As global temperatures warm, Minnesota residents need to prepare for increases in catastrophic "mega-rains" and a greater spread of tick-borne illnesses such as Lyme disease, according to a draft environmental report card for the state.
The report card comes from the Environmental Quality Board, a coordinating body for state government agencies on environmental issues. The board will discuss the draft Dec. 21. The final version will provide a foundation for the Minnesota Environmental Congress in February.
The report card is organized around five key areas: water, land, air, energy and climate. Each section uses three metrics to assess how well Minnesota's environment is doing in those areas. It rates their current status as green, yellow and red to correspond with good, OK and poor. And it uses up arrows, flat arrows or down arrows to indicate recent trends.
"We're hoping it's pretty user-friendly. It's designed for a broad audience," Will Seuffert, the EQB's executive director, said Monday.
Bluestem has downloaded the EQB agenda packet for December 21, 2016, since we agree wth Seuffert's assessment about this document being designed for a broader audience and split out the document for our readers.
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Bluestem wondered about a cryptically boastful press release we received at 12:24 p.m. this afternoon from North American High Speed Rail Group strategic communicator Wendy Meadley.
A Google alert we just received for a news article published online before noon this morning may provide the answer. In Future of private high-speed rail project uncertain, updated five hours ago, Heather Carlson reports:
Those looking for an answer to whether private investors will build a high-speed rail line from Rochester to the Twin Cities will just have to keep on waiting.
Wendy Meadley, who has been overseeing the rail project work, said Tuesday that no final decision has been made on whether to move ahead with the project, but she said there are several investors who remain interested in supporting it.
"There are private investors that are pursuing high-speed rail — passenger and freight services — connecting the Twin Cities and Rochester, with momentum," Meadley said.
t has been two-and-a-half months since North American High Speed Rail Group hosted representatives of China Railway International in Minnesota. The company wants to do something never before done in the U.S. — privately build a high-speed rail line. The plan calls for a $4.2 billion, elevated high-speed rail line to link Rochester and Bloomington. Most of the rail line would be built in the median of U.S. 52.
Meadley said no legal agreement has been reached with China Railway International to build the high-speed rail project. . . .
But the high-speed rail project is likely to face some push back at the Minnesota Capitol next year. Republicans will be in control of both the Senate and House, and many are wary of rail projects. Sen.-elect Mike Goggin, R-Red Wing, pledged during his campaign that the first bill he will introduce in January will be aimed at blocking the project.
Goggin said he wants to make sure no public money is spent on the project. He also wants to pass legislation to prevent eminent domain from being used to acquire land for the project. His bill will require the rail company to set up a decommissioning fund to ensure that if the project fails, taxpayers aren't stuck paying for it.
"There is not going to be any government money spent on this project. If they are going to somehow be able to do this, it is going to be on their own dime," Goggin said.
The project has faced fierce opposition from rural communities along the U.S. 52 corridor. Residents have expressed concern about the potential use of eminent domain and how that would impact farmers, small business owners and homeowners. . . .
Meadley can blather on about potential partners--as she has done for years now--but this seems like a train that's going nowhere.
Here's the press release:
Minnesota High Speed Rail Corridor Gains Regional Stakeholder Interest
November 23, 2016 (Minneapolis, Minnesota) These statement are being made as part of a previous commitment for a “go/no go statement" on behalf of the North American High Speed Rail Group and its Minnesota Department of Transportation work permits that conclude on December 1, 2016.
There is now robust excitement and interest to advance the high speed passenger and freight rail service and its significant development potential. NAHSR looks forward to ongoing participation alongside the many stakeholders, developers and investors now focused on this effort.
We have acquired the information needed relating to the topographic and geologic features of the planned corridor and have determined that an extension of Minnesota Department of Transportation permit is not required at this time.
There are currently several technical and strategic partners that are joining hands to participate with regional stakeholders to bring high speed passenger and freight rail service to this important corridor, and supporting the vision of a future high speed rail program connecting the Twin Cities to Chicago Illinois, via Rochester, Minnesota. Periodic updates regarding project progress will be distributed as information becomes available.
That's some word soup, a thin gruel rather than a "robust" porridge, especially in light of legislative opposition and well-organized resistance in a part of the state where ordinary people have turned back a plan for a poorly-sited wind farm and secured township and county ordinances that put the brakes on the frac sand industry.
Image: This project reminds us of pop cultural iconic images about popular resistance to rail, from the Simpsons to Blazing Saddles.
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But it's hard to pin down one story to let you know how valuable CURE (Clean Up The River Environment) is for those of us who live in the Upper Valley of the Minnesota and the rest of the state.
Does "the" story start with sitting in a Lutheran church in Granite Falls with hundreds of other local people while polar explorer Will Steger leads a discussion of climate change?
