An exhibit on the early history of Gladstone was developed and implemented by the Maplewood Area Historical Society using grant funding, donations and a generous amount of volunteer labor and hours. A professional exhibit planner guided the research and planning for the displays. Ten (10) panels were printed and artifacts, maps and photographs were selected. Display cases and boards were installed. Interactive displays include a DVD presentation, a clothing try-on station and an old school desk on which to color pages.
Self-guided interpretive markers were installed to facilitate public access to the Glen Location historic resource at the Minnesota Discovery Center. Illustrations support the text and the markers are placed so that the viewer can see the resource described. The well researched and historically accurate signage allows visitors to learn about the history of the site and the significance of each component of the site.
The GVCC Pond Excavation Project will remove approximately 2,500 cubic yards of accumulated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) Level/Tier 3 contaminated sediment from the Golden Valley Country Club stormwater treatment pond.
The Thief River is the source of drinking water for the City of Thief River Falls. The river's other designated uses also include recreation and aquatic life. Water quality monitoring conducted by local agencies discovered that the Thief River is not meeting state water quality standards for both turbidity (muddiness) and dissolved oxygen. Each year, approximately 12,376 tons of sediment is deposited into the Thief River Falls reservoir by the Thief River. That is the equivalent of over 1,200 dump trucks full of dirt.
The Thief River is the source of drinking water for the City of Thief River Falls. The river's other designated uses also include recreation and aquatic life. Water quality monitoring conducted by local agencies discovered that the Thief River is not meeting state water quality standards for both turbidity (muddiness) and dissolved oxygen. Each year, approximately 12,376 tons of sediment is deposited into the Thief River Falls reservoir by the Thief River. That is the equivalent of over 1,200 dump trucks full of dirt.
In the early 1900s, a joint State and County drainage project constructed a 1 mile outlet channel to Grand Marais Creek to provide a shorter outlet to the Red River and effectively abandoned the lower 6 miles of the natural channel. In recent times, the ditch has eroded from its original shape to a channel of steep gradients and unstable banks. This has resulted in head cutting of the channel and nearly continuous channel erosion and bank sloughing with the effect of depositing up to an estimated annual average of 700 tons of sediment into the Red River.
Three consultants with historic preservation, architectural and structural engineering expertise were contracted to conduct a structural assessment of the Grant County Courthouse concrete slab floors. They collected and analyzed data through a detailed visual survey of the floor slabs, materials testing using non-destructive methods and performing engineering analysis. Recommendations were made for the retrofit of the floor slabs.
Per Minnesota Laws, 2009, Chapter 172, Article 4, Section 2, Subd. 5, "Funds in this subdivision are appropriated to the commissioner of the Department of Administration for grants to the named organizations for the purposes specified in this subdivision. Up to one percent of funds may be used by the Department of Administration for grants administration. Grants made to public television or radio organizations are subject to Minnesota Statutes, sections 129D.18 and 129D.19."
The drainage areas for the Root and Whitewater rivers are located in the karst region of southeastern Minnesota. Karst is defined as a landscape with depressions such as sinkholes caused by underground erosion that dissolves the limestone bedrock making this region home to one of the largest collections of freshwater springs in the United States and some of the best trout fishing in the Midwest.
The Great Rivers Network portal promotes the development, discovery and use of historical collections held by the Minnesota Historical Society and its partners across Minnesota.
Through this project, the Society provides support and training to organizations statewide for the preparation of digital collections data, while providing a technical infrastructure that enables access to various collection components, such as photographs, manuscripts, vital record indexes and library catalogs.
Minnesota’s Legacy Amendment raises revenue for Clean Water, Outdoor Heritage, Parks and Trails, and Arts and Cultural Heritage. Libraries are beneficiaries of a portion of the Arts and Cultural Heritage Funding.
