This project aims to improve water quality in the Middle Fork Crow River, as outlined in Middle Fork Crow River Watershed District 10 year Comprehensive Plan. This will be done by evaluating current water quality impacts, implementing best management practices already in the planning stages, and by promoting BMP’s to landowners with the support of a low interest loan program.
This project is to create a contact strategy for community/landowner opportunities, obstacles, and opinions on land management and water quality that will result in the identification of restoration and protection strategies for the Minnesota River Mankato watershed in Redwood, Blue Earth, Brown, Cottonwood and LeSueur Counties.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is using a watershed approach to protect and restore waters of the state. This approach encompasses all of the 80 major watersheds over a ten year period. The process includes intensive biological and chemical monitoring followed by an assessment report. The assessment results determine which lakes and stream reaches are in need of restoration and which are in need of protection.
The Cannon River Watershed includes approximately 941,000 acres of primarily agricultural landscape. Because of its large size, four subwatershed lobes are often referenced: Straight River Watershed, Upper Cannon River Watershed, Middle Cannon River Watershed, and the Lower Cannon River Watershed. Rice County is proposing utilizing LiDAR topographic data to determine areas of highest importance for Best Management Practice (BMP) Implementation for sediment within the Middle and Lower Cannon subwatersheds.
This project will implement five stormwater control BMPs and educate watershed landowners regarding proper management of stormwater control. These projects will serve to change behavior and perceptions of how stormwater may be managed, and demonstrate how easy changes may have a positive impact on land stewardship and water quality protection. 100 rain barrels will be distributed at a reduced cost to critical landowners.
To expand on the weekly language classes already offered at the Indian center by providing an immersion language class where only the targeted language is spoken. This will provide participants with the opportunity to, not only become proficient in the targeted language, but also to gain a deep understanding of its culture, values, spirituality.
A state Breeding Bird Atlas is a comprehensive systematic field survey of the occurrence, distribution, diversity, and breeding status of bird species within every region of a state. Atlases are mainly used to set conservation priorities, develop conservation plans, and guide habitat protection, restoration, and management efforts – in addition to being useful for recreational bird watching. Minnesota is one of only seven states in the country that has yet to complete a Breeding Bird Atlas.
Morton, Minnesota is home to many unique natural, cultural, and historic sites, including sites from the US-Dakota War and some of the oldest exposed rock, called Morton Gneiss, on the planet. The City of Morton is using this appropriation to develop a municipal site along the Minnesota River in Morton to be converted into a public canoe landing and campground and a trail connection between the Minnesota River State Water Tail and natural and cultural sites in the area including the Morton Outcrop Scientific and Natural Area.
Many of the most experienced conservation practitioners at local soil and water conservation districts throughout the state are nearing retirement, and with their departure will go much of their practical, on-the-ground knowledge, experience, and skills. Meanwhile, college students seeking to be the next generation of conservation practitioners have knowledge of emerging technologies and other innovations that can improve and contribute to current conservation efforts.
Pollinators play a key role in ecosystem function and in agriculture, including thousands of native plants and more than one hundred U.S. crops that either need or benefit from pollinators. However, pollinators are in dramatic decline in Minnesota and throughout the country. The causes of the decline are not completely understood, but identified factors include loss of nesting sites, fewer flowers, increased disease, and increased pesticide use.
Terrestrial invasive species are species that are not native to a location and that pose critical ecological and economic challenges once they become established in that location. They come in the form of plants, animals, insects, pathogens, and microbes that can cause harm to natural habitat, urban landscapes, and agricultural systems. The problems posed by terrestrial invasive species continue to grow as existing infestations expand and new exotic species arrive, many of which are poorly understood.
Funds are appropriated for programs and purposes of the Minnesota Humanities Center. The humanities remind us of where we have been, bring knowledge and insights to current life, and help us envision where we are going. We work to articulate and strengthen what connects us, rather than what divides us.
