Maritime Heritage Minnesota completed a side and down imaging sonar survey of 104 miles of the Mississippi River in Aitkin County, as well as a small portion of Itasca County when the river meandered across the county line, in August 2010.
This project will inventory and conduct compliance inspections on Subsurface Treatment Systems (SSTS) around eight lakes in Todd County. Lakes to be inventoried include Big Sauk Lake, Big Swan Lake, Little Osakis Lake, Fairy Lake, Lily Lake, Long Lake, Little Birch Lake and Moose Lake. Approximately 1,200 parcels will receive compliance inspections. Systems that fail to meet standards will be brought into compliance using procedures available in rule and ordinance.
Directly restore six miles of stream habitat, the hydrologic conditions needed to support 400 acres of habitat corridor, and effectively reconnect more than 20 miles of the Grand Marais Creek.
The Shell Rock River Watershed District’s Watershed Habitat Restoration Program will restore, enhance, and protect 5393 acres of critical shallow lake, wetland and stream bank habitat benefiting fish, waterfowl and wildlife populations, preserving an outdoor legacy for future generations.
Attempted to Acquire 108.5 acres of land adjacent to the 555 acre Janet Johnson WMA. The land is a mix of forest (29 acres), wetlands (35 acres on the NWI), and agriculture (44.5 acres).
Minnesota’s twelve regional library systems, which encompass more than 350 public libraries in all areas of the state, can 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 library system is eligible to receive a formula-driven allocation from the annual $2.2 million Minnesota Regional Library System Legacy Grant. Great River Regional Library (GRRL) is a consolidated regional public library system in central Minnesota.
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) are jointly responsible for convening a restoration evaluation Panel to annually evaluate a sample of up to 10 habitat restoration projects completed with outdoor heritage funding, as provided in M.L. 2010, Ch. 361, Art. 1. In 2012 the agencies assigned a coordinator for the Panel who is responsible for identifying the sample of projects to be evaluated by the Panel.
Common carp, introduced from eastern Europe over a century ago, are an invasive species in Minnesota that adversely affect water quality and aquatic communities, particularly in shallow lakes and wetlands. While solutions for suppressing common carp reproduction and abundance are emerging, controlling the movement of common carp, and therefore preventing reinfestation, has so far proved difficult.
Under the CREP partnership with USDA, 71 easements were recorded on a total of 4,365 acres to restore previously drained wetlands and adjacent uplands. The easements were accomplished with local implementation done by SWCD, NRCS and FSA staff within the 54 county CREP area and leveraged federal funds for both landowner payments and cost share for conservation practice installation.
The primary goal of the Marsh Lake Ecosystem Restoration Project is, “To return the Marsh Lake area ecosystem to a less degraded and more natural condition by restoring ecosystem structure and functions.” Work was completed on this project in March 2020 and consisted of a new water control structure to allow for water level management, restoration of the Pomme de Terre River to its original channel, and establishment of a fishway to allow for movement of native fish.
