Bluestem Prairie

Julie Rosen and Bob Gunther go to bat for Rapidan Township--where's Jeremy Munson?

A reader who lives and votes in Minnesota House District 23B sent us an email of a link to a recent Mankato Free Press article with the subject line: "What's Missing?"

The email's author thinks it's his state representative, New Republican House Caucus Member Jeremy Munson, rural Lake Crystral, is missing in action on a measure important to Rapidan Township's struggle with FEMA, a federal agency. After looking at the issue, we think our reader is on to something.

In Rapidan Township seeks state help with FEMA, Trey Mewes reports at the Mankato Free Press:

Rapidan Township is reaching out to lawmakers this session to deal with a $238,000 bill from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Township officials have reached an impasse in a yearslong disagreement with FEMA officials over the 563rd Lane reconstruction project completed in 2014.

The road, which winds around the Maple River, needed to be moved west and northwest after a series of storms in 2010 washed away parts of the nearby riverbank. As part of a presidential disaster declaration, FEMA released funds to local officials in 2011 to begin construction.

The project had an extra bump to smooth over, however. Local officials needed to ensure the road wouldn't encroach on a potential nearby archaeological dig site.

County officials and engineering firm ISG say the road is well within its boundaries, but FEMA officials cross-checked the road position with Google Maps and declared the road project violated its standards.

ISG consultants and local officials say they hired surveyors as part of their effort to stay out of the potential dig site. Despite two attempts to appeal FEMA's ruling and repeated attempts by the township to get FEMA representatives to visit the road, federal officials stand by their ruling. As a result, FEMA is requiring the township to repay the federal portion of the $340,000 project — about $238,000.

"If they don't return it, they're not eligible for any funding in the future," Blue Earth County Emergency Management Director Mike Maurer told lawmakers in a Senate hearing earlier this month.

The documents about the appeal of FEMA's claims about the archaeologically sensitive site are available online here. The conditions are set by the National Historic Preservation Act. The Appeal Analysis notes:that the work was checked with "Google Images depicting the Facility’s location before the disaster and after completion of the relocation project":

Upon review of the second appeal documentation, FEMA concludes that the Applicant deviated from the approved SOW, in both constructing the retaining wall and moving the Facility 50 feet beyond that which was approved by FEMA.[11]  In addition, excavation at specific locations cut into the archaeological site.  This is confirmed using Google images depicting the Facility’s location before the disaster and after completion of the relocation project.  As such, both federal Regulation and FEMA guidance required the Applicant to notify and receive approval from FEMA prior to the start of the additional excavation and construction.  Regardless of the Applicant’s claim that it was instructed that it did not need to notify FEMA prior to the start of the additional work, and that it should wait until closeout to submit additional costs, there is no support that FEMA offered this advice, nor would such obviate the Applicant’s need to comply with federal law and FEMA policy.[12]   

National Historic Preservation Act § 106 Compliance

When providing federal grant assistance, FEMA must consider EHP laws, regulations and Executive Orders that apply to the use of federal funds prior to the start of a PA project.[13]  Pursuant to NHPA § 106, FEMA must consider the effects of proposed federally funded projects on historic properties prior to approving or expending grant assistance and provide the Advisory Council the opportunity to comment on the proposed actions.[14]  At a minimum, FEMA must identify historic properties, evaluate the effects of a potential PA project on historic properties, and consult with the SHPO, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO), and other interested parties prior to the start of construction.[15]

FEMA alerted the Applicant to the archaeological sensitivities of the relocation project and the need to notify FEMA of any deviations of the approved SOW prior to construction.  However, even if FEMA had not notified the Applicant of such historic preservation requirements, it is the Applicant’s responsibility to comply with all terms of the grant award.[16] Here, the Applicant did not notify FEMA of the additional work until after it was completed.  The Applicant’s failure to notify FEMA that additional work was necessary prevented FEMA from completing NHPA § 106 requirements, thus, jeopardizing federal grant assistance.

FEMA had visited the site prior to the work, according to appeal documents online:

From September 22 through October 14, 2010, severe storms and flooding impacted Blue Earth County, Minnesota where the Township of Rapidan (Applicant) is located.  As a result of the disaster, the Applicant’s roadway, 563rd Lane, (Facility) suffered severe embankment washouts in four different locations.  Noting that the damaged road was in imminent danger of collapse and presented an immediate threat to safety as a result of the river changing course and cutting into the bank of the road, the Applicant requested that the road be permanently relocated 50 feet away from the river.  After conducting a site visit, FEMA agreed that it was not physically possible to repair the road in its existing location.  As such, FEMA prepared Project Worksheet (PW) 1485 documenting costs in the amount of $264,341.00 to employ contract labor and equipment to relocate the road and construct it according to the Applicant’s specifications and in compliance with all federal and state legal and regulatory requirements.  Due to the Facility’s close proximity to an archaeologically sensitive site (“the hill”), FEMA predicated grant assistance for the Facility on further environmental and historic preservation (EHP) evaluations and consultations should the Applicant deviate from the FEMA-approved scope of work (SOW). This was documented in the FEMA Record of Environmental Consideration (REC).[1]

Sites such as these are not a matter of a potential archeological dig--as the Free Press puts it--but are culture for native people, I have been told by a Tribal Historic Preservation Officer here on the Lake Traverse Reservation when inquiring about another matter. The Appeal documents mention tribal interests several times, so this might not be a place for a "dig" but cultural use.

