County-wide, complete natural resource planning, restoration and management and other land cover improvements, throughout the park and greenway system.
Partner: The Amherst H. Wilder Foundation
The Minnesota Historical Society and the Wilder Foundation worked with two new groups of existing and emerging community leaders in FYs14 and 15 to enhance their ability to act on important community issues.
During each six-month program, 25 participants explored neighborhood involvement and developed leadership skills to take effective community action.
The goal of this workplan is to define the major factors causing harm to fish and other river and stream life within the Nemadji Watershed. The work will complete the strength of evidence tables, will explain the linkages between biological monitoring results and water quality assessments, and will organize this information into a scientific evidence structure that supports the conclusions of the overall process. Multiple lines of evidence are reviewed and evaluated to produce a final evaluative report. This work order, the second of two, begins in 2013 and will be completed in year 2014.
The objective of this project is to manage streambanks and floodplains along Elm Creek in Martin County in order to improve water quality and reduce erosion. Elm Creek flows into the Blue Earth River, which flows into the Minnesota River. Elm Creek is currently listed as impaired for fish bioassessments, turbidity, and fecal coliform.
New State Trail development to complete key missing trail segments or to fulfill funding gaps in trail development projects. Potetial development to include multi-use trail, trail parking areas, trail waysides, or trail bridges. New trail development includes all associated engineering, design and construction, and is to incorporate current Best Management Practices.
-K-12 immersion site curriculum development.
-Fluent speakers in the classroom
-Develop testing and evaluation procedures
-Community-based training and engagement
Money was appropriated to the two Immersion Schools to develop and expand K-12 curriculum; provide fluent speakers in the classroom; develop appropriate testing and evaluation procedures; and develop community-based training and engagement.
To develop and expand K-12 Immersion site curriculum by hiring a culture-based education alignment specialist to work with the Niigaane curriculum development teams. These teams will work on relevant content based instruction for students in grades K-6, as the school does not serve grades 7-12. The project will also provide fluent speakers in the classroom.
This project combines the use of automated soil moisture probes for irrigation scheduling with diverse cover crop planting to reduce or eliminate leaching of nitrogen and other nutrients on cropland with an early season harvested crop in the rotation. The more efficient use of irrigation waters provides a secondary benefit: less withdrawal from the aquifers that provide recharge for the Mt. Simon-Hinckley aquifer.
This project will provide an interpretive assessment of nitrogen concentrations in Minnesota rivers and streams, including spatial and temporal trends based on historical data sets. The trends analyses will provide information useful for evaluating nitrogen reduction efforts in the past couple of decades.
DNR regional clean water specialists and area hydrologists work with local partners to provide technical assistance on implementation projects and related outreach, resulting in cleaner water through healthier watersheds, shorelands and floodplains. We help partners identify, develop, target, design and/or implement on-the-ground projects that improve water quality, enhance habitat and protect infrastructure. We help design restorations that provide lasting benefits by mimicking features of healthy ecosystems.
The goal of this project is to add dual endpoints to the turbidity section of the North Fork Crow TMDL so that it addresses the proposed TSS standards.
This program acquired 1 parcel for a total of 396 acres which fell short of our total acre goal of 410 acres by 14 acres. The Gun Lake parcel purchased in this appropriation illustrates how we are working together to protect only strategic habitat critical to improving sharp-tailed grouse populations. All acquired acres are within the northern forest region. We have a balance of $24,300 that will be returned to the Fund.
This Sharp-tailed Grouse Habitat Partnership protected 834 acres, primarily brushland, in Kanabec County for addition to the WMA system, providing multiple environmental benefits.
To contract with qualified professionals to prepare planning documents for the preservation of the Northern Pacific Depot, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, now used for multiple purposes including an Amtrak Station and city history museum.
This appropriation allowed the permanent protection of 977 acres in western Minnesota. These properties included 752 acres of remnant native prairie, 78 acres of associated wetland complexes, 8,950' of stream front, and 9,400' of lakeshore. Lands and easements purchased through this program by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) are transferred to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and become units of the Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge. These lands are owned and managed by the FWS.
Partner Organizations: St. Olaf College, Northfield Historical Society, and Carleton College
St. Olaf College will partner with the Northfield Historical Society and Carleton College to develop a mobile app and website, NorthfieldHistorical, as a nexus for the cultural heritage of Northfield.
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.
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. Northwest Regional Library System (NRL) is a consolidated regional public library system in upper northwest Minnesota.
To hire a qualified consultant to develop a Historic Structure Report that will help with the restoration of Norway Lutheran Church, St. Paul, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
To complete step one of a three year program titled Norwegian Day at Pennington County Fair. With the purchase of a stage and sound system, the fair will be able to host performances, workshops and a fashion show.
Regionally, nitrate nitrogen concentrations are continuing to increase in both surface water and ground water based on monitoring data. The increasing trends are thought to be attributable to over application of manure and commercial nutrients on row-cropped fields. In order for nitrate concentrations to decrease, nutrient management is needed throughout the basin. Two nutrient management specialists will assist landowners in the eleven-county Southeast Minnesota Area with writing nutrient management plans and implementing conservation practices for manure and fertilizer use.
Oak Glen Creek is immediately upstream of drinking water intakes for Minneapolis and St. Paul. When it rains, the runoff along Oak Glen Creek runs down bare soil cliffs that are 20 to 30 feet high, causing large amounts of sediment to erode into the creek and make its way to the Mississippi River. This corridor stabilization project will address multiple local and regional priorities and will benefit both cities source water projection efforts.
