We propose restoration and enhancement of prairie and savanna on WMA’s, SNA’s, and Native Prairie Banks in Minnesota and restoration and enhancement of bluff prairies on State Forest Land in southeast Minnesota.
CMSM opened its new permanent site with increased capacity to serve as an informal learning center that playfully engages children, families, and school groups in interactive experiences with the art and cultural heritage of southern Minnesota. With its current appropriation, CMSM is poised to strengthen its core as an institution that promotes arts and cultural heritage learning through continued
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.
The Equity Alliance MN will bring to life absent narratives of Latino, Hmong, Native, Asian, African American, and women of the Civil Rights Era in a collaboration among youth, social studies teachers, Full Circle Theater (FCT), and St. Paul Neighborhood Network. The narratives, researched by youth, will be transformed by FCT into a six person play that will be presented, video recorded, and distributed with accompanying curriculum written by social studies teachers for teachers across the Equity Alliance MN and the state.
Through the construction of new interactive exhibits and the creation of educational programming, the Duluth Children's Museum will highlight the community and culture of Duluth and the surrounding region. A climbable, playable model of Duluth's iconic canal lighthouses and an educational Ojibwe waaginogaan are among the planned new elements being added to the museum experience.
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.
Protect approximately 276 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 aims to strengthen its highly successful School Service Program by retaining a Program development coordinator, changing core interactive exhibits and creating new curriculum for pre-school and K - 5 students in ten northern Minnesota counties.
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.
With the ML 2015 appropriation The Conservation Partners Legacy (CPL) Grant Program awarded 70 grants, 22 of these grants were the metropolitan area. Over 24,000 acres were enhanced, 2,500 acres were restored, and 386 acres protected through these 70 projects. Thirty-eight counties had CPL projects completed in them through 47 unique organizations. The average project for the ML 2015 grants was $96,000, with few exceptions most projects were completed on time and many were under budget.
Through this grant, the Minnesota Land Trust protected 641 acres and 39,415 feet (7.46 miles) of critical shoreland and high-quality wildlife habitats in Minnesota’s Northeast region through permanent conservation easements. Landowners donated $2,100,500 in easement value through this grant, greatly leveraging by 131% the $1,609,000 in grant funding provided by the Outdoor Heritage Fund. The amount of shoreland protected exceeded that proposed for the grant by 299%.
We propose continued efforts to restore and enhance prairies, grasslands, and savannas on state protected lands (WMA, SNA, Native Prairie Bank) as well as on bluff prairies on State Forest lands in southeastern Minnesota.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will restore or enhance habitat to facilitate fish passage, restore degraded streams, and enhance habitat critical to fish and other aquatic life. Projects are prioritized based on ecological benefit, urgency, feasibility, and stakeholder support.
We will use a programmatic approach to achieve prioritized aquatic habitat protection, restoration, and enhancement of lakes and streams across all the LSOHC planning regions of Minnesota.
Acquire 910 acres of high priority habitats for designation as Wildlife Management Areas or Scientific & Natural Areas emphasizing Prairie Conservation Plan implementation and coordinating with partners. All lands will be open for public hunting, fishing and trapping.
This proposal would acquire forest lands of significant natural resource and strategic location values and then resell those same lands previously acquired with this grant, subject to a Conservation Easement. Process would be repeated with land sale proceeds.
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.
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.
Minnesota, home to the largest Somali population in the United States, lacks resources for students to access knowledge and representations of Somalia. The Somali Museum of Minnesota will offer students immersive field trips illuminating the history and arts of traditional Somali society by subsidizing admission fees, integrating elders as immersive guides on tours, and developing take-home curriculum materials.
Kingsbury Bay: completed engineering, design, permitting, and contracting. Began a multi-year restoration of a wetland complex impacted by excessive sediment and non-native species in 2019 (to be completed fall 2021).
Grassy Point: completed engineering, design, permitting, and contracting. Began a multi-year restoration of a wetland complex impacted by legacy milling waste and non-native species in 2019 (to be completed fall 2021).
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.
Metro Big Rivers Phase 7 will protect 280 acres (180 acres fee title and 100 acres conservation easement), restore 164 acres and enhance 613 acres of priority habitat in the big rivers corridors in the Metropolitan Urbanizing Area.
Metro Big Rivers Phase 6 will protect 245 acres (145 acres fee title and 100 acres conservation easement), restore 81 acres and enhance 489 acres of priority habitat in the big rivers corridors in the Metropolitan Urbanizing Area.
Minnesota Trout Unlimited volunteers and partners will enhance habitat for fish and wildlife in and along priority coldwater streams located on existing Aquatic Management Areas and existing public lands statewide, accelerating efforts to reduce the backlog of degraded public resources.
Minnesota Trout Unlimited volunteers, chapters and partners will enhance habitat for fish, game and wildlife in and along numerous coldwater streams on existing Aquatic Management Areas and other public lands around the state, while leveraging approximately $3 million for this.
DNR acquired a fee-title parcel designated as an Aquatic Management area in Itasca County. This acquisition protected 41 acres and exceeded the accomplishment plan goal. Nine trout stream conservation easements were also added to the AMA system. Two Forests for the Future easements with a combined total of 171 acres were acquired, achieving protection in priority watersheds while maintaining working forest in private ownership.
The Duluth Children's Museum is a place for every family to learn and play. Highlighting local cultures through new exhibits, programming, and partnership, the museum will draw new audiences.
White Earth has acquired all 2,034 acres and transferred them into fee title status. Initial assessment/inventory of habitat conditions and needs were conducted in summer of 2017. Most illegal dump sites were removed in summer of 2017. The parcel located east of Lower Rice lake adjacent to HWY 92, which contained remnants of ~ 5 acres of food plots, were planted into a pollinator prairie mix. This prairie planting makes the property compliant with the MN Buffer Law. This east parcel is in the planning stages of an early succession forest manage plan.