The Free Press article continues:

There's no timeline to pay the money back, but the township can't produce the cash on its own.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Julie Rosen, R-Vernon Center, is sponsoring the bill in the Senate [SF843] . Rep. Bob Guenther(sic), R-Fairmont, is authoring similar legislation [HF615 ] in the House.

"Those poor people," Rosen said. "There's no way they can foot that bill on their own."

Rosen and other local officials told lawmakers the township's disagreement isn't the first time FEMA has taken issue with local road projects. A similar situation occurred in Roseau County several years back, which Sen. Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said is still causing financial issues for local officials there.

Rosen's bill [SF843] is set to go to the Senate Rules and Administration Committee next, while its counterpart is set to go before the House Ways and Means Committee [no date for it yet on the schedule].

The Gunther bill was heard on March 13, 2019 in the Greater Minnesota Jobs and Economic Development Finance Division.

On her Facebook page, Rosen shared her committee testimony about the bill:

Bluestem understands Rosen's involvement in the township's request for funds, but we're curious why Bob Gunther, who represents the "A" side of Rosen's district. Rapidan Township is in the "B'" side of Senate District 23; slightly over 60 percent of the voters there cast ballots for Jeremy Munson, who was at the time elected as a regular Republican to represent Rapidan.

He has since become one of the members of the splinter caucus, the New House Republican Caucus. One can see his concerns on his Facebook page and on the New House Republican Caucus Facebook page. 

There are only four items in Munson's "News and Views"-- including two from 2018-- and the nine bills for which he's the chief author concern such things as a vaccine resolution, a motor vehicle registration tax holiday for one year, and other such headline grabbers.

But those poor people in Rapidan Township? There's something missing. Our reader's on to something with his man in St. Paul.

Google satellite screengrab: Rapidan Township.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen@gmail.com as recipient.

Big city folks starting to notice latest #mnleg raid on environmental trust fund for outdoors

In the Star Tribune, Outdoors columnist Dennis Anderson writes in an excellent column, Some state legislators would again dip into trust fund for outdoors:

All of which seemed to be smoothed over last month when legislative leaders and Gov. Tim Walz signed into law a $98 million general-obligation bonding bill that replaced the bonds that would have been paid from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.

To naive outsiders like me, the hugfest that celebrated the law’s enactment signaled that legislators had seen the error of their ways and, for fear of being sued over their misuse of lottery funds, would not again attempt to circumvent the (1) will of the people; (2) the project-evaluation-and-recommendation processes of the LCCMR; and (3) what many observers believe are specific legislative and constitutional prohibitions against using lottery grants for wastewater treatment plants.

Bluestem didn't participate in the hugfest for long because we had read a bill in the Senate. On March 22, we posted in A tale of two bills: a story of the next environmental trust fund raid revolution?:

The passage of HF80--and its signing into law by Governor Tim Walz was met with great rejoicing by many in Minnesota's environmental community and relief in those communities which had wastewater treatment facility construction put on hold pending the resolution of a lawsuit challenging "last year’s controversial use of Minnesota’s voter-approved Environment & Natural Resources Trust Fund."

That's a description of the 2018  law by the Friends of the Mississippi River,which was party to the lawsuit, now dropped.

However, a look at language in two companion bills in the House and Senate suggests that HF80 didn't go far enough in repealing last year's last-minute surprise legislation. One of the changes challenged in the lawsuit (Count 3 and Request for Relief) wasn't repealed--and so SF2201 the Senate companion (1st engrossment) to the House bill (HF2032), appropriates $9,340,000 for grants for wastewater projects to small towns. . . .

Read the rest in the post (language in the 2018 bill wasn't repealed, allowing for the sort of mischief over which environmental groups had gone to court. Anderson and others are only now discovering this. Anderson continues in his Good Friday column:

As I say, I was naive. Because Sen. Torrey Westrom, R-Elbow Lake, an LCCMR member, told me this week that he and certain other legislators, including some DFLers, agreed to the bonding swap only to avoid long funding delays, adding that in his opinion the law allows for lottery-funded grants to be used for wastewater plants and other infrastructure.

Which is why this session he included about $10 million of the $61 million the Senate trust fund bill spends to pay for wastewater treatment plants. Moreover, another Senate Republican bill eliminates 18 LCCMR-recommended projects and replaces them, in part, with $10 million in funding for state parks and trails operations and maintenance.

The comparable DFL-controlled House bill, meanwhile, largely funds projects approved by the LCCMR, while also providing $6.5 million in loans (not grants) for water treatment plants.

What can we say? It pays to read bills active in the current legislative session.

