Grass Vadnais Lakes Regional Park, design and construct trail on east side of Vadnais Lakes, new bituminous trail and parallel turf trail; site and restoration improvements; improve storm water management; and site amenities.
Design and construct an early learning center at Tamarack Nature Center, and pedestrian connections, landscape restoration, signage, and other site amenities at Bald Eagle Otter Lakes Regional Park.
Build ADA compliant, year round, multi-purpose, paved trail and boardwalk around Empire Lake; Construct 2 camper cabins; Improve/replace Empire Lake dike outlet; Install benches & site furnishings; landscaping and MP-approved improvements. Includes design, engineering, construction & construction administration.
Crosby Farm Regional Park. Develop new east side entrance and parking area. Build new trail connections to Sam Morgan Regional Trail and other existing trails. Convert unused road bed to green space.
Minneapolis Chain of Lakes Regional Park, implement Brownie Lake Master Plan, develop a 1-mile trail and update lighting, vegetation, and drainage. Upgrade fishing facility, archery area.
At Bald Eagle-Otter Tail Lakes Regional Park, develop a volunteer corps of nature play leaders, gardeners and naturalists to support nature programming.
A professional preservation specialist was retained to develop a needs assessment, an action item list and a timeline for a complete disaster plan pertaining to the storage and gallery spaces that the SLCHS is responsible for in Duluth's St. Louis County Heritage and Arts Center.
The Middle Fork Crow River Watershed District is home to many natural resource organizations, all of which have a vested interest in the quality of local and regional resources. The District will provide financial assistance in the format of sub-grants to local partners to implement Best Management Practices to improve water quality.
Diamond Lake and its neighboring lakes feature numerous public water accesses, resorts, parks, and trails and are supported by the recreational and aesthetic values that good water quality provides. In 2006, Diamond Lake was placed on MPCA's List of Impaired Waters. Improving water quality in Diamond Lake to meet state standards is a top-ranking priority for the district.
Increasingly, people are turning to digital resources for answers to questions or as a starting point for research. MNopedia is a new digital resource for the public from the Minnesota Historical Society.
Working with the Minnesota Newspaper Association, local historical societies and newspaper publishers, the Minnesota Historical Society launched an innovative project to expand the number of contemporary newspapers available in digital form.
In the pilot phase of the project, the Society developed a methodology for digitizing, preserving and indexing newspaper content. Those processes will be tested with six newspapers and optimized in 2011.
Through this funding, the Minnesota Historical Society is advancing the work of making collections information available online. The Society is photographing 3D objects in the collections and completing corresponding descriptions that will be published online, allowing web site visitors to access an increasing volume of historical information.
Partner Organizations: Minnesota Geospatial Information Office (MNGeo), Minnesota Secretary of State, Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), Minnesota Association of County Surveyors (MACS), U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
This feasibility study will produce strategies for wetland restoration and ditch hydrology changes to reduce the amount of phosphorus and solids that drain into Typo and Martin Lakes, the Sunrise River and St. Croix River. Total Maximum Daily Loads and other plans have identified this area as key for pollutant reduction, and the study will determine scope and effects of potential projects, allowing the district to prioritize those that will have the great impact on water quality.
Minnesota’s natural resource professional workforce is much less diverse than its citizenry and many other professional fields. The benefits of a more diverse workforce are many, including the ability of organizations to increase innovation and creativity, attract higher qualified candidate pools, and ensure services that meet the diverse interests and needs of all citizens.
Minnesota’s natural resource professional workforce is much less diverse than its citizenry and many other professional fields. The benefits of a more diverse workforce are many, including the ability of organizations to increase innovation and creativity, attract higher qualified candidate pools, and ensure services that meet the diverse interests and needs of all citizens.
The commissioner shall develop a ten-year strategic state parks and trails plan considering traditional funding and the funding available under the Minnesota Constitution, article XI, section 15. The plan shall incorporate the 25-year framework developed by the University of Minnesota Center for Changing Landscapes. (HF 1231, Art 3, Sec 2)
The first goal of this project is that sixty nine American Indian youth ages 7-17 will increase their knowledge and practice of conversational Dakota through out-of-school time instruction by the end of the project period. Additionally, it is the hope that the Indian youth will continue to study Dakota and become fluent speakers. The project will provide experiential language instruction in conversational Dakota through cultural and recreational activities to these youth.
This program provides critical assistance to MN DNR Parks and Trails Division Regional and District offices to assist with renewal and rehabilitation efforts prioritized locally by field staff. Projects include the following types: State Park Building and Facilities Emergency Repair and Maintenance, Paved Trail Maintenance and Asset Preservation, and State Park and State Forest Trail Renewal. This project is a newly reorganized budget area that consolidates these three smaller project areas reported on in previous years.
With this appropriation, the DNR enhanced and restored over 11,700 acres of public lands or permanently protected private lands under easement. Projects under this appropriation included prescribed fire, prescribed or conservation grazing, woody removal, and enhancing plant diversity. With this appropriation we were able to exceed our target acreage by 38 percent.
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%.
DNR modified six dams to allow fish passage and enhanced in stream habitat on two rivers with this appropriation. Also, habitat enhancement project were completed on 28 Aquatic Management Areas and three metro parks, totaling 1,002 acres. Stream habitat work for this appropriation and LSOHC-funded projects from other appropriations was aided by funding for a stream restoration coordinator and interns. These positions aided in public outreach, survey work, design, permitting, contracting, and coordination with project partners on these complex projects.
In the summer of 2011, conservation practices were installed in the upper reaches of Dobbins Creek to stabilize eroding stream banks. We contracted with the non-profit Minnesota Conservation Corps to assist with the labor. The crew worked efficiently, the weather cooperated perfectly, and the project came together exactly as planned. The banks of Dobbins Creek were armored with native cedar trees and anchored to the banks. Once the project was complete, we cut the side slopes back to reduce future erosion in the newly protected banks.
Fifteen Minnesota cartoonists were interviewed, recorded and the recordings transcribed for an oral history project conducted by the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Interviewees were selected to represent the history of cartooning in Minnesota from the 1940's to 2011.
This training will be for State employees who have purchased this new type of discharge measuring equipment. This training is needed to ensure that accurate and complete discharge measurements are made which is supplied to Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Consulting firms, Local units of government, federal government and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) modelers.
