Partners: Preservation Alliance of Minnesota (primary), Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community Vitality, University of Minnesota Tourism Center, Minnesota Design Team
"Minnesota and the Civil War," a new 5,000-square-foot exhibit opening at the Minnesota History Center March 2, 2013, will reveal the words and actions of Minnesotans who lived during the war. Minnesota responded first in the nation and, fighting in almost every major battle, Minnesotans were among the most tested and honored in the Union Army. Stories of soldiers and their loved ones at home will be drawn from the Minnesota Historical Society's collections: letters, diaries, memoirs and reminiscences that capture the personal impact of this tumultuous period.
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. Its mission is to make the rich historical resources of the state's public and academic libraries, archives, museums and historical societies available to students, teachers and the public via the web and also to preserve these resources for future generations.
The 2012-2013 appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund will allow the MDL to expand the number of historical resources online and continue its work preserving these digital resources.
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.
In July 2000 the Minnesota Zoo opened the Wells Fargo Family Farm to focus attention on the past, present, and possible future of the Minnesota family farm. Since that time, millions have visited the farm to learn about our farming heritage.
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 Minnesota Main Street’s statewide coordinating program provides participating local Main Street organizations with training, tools, information, and networking.
The Minnesota Humanities Center provided collaborative funds to museums and organizations celebrating the ethnic identities of Minnesotans. Legacy funds supported the following grants and projects between July 1, 2011 and December 31, 2013:
Dakota Nation Wide Conference ($500.00) The Dakota Nation Wide Conference brought indigenous people from across the continent together in traditional Dakota homelands to honor the past, share experiences and knowledge, and to heal. The conference included visits to sacred sites as well as speakers on a variety of topics.
The Humanities Center invests in building targeted partnerships with districts for greater, deeper, and more strategic systems change. At the same time, the Humanities Center continues to offer high quality, humanities-focused learning opportunities, both in-person and online, for individual educators.
To strengthen knowledge and understanding and to deepen cultural connections, the Humanities Center builds deep relationships and truly collaborates with individuals and organizations to create and share engaging humanities programs and resources. These humanities programs and resources help Minnesotans fulfill their civic responsibility of being informed and active participants in civic life. The Humanities Center also engages with communities and individuals in activities and dialogues to actively learn from the humanities and reflect upon issues raised.
The Humanities Center used a portion of the Legacy funding to provide administrative support for the Collaborative Funds, K-12 Education Initiative, and Community Partnerships programs. This support included general planning meetings, financial management and reporting, and website maintenance and development. The Humanities Center also committed to deepening its ability to evaluate programming by sending staff to external evaluation workshops and hosting a series of five internal workshops with evaluation expert Dr. Michael Patton.
Minnesota's Legacy Website is a site that follows the progress of all projects and programs receiving constitutionally dedicated funding from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment as well as the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.
Minnesota's Legacy Website is a site that follows the progress of all projects and programs receiving constitutionally dedicated funding from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment as well as the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.
Minnesota's Legacy Website is a site that follows the progress of all projects and programs receiving constitutionally dedicated funding from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment as well as the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.
This website enables citizens to view how Legacy and Trust Fund dollars are being utilized in their community. Additionally, the website contains links to all the project proposals received by the Legislative Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources and the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council; frameworks and plans that have been developed for each fund; and information on how members of the public can apply for funding.
The objective of this project is to build on previous efforts aimed at determining the public health risk due to virus contamination in Minnesota groundwater. The Minnesota Department of Health will examine the occurrence of viruses in non-disinfecting groundwater sources in Minnesota as well as evaluate the association between source water virus occurrence and community acute gastrointestinal illness.