Many of Minnesota's wetlands have been lost and the remainder degraded. Recent tiling and ditching have accelerated this situation. Through this program, shallow lakes and wetlands were designed, constructed, and intensively managed to benefit wetland wildlife and Minnesota residents. Habitat accomplishments from this proposal have enhanced 19,365 acres of wetlands and shallow lakes to benefit waterfowl and wetland wildlife. Work was accomplish through constructed infrastructure, cattail control, and a significant prescribed wetland burn.
This phase of WMA acquisition protected 1802.55 acres of prairie grassland, wetland, and other wildlife habitat as State Wildlife Management Areas open to public hunting. With these 16 acquisition we have exceeded our planned acres of 1362 by more than 400 acres. Breaking down acres by ecological section we acquired 282 acres in the metro and 1520 acres in the prairie. We have a balance of $52,798 of grant funds and $81,837.48 in program income that will be returned despite exceeding our acre goals.
This proposal will accomplish shallow lake and wetland habitat work that will otherwise go unfunded. This work is called for in the Minnesota Prairie Conservation Plan, Long Range Duck Recovery Plan, and Shallow Lakes plan.
CMSM will build upon the work that began with its 2015-16 appropriation by (1) Remediation and further development of exhibit areas that promote Arts & Cultural Heritage (ACH) learning (2) Expanding ACH learning opportunities for new audiences at off-site locations; (3) Engaging an outside Evaluation Consultant to help plan/implement strategies that meaningfully assess ACH learning outcomes and impacts; (4) Boosting the Museum’s capacity to serve more school/early learning groups.
This project will complete the installation of four nested wells to the Ambient Groundwater Monitoring Network and relocated one well in the City of Saint Paul. Braun Intertec will coordinate site access and oversee the well installation by a state drilling contractor.
The goal of this project is to apply the Hydrological Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) model to evaluate scenarios to support potential management actions and implementation in the watershed, construct Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) studies, and to develop a conceptual site model of the lakes for understanding phosphorus release.
Complete section 3 of Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) document for the Cannon and Zumbro Watersheds and provide input to sections 1 and 2.
Protect and restore approximately 80 acres in and near the Cannon River watershed, including wetlands, prairies, Big Woods forest, and river and shallow lake shoreline to reverse habitat loss, improve watershed function and provide access.
The Children's Discovery Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota will strengthen its acclaimed school service program by: (1) continued leadership of a new Program Director retained on January 1, 2016 (2) creating a new (Minnesota built) core interactive exhibit; (3) developing new curriculum for pre-school through 3rd grade students in ten northern Minnesota counties.
The Conservation Partners Legacy Grant Program will be managed by the Department of Natural Resources to provide competitive matching grants of up to $400,000 to local, regional, state, and national non-profit organizations and government entities.
With this appropriation, the DNR enhanced and restored over 11,700 acres of public lands or permanently protected private lands under easement. Projects under this appropriation included prescribed fire, prescribed or conservation grazing, woody removal, and enhancing plant diversity. With this appropriation we were able to exceed our target acreage by 38 percent.
DNR modified six dams to allow fish passage and enhanced in stream habitat on two rivers with this appropriation. Also, habitat enhancement project were completed on 28 Aquatic Management Areas and three metro parks, totaling 1,002 acres. Stream habitat work for this appropriation and LSOHC-funded projects from other appropriations was aided by funding for a stream restoration coordinator and interns. These positions aided in public outreach, survey work, design, permitting, contracting, and coordination with project partners on these complex projects.
We restored 2,081 acres of grassland and enhanced 42,425 acres of grassland for a total of 44,506 acres of wildlife habitat across 329 sites with these funds.
Building on the exhibit development community engagement process carried out through four successive Legacy grants, the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota will use the 2014-15 direct appropriation to complete fabrication and installation of several exhibit components for its permanent facility. Local resources, volunteers, and community involvement will be combined with museum expertise to complete this process.
The program that we are proposing has three components; 1) weekly arts club that provides arts education and peer mentoring for youth that are designed to introduce youth to traditional Somali arts. 2) A Somali arts show and cultural learning opportunity taking place at The Southern Theater in Minneapolis through The Southern’s Arts Residency and Art Share Programs. 3) Showcasing Somali art at the Somali Independence day Festival in 2017.
Floodplain forest enhancement projects were implemented at 10 sites covering 292 acres along the Mississippi River from Red Wing to the Iowa border. We completed site preparation; controlled invasive species; planted trees and shrubs using a combination of direct seeding, bare root seedlings and large, potted trees; protected trees from deer and voles; completed post tree planting weed control; and installed willow and cottonwood cuttings. Outcomes varied by site, ranging from poor to excellent tree seedling survival.
Reed canary grass is preventing natural regeneration of trees and threatening floodplain forests and wildlife along the Mississippi. This effort builds on previous LSOHC funding to control reed canary grass and plant trees as part of a long-term effort.
The focus of this project will be on protection efforts to maintain or improve the water quality of Forest Lake by reducing phosphorus loads to the lake, especially from storm water. The two main objectives of this project are to compile and make minor updates to a large body of diagnostic work that already exists for Forest Lake, and to develop a comprehensive, site-specific implementation plan for best management practices (BMPs).