This new raid appears related to the Minnesota Republican unwillingness to raise revenue to fund environmental agencies--and the general eagerness to raid dedicated funds if the concept of the environment or outdoors is remotely related conceptually. Witness the attempt to raid closed landfill trust funds in 2015. Anderson continues:

Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, chairman of the Environment and Natural Resources Finance Committee, said he and his Republican colleagues are constrained by tight budget targets that in coming weeks likely will be revised when the governor and legislative leaders meet.

“Nothing’s carved in stone yet,” he said of the Senate’s bills. “But the money for all these projects has to come from somewhere.”

Hansen, meanwhile, thinks some Senate Republicans wouldn’t mind if the whole mess ended up in court.

“There’s a faction there,” said Hansen, “I think that’s saying, ‘So sue us.’ ”

Lovely.

About that general MNGOP reluctance to budget for environment, natural resources

At MinnPost, Walker Orenstein reported Wednesday in Why the GOP wants to cut Minnesota’s environmental spending:

The Republican majority in the Minnesota Senate has been clear since the beginning of the 2019 legislative session: It believes the state can spend more money on priorities like K-12 schools and the transportation system — without raising taxes. But because Minnesota has limited extra cash on hand to make that happen, other parts of state government would face shrinking budgets as a result.

That includes Minnesota’s environmental spending. As part of their two-year budget plan, Senate Republicans have proposed $57 million in general fund cuts from offices like the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). . . .

Unlike, say, a freeze on money for the state’s troubled Child Care Assistance Program, the environmental budget proposal isn’t born out of frustration with how state agencies are performing, said Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, who chairs the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Finance Committee.

He said it’s part of a broader Republican strategy to slow down the growth of state government and limit tax increases. The agencies doing environmental work are better positioned to absorb general fund cuts, Ingebrigtsen added, because they can use money from dedicated environmental fees to make up for it.

For example, the Senate plan would ax about $2 million from the MPCA’s budget dedicated to paying for operations at the Environmental Quality Board, and replace it with money from the state’s Environmental Fund, which is paid for mostly by taxes on garbage.

The budget proposal would also cut more than $10 million from the general fund for state parks and trails, though it would shift state lottery money to the same purpose. (As a result, however, there would be less lottery money, which is used to pay for environmental projects around the state.)

The MPCA would see a general fund budget cut of $11.4 million in the Senate’s plan, although its total available money is only reduced by $4.65 million, according to Republicans. The DNR would lose $34 million from the general fund, and a net reduction of $21.9 million from its total available cash. (Even the Minnesota Zoo gets a $2.7 million cut.) ...

See also: City Pages: Minnesota Senate environment and natural resources budget bill shortcharges both.

Photo: A wastewater treatment plant.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen@gmail.com as recipient.

Board of Animal Health: Crow Wing Co CWD positive deer farm depopulated, USDA pays for it

Update April 17, 6:17 p.m.:  a reader asks how long this action took since a bill requiring mandatory depopulation of a herd where CWD positive tests occurred. Good question; first-term St. Paul Democrat Representative Kaohly Her's HF1362 was introduced on February 18, 2019, so it was about two months. The bill was heard in the Minnesota House Ag and Food Finance and Policy Division on March 7. [end update]

In CWD positive Crow Wing County deer farm depopulated, a press release issued yesterday, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health stated:

The Minnesota Board of Animal Health announced the depopulation of all the deer on a Crow Wing County Farm first infected with CWD in 2016. The USDA is providing indemnity to the owner for the animals as part of its overall disease control effort. The Board of Animal Health is coordinating with the USDA to collect tissue samples for CWD testing, and will report results when they become available.

“We anticipate receiving CWD testing results from the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory within the coming weeks,” said Board of Animal Health Assistant Director, Dr. Linda Glaser. “We’ve already developed a herd plan with the owner on how to handle the property now that the deer are gone. At this point, any CWD positive results do not change our disease response, because we already know the site held CWD positive deer and have been treating it as such.”

This Crow Wing County deer herd was the only CWD positive farm in the state operating under a herd plan with live animals. As of this depopulation, all CWD positive deer farms in the state are empty. Following depopulation, the sites are managed in accordance with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Board of Animal Health-approved herd plan. The Board continues mandatory CWD monitoring in all other farmed cervid herds and has no CWD positive detections as of this release.

CWD is a disease of the deer and elk family caused by an abnormally shaped protein, a prion, which can damage brain and nerve tissue. The disease is most likely transmitted when infected deer and elk shed prions in saliva, feces, urine, and other fluids or tissues. CWD is not known to naturally occur in other animals. The disease is fatal in deer and elk, and there are no known treatments or vaccines. Consuming infected meat is not advised

The captive deer farm was the Trophy Woods Ranch, which had a history of CWD-infected animals in its herd. The Voice of Alexandria reported in Central Minnesota Deer Ranch Shut Down Over CWD:

Minnesota's effort to eliminate chronic wasting disease has resulted in the shutdown of a deer farm near Merrifield.