Or is it gathering in the CURE office while lawmakers field questions about pollinator policy from rural people ranging from farmers to sportsmen who've seen bee and butterfly populations drop?
Or breaking bread a big potluck at the Watson Town Hall where everybody from young, beginning farmers to a state legislator stress the need to save a practical sustainable food production education program at a community and technical college in the watershed? There was local music there and art, along with the local food and young families eager to farm.
Is it a discussion in a Renville County community center about what a water charter might look like, in which people who started the meeting as strangers bond over their shared concerns, regardless of their age or political persuasion?
Paddling down the LeSueur River to its confluence with the Blue Earth, after listening to farmers, residents and a county commissioner talk about their river? Or walking on a sandbar near Sacred Heart while a young Native American girl educates me about river mussels and river health?
There are more episodes that come to mind, but the common river that runs through my memory is conversation and a common belief that ordinary people can make a difference. We hear a lot these days about paying attention to rural folks. I feel blessed to have been in the room so many times when CURE has created a space for conversation and action meant to clean up the river environment.
Bluestem Prairie encourages our readers to give to Montevideo-based Clean Up The River Environment (CURE), a rural, grassroots nonprofit founded in 1992, with the goal to rescue and restore the Upper Valley of the Minnesota River. On its Give To The Max Day webpage, CURE describes itself:
CURE is a rural, grassroots nonprofit founded in 1992. Our mission is to protect and restore resilient rural landscapes by harnessing the power of citizens who care about them. We do this because we believe that robust human communities can only be sustained by healthy ecosystems, and robust natural environments can only be regained through vigorous stewardship.
Our work takes many forms, but always involves three core practices:
Awakening people’s bonds with the natural world around them
Inclusively, strategically and dialectically exploring issues and actions
Systematically building communities of change at critical intersections of ecological and social well-being
That sounds a bit abstract, but CURE's work is anything but that out here on the prairie and the watersheds that connect us to the rest of the world. Please give to this tremendous organization and its vital work with rural people and communities.
And after talking at a town hall about how Corrections Corporation of American had offered to sell the prison for $99 million, Miller washed himself of that stiff price tag (when a constituent challenged the figure as way high) by saying that legislators aren't involved in negotiations.
We will voice our support for Democrats Andrew Falk running for the Minnesota House seat in District 17A and for DFL Sen. Lyle Koenen in Senate District 17. We side with these candidates because we believe they are willing to make the best case for the need for Minnesota to invest more in rural economic development, more in education, and more in our infrastructure. We also believe they will figure out the best way to fix our broken health insurance programs with the aim of ensuring that thousands aren’t again left without insurance.
Republicans have consistently argued to lower spending in these areas.CCA
He did manage to snag some campaign cash from Corrections Corporation of America's executives and their spouses, as well as from a couple of CCA corporate lobbyists. From his pre-general election report to the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board (available here):
Finally, there's the $500 each of CCA's corporate lobbyists (Kelly Durham and Brad Regens, page 7 of Miller's 2016 pre-general report) handed over.
All that money must be smooth as Tennessee whiskey for blunting the blow of rejection by Swift County's finest news source (We're not being snarly about the Monitor, whose editor is highly respected among country newspaper people).
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One ongoing frustration in following Minnesota's legislative debates over the outdoors is the summoning of the way things are remembered, the way things were, as far as public spending on and policy about the outdoor goes.
The state is changing demographically. How people want to recreate with nature is changing. The outdoors itself is changing, what with climate change and invasive species in the water and land (some of which, like buckthorn, oat crown rust and soybean aphids, create a collective meltdown).
Unfortunately, these changes don't seem to change the discussion at the state legislature. Near the end of the discussion of the Game and Fish Bill, Representative Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, raised these points:
The Game and Fish Bill always comes near the end of session, and I think we can all agree Minnesotans feel passionately about the outdoors. But one thing I’ve learned over the years here is that not all Minnesotans believe the same thing about the outdoors. When you look at this bill, you’re going to see a lot of things that are based on the way things were, or memory, or where people think people are.
Our state is changing. We’re in the midst of great change. And instead of looking at where we were, and what was, we could be looking at where we should be and where we could be and how we could move together toward that.
Spending time on blaze pink, spending time fighting old battles, spending those old discussions and those old debates, rather than looking at where we could go, even if it is near midnight, where we could go in the future.
At some point, the Legislature will have that discussion about game and fish, at some point Minnesota will engage in that discussion. It's not tonight.
I think we're going to have that discussion out on the campaign trail, we're going to have that conversation with our peers, we're going to have that conversation in our communities. Because nostalgia-based policy making isn’t going to cut it in the future. Looking at where we can go, and what we can do, is where we will need to be.
Here's the video of Hansen's remarks:
There was no further discussion, and the bill passed 84-42.