Farming is at the heart of Minnesota’s history and development, yet today more than half of all Minnesotans live in urban or suburban settings with little or no exposure to Minnesota’s agricultural history or culture. The Wells Fargo Family Farm provides an opportunity for the Zoo’s 1.3 million guests to experience a working farm, directly interact with farm staff and animals, and learn to appreciate agricultural food production.
Enrollment of private lands in conservation programs can provide important natural resource and other public benefits by taking the lands out of production so that they can provide various wildlife and ecological benefits. This appropriation is enabling Minnesota's Board of Soil and Water Resources to provide grants to local soil and water conservation districts for employment of technical staff to assist private landowners in implementing conservation programs.
The laws governing the drainage of Minnesota wetlands and other areas have been largely unchanged for more than a century. However, many other laws protecting public waters and wetlands and governing water use have been enacted as concerns about water quality and land use increase. Often these laws conflict. The Smith Partners Law Firm is analyzing the legal and policy issues surrounding Minnesota's drainage laws in order to make recommendations to the legislature on updating the laws to reflect the realities of the 21st century.
Legacy-funded programs at the Minnesota Humanities Center demonstrate our determination to collaboratively create humanities programs for the broader public by forging strong partnerships with local, state, and national cultural organizations. These programs show the broader community how the humanities can be used to address issues important to their everyday lives. Each activity, event, and program shares an Absent Narrative with participants, which help residents across the state engage in a more sophisticated understanding of their community.
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.
Partner Organizations: Preservation Alliance of Minnesota, Department of Employment and Economic Development, University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community Vitality.
The Minnesota Main Street Program is a comprehensive strategy that helps Minnesota communities preserve historic buildings, while providing training, tools and support for commercial revitalization. ACHF funding has enabled the re-launch of this program.
The new Minnesota Naturalist Corps, year-round naturalists and seasonal naturalists will be added at the busiest seasonal parks and trails to expand conservation education programming and increase overall attendance at interpretive programs. The Minnesota Naturalist Corps will offer more interpretive programs as directed by new legislative guidelines.
The Minnesota Digital Library (MDL) is a statewide, multi-institutional initiative to make the rich historical resources of the state’s public and academic libraries, archives, museums and historical societies available to the public via the web and to preserve the resources for future generations.
The model for Minnesota bluegrass has changed from attending stage shows to community involvement. Once a part of Country Music, it became allied with the folk music revival, and the repertoire changed. Eleven experienced bluegrass music participants were interviewed who reflect on the evolution of Minnesota Bluegrass music, as well as the changes in how the music is accessed. The interviews reveal specifics of the structure of bluegrass performance, business and sociability as they evolved from the end of WWII to the current scene.
To costume and equip seven mannequin figures for a major exhibit commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and Minnesota's tragic Dakota War of 1862 in a new 528 square foot gallery.
Vermilion Community College Library added 73 volumes and 33 titles to their collection.
The library is working on building a collection covering all eras of Minnesota history, as well as the geographic and ethnic distribution of Minnesota's population to support the outside reading required in Minnesota History.
There are 67 Minnesota State Parks and 7 Minnesota State Recreation areas that each have facilities to serve outdoor recreation users. Funds in this category are used for developing new facilities and include visitor centers, trail centers, roads, parking lots, bridges, campgrounds, and so on.
This program area provides for minor campground improvements and adjustments across the system of State Parks and State Recreation Areas; includes opportunities for replacement of fire rings, parking spur leveling, erosion control at campsites, vegetation management, and improved signing. This program report will now be part of "Renewal and Rehabilitation of State Parks and State Recreation Areas"
The Center for Changing Landscapes was directed by the Minnesota State Legislature to create a long-range framework for an integrated statewide parks and trails system that provides information on the natural resource-based recreational opportunities available throughout the state. The detailed framework must include an inventory of existing regionally and statewide significant parks and trails, respond to recreational trends and demographic changes, and identify underserved areas, overused facilities, and gaps in the current parks and trails system (Minn. Gen. Laws 64.8 § 6).
