The Soudan Iron Mine near Ely, Minnesota is no longer an active mine and is now part of a state park, as well as the home to a state-of-the-art physics laboratory at the bottom of the mine. The mine has also been discovered to contain an extreme environment in the form of an ancient and very salty brine bubbling up from a half-mile below the Earth’s surface through holes drilled when the mine was active. Strange microorganisms – part of an ecosystem never before characterized by science – have been found living in the brine.
Partner: Northern Bedrock Historic Preservation Corps
The Northern Bedrock Historic Preservation Corps develops lifelong workforce skills by connecting young people to the earth, cultures, and traditions through historic preservation work and outdoor service. In partnership with the Minnesota Historical Society, a feasibility study was conducted and a business plan developed outlining the initiative's purpose and goals, detailing the proposed scope and strategies, and demonstrating that the initiative is financially viable.
Historic Fort Snelling is an MNHS historic site targeted for revitalization. This revitalization is one of MNHS's current strategic priorities. The Historic Fort Snelling revitalization project completed a master plan in June 2015. The predesign phase kicked off in September 2015 and continues through FY16. The project manager position, which coordinates various MNHS educational programs and building activities, was partially supported with Legacy funds.
The Northern Bedrock Historic Preservation Corps and MNHS are refining the lessons learned from the fall 2014 demonstration project to increase the viability of a historic preservation activity built on a conservation corps model. The pilot phase focused on building
the capacity of the corps through diversification of revenue and expansion of service projects, skills training, and networks.
To coincide with the centennial of the entrance of the United States into World War I, MNHS is developing a series of public programs, school programs, publications, and online resources to increase awareness and understanding of the World War I era and its enduring legacy for Minnesota and its people. Special outreach to the veterans' community and members of the active military is underway.
The Hmong Oral History Project aims to document Hmong stories and perspectives and for these interviews to be used as a resource for the We Are Hmong exhibit. MNHS worked with Mitch Lee, director of St. Paul's Hmong Broadcasting Company (HBC), to interview 10 prominent Hmong individuals. The interviews were created in video format by HBC's film crew. The interviews will be featured on HBC and will also become part of the MNHS collection available online at the Voices of Minnesota website, collections.mnhs.org/voicesofmn/.
To hire a qualified consultant to perform an assessment of Lac qui Parle Historical Society's heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system.
To hire a qualified and experienced Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) engineer to evaluate how well the current system controls the museum environment.
To hire a qualified consultant to perform an assessment of White Bear Lake Area Historical Society's heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system at the White Bear Lake Armory.
Minnesota has 15.9 million acres of forest land managed by a variety of county, state and federal agencies, and private landowners for timber production, wildlife habitat, and ecological considerations. Forest managers rely on inventory data to make effective planning and management decisions. Because forests are continually changing through natural and human processes, forest inventory data is periodically updated. However, doing so is an expensive and time-consuming endeavor and, as a result, much of Minnesota’s forest inventory data is currently out of date.
This exhibit, on view May 23-Aug. 16, 2015, featured the Ebony Fashion Fair traveling fashion show that began in 1958. Over the next 50 years the fashion fair blossomed into an African American institution that raised millions for charity and helped the Johnson Publishing Company
Valuable three-dimensional images of ancient rock carvings at Jeffers Petroglyphs will be safely stored and also made accessible to the general public thanks to ACHF funds. Funds allowed staff to catalogue the images and make them accessible at the Jeffers site and through the Minnesota Historical Society's Collections Online website. The images of individual carvings will serve as an archival record, a research and conservation resource and an educational tool
The Oliver H. Kelley farm in Elk River is a National Historic Landmark, where visitors experience mid-19th-century Minnesota farm life. This historic structures report provides the foundation for future maintenance and preservation of the farmhouse while continuing to provide an important level of programming and public service. The Jeffris Family Foundation has awarded a matching grant of $25,000 to the Minnesota Historical Society to fund half of the estimated costs of a consultant to prepare the report.
Lake George is the premier recreational lake in Anoka County with above average water quality, a vibrant fishery, and a large regional park and beach that is among the most utilized in the county. Located in northwestern Anoka County within the Upper Rum River Watershed Management Organization (URRWMO), the Lake George Improvement District (LGID) was formed to tend to the lake's diminishing water quality and problematic invasive species.
The University of Minnesota’s Landscape Arboretum is the largest and most diverse horticultural site in Minnesota. It features gardens and natural areas representative of Minnesota and the upper-Midwest that can be explored using several miles of trails. Additionally it conducts fruit and plant breeding research to develop cultivars that have particular desired characteristics, such as cold hardiness or disease resistance. The arboretum has a long-term goal of protecting the entire watershed of which it is a part.
The Legacy Field Trip Support Fund helped 24,444 Minnesota students in 298 schools experience field trips at Minnesota historic sites and museums statewide in FY15. The high cost of transportation prohibits many Minnesota teachers from taking their students on field trips. The Legacy Field Trip Support Fund offsets transportation costs to all of MNHS's 26 museums and historic sites statewide.
Per M.S. 116P.09, up to 4% of the amount available for appropriation from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF) for a biennium is available for expenses related to LCCMR administration - this includes expenses pertaining to project selection, approval, and ongoing oversight of projects funded by the ENRTF, including new projects funded during the biennium and existing projects funded in previous bienniums. Historically, LCCMR has always used less than 3% of available funds for administration.
This project will install practices to improve water quality in Long Lake, Isanti Co. We will install at least 350 linear feet of restored lakeshore and 3,000 sq ft of native plant stormwater treatment with an emphasis on bioengineering techniques, native plants and locating buffers/swales/rain gardens at points of concentrated overland flow into the lake. By targeting properties that are eroding and/or with concentrated overland flow to the lake we will reduce suspended solids discharge by 6,300 lbs/yr and phosphorus by 0.6 lbs/yr.
Chambers Grove: restored a natural shoreline, improved fish spawning habitat, and planted native shoreline vegetation (completed in 2015).
Kingsbury Bay: completed engineering and design; began restoration of a wetland complex impacted by excessive sediment and non-native species (to be completed Dec 2020).
Grassy Point: completed engineering and design; began restoration of a wetland complex impacted by legacy milling waste and non-native species (to be completed Dec 2020).
To hire qualified consultants to conduct an architectural survey of Macalester Park for possible local designation or inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.