One deer in the herd at Trophy Woods Ranch tested positive for CWD three years ago, then four more tested positive in 2018. This past January, a wild deer found near the farm also tested positive -- so owner Kevin Schmidt agreed to have it de-populated. The Minnesota Board of Animal Health reports there were about 100 deer on the property. The USDA compensated Schmidt for the loss of his herd.

At the Star Tribune, Tony Kennedy reported in All deer at Crow Wing County deer farm euthanized in deal to contain CWD:

The deer farm in Crow Wing County that has harbored chronic wasting disease since 2016 is out of business under an agreement that paid the owner to have his entire herd euthanized.

The Minnesota Board of Animal Health announced the “depopulation’’ late Wednesday without disclosing how much the farmer was paid or how many deer were killed to manage the threat of the disease spreading to the region’s wild deer.

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) had never been detected in a wild deer in the central or northern parts of Minnesota until the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced in February that an emaciated female deer found dead “very close’’ to the Merrifield deer farm tested positive.

The discovery prompted an emergency hunting effort to thin the local herd in hopes of reducing deer-to-deer transmission. Since 2016, when the DNR was first informed of the farm’s disease problem, the state has paid for the testing of more than 8,600 deer harvested by hunters in a CWD management zone around the farm.. . .

“We’re glad they have been depopulated and we’re anxiously awaiting the results,’’ said DNR Wildlife Research Manager Lou Cornicelli.

He said the DNR has been wanting the fenced-in deer farm to be shut down for more than two years. Known as Trophy Woods Ranch, it was a pay-to-hunt* shooting pen and was known for offering monster mule deer bucks and whitetail bucks. At least seven deer at the farm were confirmed as being infected with CWD since 2016. Cornicelli said he believes the herd was close to 100 strong.

Michael Crusan, a spokesman for the Board of Animal Health, said the depopulation payment won’t be disclosed. It was negotiated and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). . . .

Because the prions that cause the disease remain in the soil, the board and USDA — with input from the DNR — will implement a management plan for the site.

Readers may remember the role the Crow Wing County farm played in earlier discussions of CWD during the Minnesota legislative session. Bluestem posted CWD found in Crow Wing County wild doe; Walz to up funds for DNR & Board of Animal Health and CWD news digest: county board backs off on sharpshooter ban, Merrifield meeting & more. See also the discussion of the Crow Wing County farm in Fabian donor: Kittson County deer farmer battles scientists, DFL lawmakers in Facebook videos. We also recommend VIDEO: Ag & Food Division hears CWD bills.

*Bluestem objects to the word "hunt" in the Star Tribune copy: "pay-to-hunt shooting pen" much more resembles shooting fish in a barrel, rather than the skill it takes to hunt wild deer.

Map: The location of the dead doe that was found in Crow Wing County that was infected with Chronic Wasting Disease and the Trophy Woods Ranch, where a number of deer tested positive for CWD in 2016 and 2018. The captive deer on the farm have been euthanized and will be tested for CWD. Via DNR.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen@gmail.com as recipient.

 

Channeling Howard Beale: MN07 Rep. Collin Peterson tells constituents "Turn off your tvs"

In Sidney Lumet's great 1976 movie Network, television news personality Howard Beale (Peter Finch) tells his audience to turn off their television sets:

. . . But you people sit there, day after day, night after night, all ages, colors, creeds... We're all you know. You're beginning to believe the illusions we're spinning here. You're beginning to think that the tube is reality, and that your own lives are unreal. You do whatever the tube tells you! You dress like the tube, you eat like the tube, you raise your children like the tube, you even *think* like the tube! This is mass madness, you maniacs! In God's name, you people are the real thing! *WE* are the illusion! So turn off your television sets. Turn them off now. Turn them off right now. Turn them off and leave them off! Turn them off right in the middle of the sentence I'm speaking to you now! TURN THEM OFF...

Minnesota's Seventh Congressional District representative--who chairs the House Ag Committee--told citizens in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, something along those lines at an area League of Women Voters Legislative Town Hall at a local coffee spot, Vicki Gerdes reports in 'Turn off your TV's — I'm serious': Peterson says people should forgo Fox News, MSNBC at DL.Online:

There was barely an empty seat to be had at La Barista Monday night, as area residents packed the local restaurant to hear District 4 State Sen. Kent Eken (DFL-Twin Valley) and District 4B Rep. Paul Marquart (DFL-Dilworth) — along with U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Detroit Lakes), who was a surprise guest at the Legislative Town Hall hosted by the Detroit Lakes Area League of Women Voters. . . .

Local residents' questions at the forum included how constituents might help foster bipartisanship, and combat the atmosphere of hyper-partisanship that has taken over the political landscape — particularly in Washington, D.C.

Congressman Peterson's response was short and to the point: "Turn off your TVs."

When that statement brought a few chuckles from the audience, he added, "I'm serious."

Peterson explained that he felt it was important not to watch television news programs like those produced by Fox News, MSNBC and similar media outlets.

"It's propaganda," he said, adding that those networks were making money by "saying what you want to hear" — i.e., reinforcing listeners' opinions and ramping up their outrage, rather than offering a truly objective point of view.