The Minnesota DNR and the Minnesota Forest Resources Council work with forest landowners, managers and loggers to implement a set of voluntary sustainable forest management guidelines that include water quality best management practices (BMPs) to ensure sustainable habitat, clean water, and productive forest soils, all contributing to healthy watersheds. This project will monitor the implementation of these forest management guidelines and BMPs on forested watersheds in MN.
The purpose of this project is to develop a framework to implement best management practices (BMPs) on ditches in headwater areas utilizing a partnership between drainage staff and the Greater Blue Earth River Basin Alliance (GBERBA). By replacing failing side-inlets with an alternative design, we can make strides towards our water quality and water quantity goals. The alternative inlets serve to prevent sediment and phosphorus from washing downstream and the design can also alleviate peak flows by temporarily storing stormwater.
Minnesota’s use of groundwater has increased over the last two decades. An increasing reliance on groundwater may not be a sustainable path for continued economic growth and development. The DNR is establishing three pilot groundwater management areas (GWMA) to help improve groundwater appropriation decisions and help groundwater users better understand and plan for future groundwater needs associated with economic development.
The Minnesota River Basin Hydrological Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) models simulate sediment erosion and transport, however these models periodically need to be adjusted to be consistent with the most recent sources of information regarding sediment distribution and loading rates. The goal of this project is to refine the sediment source partitioning and simulation in the Minnesota River basin using all relevant available sources of information.
The Minnesota River Basin Hydrological Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) models, which simulate flow and pollutant transport, need to be refined to be consistent with the most recent external sources of land use, hydrologic response, and surface flow attributions. The primary goal of this work is to refine the hydrologic calibration in the Minnesota River basin.
The goal of this project is to finalize the draft Lake Pepin Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Report, issue it for public comment, address comments, and finalize the report. Lake Pepin is impaired by high levels of nutrients that cause excessive growth of algae. High levels of sediment, carried in by major river systems, also affect the lake. The sediment is filling in the lake at a much faster rate than before Minnesota was settled and intensely farmed. Nutrients and sediment are distinct yet inter-related pollutants, and are being addressed in separate TMDL reports.
The goal of this project is to gain information about the amount and sources of phosphorous flowing into Lake St Croix by implementing additional water quality monitoring and/or to reduce the amount of phosphorous flowing into Lake St Croix by implementing phosphorous reduction activities.
This project will plan, implement, and report on a community engagement strategy for identifying community/landowner opportunities, obstacles, and opinions on land management and water quality that will result in the identification of Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) input for the Sibley, Nicollet, Renville, McLeod, Rice, and LeSueur County areas of the Lower Minnesota River watershed.
The project will plan, implement, and report on a community engagement strategy for identifying community/landowner opportunities, obstacles, and opinions on land management and water quality that will result in the identification of Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS) input for the Sibley, Nicollet, Renville, McLeod, Rice, and Le Sueur County areas of the Lower Minnesota River watershed.
This project will establish a groundwater monitoring network in the 11 county metropolitan area. The network will provide information about aquifer characteristics and natural water trends by monitoring healthy aquifers (non-stressed systems). The project will also develop an automated system that captures groundwater level and water use data. This system will enhance evaluation of changes in aquifers that are stressed by pumping from existing wells.
In Phase 5, Friends of the Mississippi River and Great River Greening enhanced 277 acres at six sites, exceeding their goals by 48 acres (21%). The Minnesota Valley Trust acquired fee title to 32.4 acres for two high-priority additions to the Rapids Lake Unit, Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. The Minnesota Land Trust and the Trust for Public Land were unable to finalize their easement and fee title acquisitions when landowners changed their minds. OHF grant funds spent were leveraged more than 110% with $1,343,128 in other funds.
The Metro Big Rivers (MBR) partners successfully completed their work with the Phase 7 / ML2016 OHF appropriation. MBR exceeded original acreage goals by 14% and completed work on a total of 1,199 acres. Partners protected 145 acres through fee title acquisition and 194 acres through permanent conservation easement, restored 241 acres and enhanced 619 acres.
MBR 7 expended 99% of the OHF funds granted and leveraged the grant by 49% with almost $2 million in other funds.
This project is to create a contact strategy for community/landowner opportunities, obstacles, and opinions on land management and water quality that will result in the identification of restoration and protection strategies for the Minnesota River Mankato watershed in Redwood, Blue Earth, Brown, Cottonwood and LeSueur Counties.
This project addresses five reaches of the Minnesota River that have aquatic recreation impairments as identified by high concentrations of E. coli. The project will describe the water quality impairments, complete pollutant source assessments, establish loading capacities and allocations for the impairments, and develop implementation strategies.
Arts and Cultural Heritage funding will allow us to pursue three major initiatives between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017: (1) Offer special exhibits and programs promoting creative & critical thinking in our main museum in St. Paul. (2) A Pop-up satellite Museum at the Mall of America featuring four changing exhibits to attract thousands of new visitors. (3) Changing exhibits and access at Minnesota Children’s Museum-Rochester to ensure inclusive family experiences for the Rochester community.
The DNR has been charged by the legislature to develop rules that protect and manage the Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area (MRCCA) for natural resource, economic development, transportation, historic preservation, and other values. This project engages stakeholder groups in a public process to balance regulatory protections with local flexibility and control.
The goal of this project is to complete the construction, calibration, and validation of a Hydrological Simulation Program – FORTRAN (HSPF) watershed model for a portion of the Mississippi River-Lake Pepin watershed.
