The Avon Hills area is a unique 65,000-acre glacial moraine landscape located in Stearns County just west of St. Cloud. It has been identified as having statewide ecological significance and includes the highest concentration of native plant communities in the county – including oak and maple-basswood forests, tamarack and mixed-hardwood swamps, and wet meadows – and several rare plants and animal species, including American ginseng, cerulean warbler, red-shouldered hawk, and Blanding’s turtle. This appropriation is being used by the St. John’s Arboretum at St.
Partner: Preservation Alliance of Minnesota (PAM)
The Preservation Education Partnership, known as Cornerstone Academy, focuses on broadening and deepening the knowledge of preservation in Minnesota, inspiring people to take action to preserve historic places in their communities. The education initiative actively educates diverse constituents through place-based workshops and hands-on trainings.
The Prioritization, Targeting, and Measuring Water Quality Improvement Application (PTMA) connects the general qualitative strategies in a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Watershed Restoration and Protection (WRAP) and the identification of implementable on-the-ground Best Management Practices (BMPs). Leveraging geospatial data from the International Water Institute this application will be developed for two pilot areas within the Red River Basin.
The Minnesota Historical Society continues to build a culture of evaluation. An evaluation coordinator provides technical assistance and support to staff who evaluate ACHF projects and programs. An institutional Evaluation Action Team, along with consultation from Wilder Research, helps provide strategy and direction for evaluation capacity-building efforts. Interns from the Minnesota Evaluation Studies Institute at the University of Minnesota also support evaluation efforts that may include logic model design, evaluation planning, instrument design and data analysis and reporting.
MNHS continues to build a culture of evaluation. An evaluation manager leads institutional evaluation capacity building, as well as provides technical assistance and support to staff who evaluate ACHF projects and programs. An evaluation associate in the Education and Lifelong Learning Division facilitates evaluation efforts specifically in K-12 education and public programs. Three interns and numerous volunteers continue to support evaluation work.
"American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition," a traveling exhibition created by the National Constitution Center, opened on November 6, 2013, at the Minnesota History Center. The exhibition showcased how Prohibition began as a movement to improve morals, but ultimately spurred an era of disrespect for the law in Minnesota and around the country. The 5,000-square-foot exhibition was on display through March 16, 2014.
Advisory Task Force on Woman and Juvenile Female Offender in Corrections AKA Women's Writing Program of Advisory Task Force on the Women and Juvenile Female Offender in Corrections