"My advice is to turn them off," he said. "Don't listen to them."

We're surprised that the former accountant is showing this sort of cultural acuity at local event. Wikipedia tells us:

Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin wrote that "no predictor of the future—not even Orwell—has ever been as right as Chayefsky was when he wrote Network."^[31] The film ranks at number 100 in Empire magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Films of All Time.

It's unfortunate that although they were invited, local Republican leaders didn't show up. Gerdes reports:

Republican legislators Sen. Paul Utke and Rep. Steve Green both declined invitations to attend the Detroit Lakes event; forum moderator Deanna Sinclair noted that each had received "multiple requests" to attend.

Peterson was a spontaneous addition to the evening. Gerdes notes:

"I wanted to see what these guys (Eken and Marquart) were up to," Peterson said when asked to address the audience briefly at the start of the evening. He then decided to join the state legislators in answering audience questions during the 90-minute forum.

Will Peterson run again for the seat he's held since January 3, 1991, after beating Arlen Stangland in 1990? It's not like he told the public to get mad as hell and not take it anymore.

Screenshot: Peter Finch as Howard Beale.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen@gmail.com as recipient.

City Pages: Minnesota Senate environment and natural resources budget bill shortcharges both

In Republicans go 'slash and burn' on Minnesota's parks, environment funding, City Pages' Hannah Jones reports:

The people taking care of Minnesota’s parks, wildlife, air, and water aren't thrilled. The Minnesota Senate's Republican majority has unleashed a budget that reverses the state's historic devotion to the environment, slashing funding by 25 percent.

She's writing about SF2314. which we looked at in MN Senate omnibus environment and natural resources bill expands commercial turtle harvest two days ago and March 20, 2019's A tale of two bills: a story of the next environmental trust fund raid revolution?.

But Jones has gotten the larger story here, and we urge our readers to take a careful look at the City Pages story:

Some programs will feel the burn more than others. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) faces a 17 percent cut. The Board of Water and Soil Resources, which protects water quality in lakes, streams, and wetlands, could lose 39 percent. This at a time when farm chemicals have made water in whole swaths of southwest Minnesota too toxic for swimming and fishing.  

Minnesota Environmental Partnership Director Steve Morse testified before the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Finance Committee last week. He spent a dozen years on that same committee as a Democratic senator from Dakota, and was commssioner of the DNR under Gov. Jesse Ventura. He believes agencies will have to rely on fines and fees to compensate for lost revenue, punishing the very people they're supposed to serve.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will get a major cut to its work cleaning up the St. Louis River and Duluth Harbor, both of which are still "highly contaminated" by nearly a century of dumping by wastewater plants, paper mills, lumber companies, and more. And that cut will be effectively doubled due to the loss of matching dollars from the feds.

The GOP's budget will also shift the burden for the agency's funding to the party's biggest ally, business, since it will need to levy more fees and fines to stay afloat. Under this scenario, a major polluter like Water Gremlin in White Bear Lake would suddenly become a good thing -- in a perverse sort of way.

It's accused of releasing high levels of a toxic chemical into the air for years. As Commissioner Laura Bishop put it, “I don’t want 10 more Water Gremlins to fund our agency.”

The DNR may have to reduce how long parks can remain open and staffed. Camping and other services would be eliminated in at least 30 parks, and campgrounds would remain closed during the "shoulder season" from Labor Day to Memorial Day.

There would also be fewer inspectors to look for invasive species, like zebra mussels. These tiny European bivalves have been hopping from lake to lake since 1992, filtering nutrients out of the water and reproducing "into the millions," as the Star Tribune put it. They're killing off native fish and infrastructure like water pipes.

The Minnesota Zoo may have to cut staff and reduce conservation projects, like protecting pollinators. Zoo staff aren't sure yet where they'll have to trim in order to fit into the new budget, but they guarantee visitors will feel the loss.

Chair Bill Ingebrigtsen (R-Alexandria) didn’t respond to interview requests. Ironically, his district is among the state's most reliant on fishing, resorts, and outdoors vacationers.

The attack is a far cry from Gov. Tim Walz's plan to bolster the environment. His original proposal included $109 million for the DNR to care for buildings, waterways, parks, and roads, plus $25 million to the Minnesota Zoo.

Several of his proposals -- including investments in recycling, cleanup of contaminated drinking water in Burnsville and Savage, and money for chronic wasting disease in deer -- disappeared entirely from Republicans' budget.

It's an even further cry from the House version of the bill, sponsored by Rep. Rick Hansen (D-South St. Paul). ...

That's the omnibuzz bill we reported about in Omnibuzz: pollinator hater Draz derides effort to name rusty patched bumble bee state bee.

Will the Republican Senate succeed in shortcharging Minnesota's beloved outdoors, water and parks, as well as the state's wild deer herd? It's worth watching for Minnesota readers--and contacting their state senators.

There's no buzz in this bill.

Photo: A whitetail deer. There's no money for dealing with CWD in the wild herd in the Senate version of the environment and natural resources budget bill.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen@gmail.com as recipient.