Minnesota’s 12 regional public library systems, which encompass 350 public libraries in all areas of the state, benefit from a portion of the Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Through State Library Services, a division of the Minnesota Department of Education, each regional public library system receives a formula-driven allocation from the annual $3 million Minnesota Regional Library Legacy Grant.
The purpose of this project is to develop a framework to implement best management practices (BMPs) on ditches in headwater areas utilizing a partnership between drainage staff and the Greater Blue Earth River Basin Alliance (GBERBA). By replacing failing side-inlets with an alternative design, we can make strides towards our water quality and water quantity goals. The alternative inlets serve to prevent sediment and phosphorus from washing downstream and the design can also alleviate peak flows by temporarily storing stormwater.
$100,000 the first year and $103,000 the second year are for Greater Minnesota Parks and Trails Commission capacity building to undertake system planning and provide recommendations to the legislature for grants funded by the parks and trails fund.
Provide education, outreach and civic engagement necessary for the development of structural and non-structural best management practices needed to improve water quality within the Greater Blue Earth River Basin. General Education will have a regional focus to landowners. Outreach effort will be focused on regional officials, staff and landowners. Civic engagement efforts will have a smaller watershed scale focus with efforts resulting in structural BMPs being placed on the land and non-structural BMPs being adopted. Implementation of structural best management practices on the land.
This project will install nearly 800 linear feet of restored lakeshore with an emphasis on bioengineering techniques, native plants and locating buffers/swales at points of concentrated overland flow into Green Lake. By targeting properties that are eroding and/or with concentrated overland flow to the lake we will reduce suspended solids discharge by 16,697 lbs/yr and phosphorus by 1.3 lbs/yr.
Minnesota’s use of groundwater has increased over the last two decades. An increasing reliance on groundwater may not be a sustainable path for continued economic growth and development. The DNR is establishing three pilot groundwater management areas (GWMA) to help improve groundwater appropriation decisions and help groundwater users better understand and plan for future groundwater needs associated with economic development.
A pocket guide to historic locations in and near Redwood Falls was created to make people more aware of the historical and cultural significance of the buildings and sites in the area. This is the first collection of historic sites in this form to be made accessible to the public in the region. Copies of the Guide were distributed at City Hall, City Library, the Chamber of Commerce and Redwood County Historical Society.
The city hired a qualified historian to research and prepare materials for a Guide highlighting the historic resources of the city. The goal of the project was to make residents and visitors more aware and more appreciative of the historical and cultural significance of downtown Chaska's buildings. They include a National Register Historic District (Walnut Street), seven buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places and over 50 buildings listed on the Local Register.
The GTHS hired a conractor who: 1. Transcribed 32 recorded oral interviews of residents of the Gunflint Trail. 2. Conducted further interviews (to be recorded and transcribed as well) of many more area residents, some in their 80's and 90's. 3. Digitized all oral histories and transcriptions and entered them into PastPerfect Software.
During this grant funding timeline, this project only protected one 14-acre, permanent natural area conservation easement; but was able to restore and enhance way more than the anticipated 178 acres and 157 acres, respectively, of wildlife habitat, by restoring a total of 696 acres and enhancing 251 acres prior to the funding deadline.
The Halvorson Streambank Stabilization site is located three miles north of the City of Thief River Falls on the Thief River. The Thief River is impaired for low dissolved oxygen and turbidity. A TMDL study began in 2010. These impairments affect fish spawning habitat, recreation and the drinking water supply of Thief River Falls. Studies show that 63% of the sediment in the Thief River is coming from the banks of the river itself. Stabilizing this bank will reduce the turbidity and low dissolved oxygen impairments.
A hands on "walk through history" exhibit was developed by the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum that puts the Walnut Grove area in context with the residency of Laura Ingalls Wilder. The permanent exhibit features small town venues that include a general store, a bank, a post office and a telephone booth dating from the 1870's to the 1940's.
This project will gather watershed data necessary for the development of a Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) report to maintain and improve water quality for the Hawk Creek Watershed.
