Our program will protect, in perpetuity, native prairie tracts in western Minnesota. Fee title tracts will be the top priority for the funding. Funding will be used for the purchase of habitat easements if the funding cannot be used entirely on fee title tracts. The funding will purchase approximately 525 acres of native prairie in fee title, 1,583 acres of habitat easements, or a combination of the two.
The USGS and the MPCA will determine the relative contributions of endocrine active chemicals (EACs) and pharmaceuticals from WWTP effluent to aquatic ecosystems. The primary objective is to measure the concentrations of EACs and pharmaceuticals in water samples collected from the effluents from 20 WWTPs and at sites upstream and downstream of WWTP effluent discharge in Minnesota during 2009-2011.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has partnered with the USDA National Agricultural Statistic Service (NASS) and University of Minnesota researchers to collect information about fertilizer use and farm management. Partners have pioneered a survey tool for characterizing fertilizer use and farm management on a regional and statewide scale. Surveys are conducted over the phone. NASS staff are highly skilled at obtaining critical information over the phone with minimal time and burden on the producer.