Omnibuzz: pollinator hater Draz derides effort to name rusty patched bumble bee state bee

The Minnesota Legislature may have recently received national recognition for its leadership in pollinator policy, but New House Republican Caucus leader Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, has never been fond of discussions of make Minnesota a better place for bees.

In 2013, for example, Session Daily's Jonathan Mohr reported in Pollinator habitat restoration funds provision: For the birds, or for the bees?:

“One of the areas of wasteful spending in the bill is something I’ve never heard about before, government engaged and endeavored to create bee habitat,” said Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa). “Three-hundred thousand dollars for habitat for bees, including $50,000 to tell people about the bees that are about to sting them.”

Never mind the importance of pollinators for food production. Draz frets about bees stinging people. Now he's distressed that there's a provision in the Environment and Natural Resources Omnibus bill naming the endangered Rusty Patched Bumble Bee Minnesota's state bee, according to a video posted on the New Republican House Caucus Facebook page.

The University of Minnesota Extension Service does not concur in Will the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee become our 'State Bee'?:

Twenty years ago, there wasn't a question. The rusty patched bumble bee was thriving, going about its business, moving from flower to flower collecting pollen and nectar, without much notice. It was found broadly across the eastern United States and the Upper Midwest in 28 states as well as southern Quebec and Ontario in Canada. 

Today, the rusty patched bumble bee's numbers have declined dramatically--87 percent over 20 years, putting it on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's "endangered" list in 2017. 

But Minnesota is a champion in the fight to recover this tiny pollinator! To draw attention to its plight, UMN Extension Bee Researcher Elaine Evans wrote this letter to members of the Minnesota State Legislature to make it the official "State Bee." The act will undoubtedly raise public awareness, which is considered a key step to its recovery: 

'Dear Minnesota lawmakers...'

I am writing in support of HF 2070, a bill to establish the rusty patched bumble bee as the Minnesota state bee. The rusty patched bumble bee represents the beauty and resilience of Minnesota. Its designation as the state bee would demonstrate Minnesota’s commitment to preserving our natural resources and protecting our pollinators.

I am an Extension Educator and Researcher at the University of Minnesota Bee Lab focused on bee conservation. When I first started working with bumble bees, the rusty patched bumble bee was everywhere I looked for bees. Suddenly in the year 2000, they disappeared. This event led to my focus on bringing these beautiful and important pollinators back in Minnesota.

Minnesota stands out as a champion of the rusty patched bumble bee and our action are crucial to its recovery. The rusty patched bumble bee was federally listed as an endangered species in 2017. In 2018, a total of 471 rusty patched bumble bees were seen anywhere in the world. 165 of these were in MN.  This represents 35% of all rusty patched bumble bee individuals. I founded the Minnesota Bumble Bee survey in 2007 to see if the rusty patched bumble bee could still be found in Minnesota. In the last 10 years, MN volunteers have found rusty patched bumble bees in 12 different counties, as far north as Clearwater and Itasca County, as far south as Houston and Jackson Counties.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has identified public awareness as a key step in the recovery of this species. Designation of the rusty patched bumble bee as Minnesota state bee would go a long way in raising awareness and increasing opportunities to protect the remaining populations of this important pollinator.

Thank you for your attention to this vital issue.

Sincerely,
Elaine Evans, PhD.
Assistant Extension Professor, University of Minnesota

Where's the legislation now?

As of early April, the proposed legislation made it into the State House Omnibus bill. The bill was introduced by Representative Rick Hansen, and a companion bill SF 2142 was introduced by Senator Matt Klein. 

In the meantime, Dr. Evans continues her work on monitoring the rusty patched bumble bee population, educating Minnesotans about this endangered pollinator, studying habitat and coordinating citizen surveys through the Minnesota Bumble Bee Survey. 

If you'd like to help monitor the population of the rusty patched bumble bee and other bumble bees in Minnesota, go to this web page for more information: https://blog-yard-garden-news.extension.umn.edu/2018/08/video-bee-friendly-join-mn-bumble-bee.html

Here's the New House Republican Caucus Facebook video:

Photo: The Rusty Patched Bumblebee. Image via the FWS.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen@gmail.com as recipient.

MN Senate omnibus environment and natural resources bill expands commercial turtle harvest

Back in March, we reported Vang bill will end MN commercial turtle selling; language from the bill has been incorporated into HF2209, the Minnesota House omnibus environment and natural resource bill (70.17-70.22).

Over at the Minnesota Senate, the authors of the companion bill, SF2314 (2nd engrossment), have much different plans for the North Star State's turtle population.

Herpetologist Christopher E. Smith tweeted on Saturday:

Republicans in the MN Senate are not only NOT supporting turtle conservation, now they are trying to expand the unsustainable commercial harvest of turtles in MN via SF 2314. #mnleg 🐢 🐢 🐢 🐢 pic.twitter.com/2nZRkBwaZI

— Christopher E. Smith (@FieldEcology) April 13, 2019

Why is the senate language a disaster for Minnesota's turtles? As we noted in our earlier post:

But turtles in Minnesota continue to be under pressure, says wildlife biologist Christopher Smith, who sits on the Board of Directors for the Center for North American Herpetology (CNAH).

