase I of the project. AHS exceeded their goal by cataloging more than the estimated 1393 objects.
The PCHS updated PastPerfect Museum software from 3.0 to 5.0. This has improved the overall management and public accessibility of the collections.
Specifically, the software has made the Schoolhouse and the Military Uniform collections more searchable, traceable and available to researchers. Staff also have more complete information about what objects are housed in the Museum.
An accurate, up-to-date digital catalog of records was created when the Beltrami County Historical Society purchased and implemented PastPerfect software to monitor and inventory it's collections. A contractor was hired to oversee the project. Three interns were trained to assist with data entry, inventory methods and artifact photography. Paper accession records were entered into the database and missing data on previously digitized records was inserted.
Building on past efforts to catalog collections, the Three Rivers Park District continued the assessment and inventory of collections at The Landing in Shakopee. Inventories of 1, 015 artifacts from six (6) individual structures: the Wilkie House; the Graffenstadt House; the Kahl House; the Harms House; the Bank, and the Boesel "Red" Barn were conducted. All artifact information was recorded by PastPerfect software.
