All Projects

A prominent county courthouse, a Depression-era school building, an iconic Modern ice-cream stand, and a Northern Minnesota lakeside overlook are among the diverse sites named to the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota’s 2010 list of the state’s 10 Most Endangered Historic Places.

A photographic exhibit featuring the 10 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2010 was created with MHCG funds and displayed at museums, libraries, and other public places statewide throughout the year.

The goal of the project is the development of an overall strategy for reduction of turbidity/TSS, with sets of sediment reduction initiatives and actions for various sources, to address the Minnesota River Turbidity TMDL and the South Metro Mississippi River TSS TMDL.

779 audiotapes of Senate committee hearings were converted digital format, and a web page was created to access the online versions via the Legislative Web Site.  As a result, complete digital access of committee hearings and floor debates are available for both bodies back to 2004.  Important legislative debate is available to Internet users, regardless of the time of day or their locations.

The overall goal of this project is to perform water quality monitoring duties to accomplish MPCA’s SWAG monitoring efforts at the four sites listed in Section IV of this application for the Middle Minnesota River stream sites selected in Renville, Redwood and Brown counties and allow for the assessment of aquatic life and aquatic recreation use for those reaches of the minor streams.

The goal of this project is to establish data sets to evaluate the Aquatic Recreational Use of Mallard, Sucker, and Ozawindib Lakes in southeastern Clearwater County.

The goal of this project is to complete a two-year data set for physical, bacterial, and water chemistry sampling for the Intensive Watershed Monitoring Plan to aid MPCA’s assessment of the aquatic health of the Mississippi Headwaters(HUC 07010101) Watershed.

The goal of this project is to collect data, water chemistry and field parameters, which will be paired with biological data collected by the MPCA to assess water quality conditions at seven sites along targeted reaches within the Snake River Watershed and five sites in the Two River Watershed.

The goal of the project is to complete the dataset for the assessment of Aquatic Recreation Use in Cedar Lake by monitoring total phosphorus, chlorophyll-a, and secchi depth.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Accelerated Prairie Grassland Restoration and Management Program had a successful first round of funding from the Legacy Funds. The program worked through the growing pains and obstacles in getting a new program up and operational and was successful in enhancing nearly 5,800 acres of prairie and grasslands in eight of the ecological subsections of Minnesota. A contractor base has been established for this type of work statewide that needs to be evaluated and expanded on for future appropriations.

The table below provides a short summary of the acres and sites accomplished. We enhanced or restored 59,495 acres in 458 separate habitat projects.Project Type # Sites # AcresFencing for conserv grazing 6 721grassland conversion 33 1,124Invasive Species Control 43 1,599mowing 3 104Prescribed burn 214 48,368Restoration 13 123Woody Removal 146 7,457

This proposal impacts shallow lakes and wetlands in Minnesota through the design and construction of projects, enhancement work done by DNR roving habitat crews, and shallow lakes work identified and initiated through the DNR Shallow Lakes program.  Ten thousand acres of wetlands were enhanced by these activities.

Acquire 2.5 acres for Trout Brook Regional Trail

At Bald Eagle-Otter Lakes Regional Park, acquire 1.27 acre inholding at 1700 North County Line Rd.

Grant was used to purchase 24 microfilm rolls of the local newspapers in Clearwater County and fill in from neighboring counties newspapers.

The AgBMP Loan Program provides needed funding for local implementation of clean water practices at an extremely low cost, is unique in its structure and is not duplicated by any other source of funding.The AgBMP loan program provides 3% loans through local lenders to farmers, rural landowners, and agriculture supply businesses.

The Aitkin County Soil and Water Conservation District will partner with the Aitkin County Lakes and Rivers Association, Lake Associations, as well as other eligible community partners to reduce the impacts of stormwater runoff and keep water on the land. A mini-grant program to install rain gardens and native vegetation buffers along shorelines of lakes with a completed "Lake Assessment" supported by previous BWSR funding or a TMDL Implementation Plan will be implemented.

To provide access to arts and heritage education to fairgoers. The Aitkin County Agricultural Society enhanced their portable stage by adding additional equipment and a sound system. The fair was able to welcome three artistic performers, including a bluegrass band, a clown, and a caricature artist and purchase interactive items that are used in the new agricultural education center.

At 410 acres, Lake Owasso is the largest lake in the Grass Lake Water Management Organization (GLWMO) and one of the most pristine. Maintaining the lakes water quality is a priority for the GLWMO. A long urbanized area along Aladdin Street in Roseville currently lacks stormwater features to remove pollutants and reduce water volume. The rainwater from this area drains directly to a wetland which is hydrologically connected to Lake Owasso. Adjacent to the residential area is a 0.5 acre parking lot which drains into a ditch which eventually enters the same wetland.

This project will be a complete TMDL report for the Biota and Bacteria (E. coli) impairments for the Ann River Watershed. The water bodies associated with these impairments will then be removed from the MPCA’s impaired waters list, and implementation activities to restore the water bodies will begin.

A direct appropriation of $400,000 in FY 2010 for the Anoka Conservation District (ACD) is for the metropolitan landscape restoration program for water quality and improvement projects in the seven-county metro area (the law also provides $600,000 for this purpose in FY2011).

In 2006, Ramsey County Historical Society (RCHS) purchased an additional 1.5 acres of the original Gibbs farmstead located adjacent to the existing Gibbs Museum property in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.  This purchase provided the impetus for updating and expanding the interpretive programs at Gibbs Museum of Pioneer and Dakotah Life and creating a new master plan and landscape plan for the Museum. 

This project will provide condition monitoring and problem investigation monitoring at the following sites.
Mississippi River: Tributaries include Bassett Creek, Cannon River, Crow River, and Minnehaha Creek.
Minnesota River: Tributaries include Eagle Creek,Riley Creek, and Valley Creek tributary to the St. Croix River

Minnesota’s Legacy Amendment raises revenue for Clean Water, Outdoor Heritage, Parks and Trails, and Arts and Cultural Heritage. Libraries are beneficiaries of a portion of the Arts and Cultural Heritage Funding.

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.

To edit and revise a completed draft of Seven Acts of Mercy--a historical novel about the baroque painter Caravaggio--before sending it to a literary agent who has requested first look at the manuscript.