On March 5, Smith testified in favor of first-term Brooklyn Center DFL state representative Samantha Vang's HF749, a bill that end the renewal and transfer of turtle seller and turtle seller's apprentice licenses. Recreational turtle licenses to gather turtles for personal use would remain legal and a person with "an aquatic farm license with a turtle endorsement or a private fish hatchery license with a turtle endorsement" could "sell, obtain, possess, transport, and propagate turtles and turtle eggs."

According to Smith, many states have banned commercial turtle sellers, and those conservation measures have caused more pressure to be put on Minnesota's turtle population--and harvest pressures are not sustainable for the slow-growing creatures.

Since turtles don't have lobbyists, we hope our Minnesota readers will contact their state senators and urge them to oppose expansion of commercial turtle harvests in the state.

There are other unfortunate passages in the senate bill and we will be covering them over the next week while the Minnesota legislature is out on its Easter/Passover break.

For more information on Minnesota's turtles, check out this 2011 pdf on the DNR's website (note that it was created while snapping turtles were still considered a species of special concern).

Photo: A common snapping turtle--which is not that common anymore--via the Minnesota Zoo.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen@gmail.com as recipient.

Legal scholar Dorit Rubinstein Reiss: Where calls for overturning Bruesewitz v. Wyeth go wrong

Bluestem was perplexed to see resolutions (SF 2781 and HF2825) introduced in the Minnesota legislature that would "memorialize the President and Congress to hold vaccine manufacturers liable for design defects that result in adverse side effects from vaccines."

Was this part of the anti-vaccine movement?

At Harvard Law School's Petrie-Flom Bill of Health blog, Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, a professor of law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and a member of the Parents Advisory Board of Voices for Vaccines, reviews the resolutions in a post Where Calls for Overturning Bruesewitz v. Wyeth Go Wrong:

This week, legislators in Minnesota proposed a resolution calling on Congress and the President to legislate to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth, 562 U.S. 223 (2011). Similar resolutions have been proposed in other states – and like them, this resolution is supported by legislators who are not anti-vaccine. You could support vaccines and yet have concerned about limits on access to courts and support broadening them. However, the phrasing of this specific resolution strongly suggests that its supporters suffer from misconceptions about our vaccine compensation scheme.

Bruesewitz v. Wyeth

The 1980ssaw a number of lawsuits against vaccines manufacturers, especially against manufacturers of DTP.  Although most of the lawsuits failed, a few won large jury verdicts. As a result, many manufacturers of vaccines left the market. By the end of 1984, only one manufacturer of DTP remained active, and the costs of the vaccine increased. People claiming vaccine injuries were not happy with the existing system – where compensation was hard to come by and uncertain – either. A rare coalition of interests led to the passage of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. The act was a compromise – nobody was completely satisfied with it – but it provided a balance between the interests of the parties.[1]

Among other things, the act created the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP). The program balanced liability protections for manufacturers with substantial breaks for petitioners.

In 2011, a case before the Supreme Court examined the scope of these liability protections. In a 6:2 decision the Supreme Court interpreted the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act to completely preempt design defects: for those claims, the only available forum is currently NVICP. Other claims need to start in NVICP, but can then be brought in state courts, if the claimant is not happy with the NVICP result.

The resolutions in question here call on the President and Congress to overturn Breusewitz. They would not have any direct effect by themselves, serving mostly as an appeal for the federal government to act. However, they reflect several misconceptions worth correcting.

What’s wrong with the resolutions?

First, these resolutions seem to assume that the Supreme Court’s decision in Breusewitz v. Wyeth, which interpreted Congressional law as limiting design defect claims to vaccine court only, wrongs people who claim vaccine injuries. That is not the case.

NVICP has two goals: protecting the vaccine supply (including stabilizing prices) and providing an easier compensation mechanism. It has done well in achieving both, as Anna Kirkland in her book points out. Claimants going through the program receive many breaks compared to litigants in civil courts:

1. They do not have to provide evidence of design defect – or any defect.
2. Causation standards are less demanding than in civil courts (let me know if you want me to elaborate).
3. The rules of evidence are relaxed – claimants can use experts and bring in materials that would not be allowed in regular courts.
4. Fees and costs are covered even if people lose. No contingency fee: the whole award goes to the claimant.

There are also things claimants give up. Discovery is limited (though not completely barred), and the statute of limitation of 3 years – a period usual in this context – also applies to children. But all in all, it’s a favorable system. It is not a wrong against the claimants.

And it has preserved the vaccine supply by limiting litigation. While for most types of claims, aside from the design defects, people can go to court after, few do, because it’s harder to win in court. However, several well-funded anti-vaccine organizations have brought lawsuits in recent years. A few of them may try to reopen the already litigated and determined issue of whether vaccines cause autism in courts(Dr. Kirkland’s book has an excellent discussion of these cases), or litigate other ill-founded claims. The risk is that opening that door could potentially bring us back to the 1980s, where manufacturers were leaving the market because of mostly unfounded lawsuits, because the cost of litigation was high.

