in a House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee hearing, did a Minnesota state representative imply that he doesn't obtain a permit to mow in MNDOT right-of-way? It's not certain, but Fairmont Republican Bjorn Olson is mighty hostile to the notion of public right-of-ways on state highways and the requirement to obtain a permit to mow ditches along those right-of-ways.
Profit!, not conservation and public safety, should be the guidelines for managing right-of-ways,
Never mind paying farmers for living snow fences and programs for wildlife and pollinators, as would happen under South St. Paul Democratic conservation champion and Harmony-area farmer Rick Hansen's bill, HF498.
Not that Olson is averse to securing government aid in his farming endeavors. The EWG Farm Subsidies Database includes information that the Elmore/Fairmont farmer has received $12,834 in 2016-2018 under the name "Christian Bjorn Olson" and $14,813 for 2019-2020 under the shortened name "Bjorn Olson."
We are left to wonder--given Olson's hostility to mowing permits--whether he (or the property owner) has obtained permits from the DNR to mow the ditches. Or is this just rhetorical noncompliance on his part?
Readers who don't know about living snow fences can check out this guide put up by those woke uber leftists at agroforestry division of the University of Minnesota's Extension Service. Agroforestry "combines agricultural and forestry practices to improve environmental quality, productivity and economic returns."
It's useful to watch the Minnesota House Information Services YouTube of the debate of the bill by the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee. Chair Frank Hornstein uses a recent WCCO news report, Snow fences can save money, lives, and help the environment. The Hutchinson Leader's Matt McMillan published an account of the same farm in 2009's Living snow fence near Bird Island protects highway.
Here's the Minnesota House Information Services YouTube of the hearing. The Session Daily article on the hearing is below the MNDOT FAQ sheet that follows the video.
At MnDOT, there's this handy FAQ guide about ditch mowing in right of ways:
MNDOT Mowing Haying FAQs uploaded by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd
Here's Session Daily's coverage of the hearing. Margaret Stevens reports in Highways for Habitat pollinators program would require MnDOT to ditch current green space practices:
The approximately 175,000 acres of green space along the state’s highways could be prime real estate for pollinator habitat, say supporters of a bill to establish a Highways for Habitat program.
But several House members are skeptical of successful implementation without buy-in from landowners.
As amended, a bill that would create a program within the Department of Transportation, HF498, was laid over Thursday by the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee for possible omnibus bill inclusion.
The proposed legislation would require MnDOT get guidance from the Board of Water and Soil Resources on native vegetation, avoid the use of insecticides lethal to pollinators, and protect nesting birds, pollinators and other wildlife in its ditch management.
It would appropriate $1 million from the Trunk Highway Fund in fiscal year 2024 to kickstart the project. In addition, a onetime expense of $2 million would come from the General Fund in fiscal year 2024 and then $330,000 annually to expand its living snow fence program.
There may also be an opportunity for some federal funding, said Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul), the bill sponsor.
“There’s been some movement on the federal level since there’s been a strong realization that our public right of ways are opportunities for habitat,” he said.
The bill would apply only to MnDOT right of ways, not those managed by other government agencies.
Updating the state’s ditch management practices is long past due, said Don Arnosti, a member of the Pollinator Friendly Alliance. He said many current practices were decided decades ago by fiat, and the bill would offer tools and flexibility to take advantage of current understanding of wildlife habitat.
Arnosti cited Iowa’s Living Roadway Trust Fund, which has been operating since 1990 and uses native grasses and wildflowers of the state’s original prairie, as an example. Benefits touted include low maintenance weed and erosion control, less snow drifting, water filtering and capture of nutrients
Though the MnDOT has a right to operate on land, the state doesn’t necessarily own it.
Many farmers get significant income from hay harvested from ditches along highways, said Rep. Bjorn Olson (R-Fairmont). “Farmers pay taxes on that ditch and when you encroach on farmers’ ability to make money that’s where have a problem.”
We're reminded of the Minnesota House ditch mowing wars late in the last decade.
Related posts
- Reader perspective on ditch haying along Hwy 60
- Not in Minnesota anymore: SD Gov will oppress farmers' god-given right to hay right-of-ways
- MN House bills go after habitat with a vengeance
Banner image: from Reader perspective on ditch haying along Hwy 60.
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