A time where measles outbreaks are already showing that we may be in the danger zone in terms of the number of people protected by vaccines is a bad time to increase access problems. . . .

Read the rest at the Bill of Health blog.

The Minneota Senate bill is authored by Anoka Republican Jim Abeler; Bruce Anderson; Michelle Benson; Mary Kiffmeyer ; and, Scott Jensen are co-authors. In the House, Lake Crystal New Republican Jeremy Munson is the chief author, along with eleven other Republicans and Eagan DFLer Sandra Masin.

See also: Minnesota, kiss your herd immunity good-bye: Senator Scott Jensen cuddles up to anti-vaxxers

Photo: A child with measles.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen@gmail.com as recipient.

 

 

Governor Walz issues executive order "Restoring Healthy, Diverse Pollinator Populations...."

Editor's note April 14, 2019: this post has been updated to allow readers to compare Walz's recent executive order, and that issued by Governor Dayton in 2016. The Walz EO rescinds the older document. Both are embedded now in the post. [end note]

We're a bit behind in posting about some of Minnesota's latest pollinator policy news.

WNAX radio reports in Minnesota Executive Order Calls for Pollinator Program:

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has issued an Executive Order calling for restoring healthy and diverse pollinator populations that sustain and enhance the state’s environment, economy and way of life. State Farm Bureau President Kevin Paap says it’s an excellent decree that brings together farmers and others to achieve better pollinator health.

He says they are talking a very science-based approach to promote pollinators.

Paap says pollinators are important not just for the honey industry but for all aspects of agriculture.

The Executive Order calls for Minnesotans to use pesticides judiciously and only when necessary to reduce harm to pollinators from pesticides while retaining economic strength.

Here's the executive order:

UPDATE: April 14, 2019.

A reader asked us to post Governor Dayton's Executive Order 16-07, which Walz's order rescinds. Here it is, via our 2016 post, Governor Mark Dayton issues executive order to reverse bee decline, restore MN pollinator health.

Executive Order 16-07 by on Scribd

Photo: An endangered rusty-patched bumblebee on wild bee balm. The bee is mentioned in the order and is under consideration by the Minnesota legislature for state bee. Via FWS.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen@gmail.com as recipient.

Conservative activist shares incorrect data about MNHouse lawmakers' votes on drivers licences

Conservative anti-immigrant, anti Muslim activist Bob Enos doesn't seem to have acquainted himself with the Journal of the House or the body's online list of roll call votes. If he had done so, he'd have posted accurate figures on his Facebook lament about non-votes by and alleged absences of members of the Minnesota House of Representatives when HF1500, Drivers Licenses for All came up on the House floor last Friday.

The roll call vote on the bill is here.

According to page 1855 of the Journal of the House, Backer, Bennett, Davnie, Kresha and Miller were excused for the session. On page 1857, Davids, Nash and West were excused for the remainder of the day's session. Those are the folks who didn't vote.

These individuals and more are listed among the missing in Enos' Facebook post. That's where Enos is blasting those who were indeed present and voted the way he wanted: no.

Let's start with the DFLers. Minneapolis's Jim Davnie was indeed gone, but both the Journal of the House and the Roll Call for HF1500 show that this guy voted against the bill and all but one member of the DFL caucus (Moorhead's Ben Lien also voted no.

Among the members of the Republican Caucus who indeed were present and cast a vote on HF1500, Enos includes Sondra Erickson, Ann Neu, Nels Pierson, Jon Koznick, Joe Schomacker as no shows. Here are the screenshots from his rogues gallery:

The comments are choice; among other things, it's suggested that readers "light up their phones" for not voting. Here's hoping that Enos removes the photos and names of those who did indeed show up and vote.

However, Enos is correct about some of the non-voting absences. He posted last Saturday:

On Saturday, Enos posted his objections to Tim Miller's absence and non-vote on Facebook:

Prinsburg "Republican" state rep Tim Miller reports today that, in fact, he did NOT cast a vote on the bill to give illegal aliens drivers licenses. His excuse - not surprisingly - was that his vote would not change the outcome. Lame, lame, lame. He didn't want to flip to the other side, and he didn't want to alienate Dave Baker and the Chamber of Commerce. Unfortunately, Miller once again shows that it's all about keeping his job in the state house, now that he can no longer sell hammers and nails as a clerk at Hardware Hank's. Pathetic. Talk about career politician. At least Mark Dayton HAD another career!

Bob Enos was one of the organizers of a pro-Trump rally in Willmar in 2017 and has traveled around the region to speak against Somali refugees living in the west central Minnesota area.

Other Bluestem posts related to HF1500:

He's ANGRY! Watch Minnesota House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt yell about a rules fight

Mankato Free Press: Immigration status shouldn't be drivers license barrier; vote Friday

Screengrabs: From Bob Enos' Facebook page, April 11, 2019.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the  paypal subscription button.

Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email sally.jo.sorensen@gmail.com as recipient.