Here's the full debate:
Still: Rep. Hansen weighing judgment on nostalgia-based fish and game policy.
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During Wednesday's meeting of the Minnesota House's Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee, state representative Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, offered amendment H2611A26, designed to make sure that land acquired for wildlife habitat preservation in this year's Lessard Sams Outdoor Heritage bill not be planted or otherwise treated with a product that contains a pollinator lethal insecticide, as defined by Minnesota law.
Hansen, who managed a pesticide applicator program at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture before being elected to the House in 2004, holds a B.S. in biology, Upper Iowa University and an M.S, in soil management, Iowa State University. Minority lead on the environment committee, he has emerged as a champion for pollinators. Last month, he published It's time for action on Minnesota's pollinators in the Star Tribune.
Hansen: Thank you, Mr. Chair, just like with a couple of your amendments, I've passed this out of this committee last year, it is saying that land acquired with money in this section, so it's this bill, not previous bills or any future bills, that these [lands] shall not be planted or otherwise treated with a product that contains a pollinator lethal insecticide, and that is one that is on the label that it kills bees and other pollinators, so it is an enforceable choice that te land managers could make, on choosing not to use these insecticide.
I move the ...amendment and encourage its support. I think--I got a copy of the [state] Constitution here and it says that "funds deposited in the Outdoor Heritage Fund maybe spent only to restore, protect and enhance wetlands, prairies, forests and habitat for fish, game and wildlife."
When we talk about these funds we often talk about fish and game and we don't talk about wildlife and the wildlife can be things that you don't hunt or fish for. It can be the small wildlife, the little things, and we need to pay attention to the little things, the things that are at the beginning of the food, because then the things that we hunt may not be there if they don't have anything to eat.
So I think this is a reasonable step on the use of public funds. I think it would help meet the constitutional requirements to protect wildlife, and it's a small step that can be done to protect pollinators with our public resources.
McNamara recognizes Hanska Republican representative Paul Torkelson who raises this objection:
. . .I'd just like to speak against this amendment. While we certainly do have an issue with pollinators, including bees, this is not an appropriate response. There's no scientific proof that this will benefit them in any way and these [pesticides] are very useful tools for agriculture.
We're rather surprised that Torkelson would say this, since scientists at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture Pollinators Summit brought up concerns about the relationship between pesticide use, disease, parasites and quality habitat.
Indeed, the artwork at the top of this post is drawn from the presentation at the summit by internationally respected pollinator expert Dr. Marla Spivak, who's been honored by everyone from the MacArthur Foundation to our dear friends at the AgriGrowth Council. Laura Corcoran's charming drawing illustrates the point that foraging areas for bees and other pollinators help them detox and build their immune systems from damage by stressors like parasites, disease and pesticides.
Since Representative Torkelson is listed as having attended the Summit, according to a spreadsheet obtained from the Environmental Initiative, we're not sure how he missed this information.
In a blog post, Better Together for Bees, Greg Bohrer describes the process of small group meetings in which we passed along what we thought were the best ideas around each table. Our first group included a pollinator researcher from the Minnesota Zoo, a biologist from the DNR, a couple of beekeepers, a pesticide activist, and representatives from CHS and Monsanto.
Our top recommendation was "The Hansen Plan" outlined in his commentary, It's time for action on Minnesota's pollinators in the Star Tribune. The report back from the Summit isn't out yet, but it would certainly be helpful for the ongoing committee hearings.
Many species of wild bees, butterflies and other critters that pollinate plants are shrinking toward extinction, and the world needs to do something about it before our food supply suffers, a new United Nations scientific mega-report warns. . . .
One of the biggest problems, especially in the United States, is that giant swaths of farmland are devoted to just one crop, and wildflowers are disappearing, Potts and others said. Wild pollinators especially do well on grasslands, which are usually more than just grass, and 97 percent of Europe's grasslands have disappeared since World War II, Potts said.
England now pays farmers to plant wildflowers for bees in hedge rows, Watson said.
There are both general and specific problems with some pesticide use, according to the report.
"Pesticides, particularly insecticides, have been demonstrated to have a broad range of lethal and sub-lethal effects on pollinators in controlled experimental conditions," the report said. But it noted more study is needed on the effects on pollinators in the wild. Herbicides kill off weeds, which are useful for wild pollinators, the report added.
Hansen's proposal is indeed reasonable, removing pollinator-lethal pesticides from one year's worth of Outdoor Heritage Fund wildlife habitat project public lands. It does not ban all pesticides on the public lands, nor does it affect private landowners engaged in agriculture on their property.
Torkelson? We have to wonder if he slept through the morning lectures at the Summit. It's unfortunate that his cry from the heart persuaded his colleagues to reject Hansen's amendment.
Artwork: Drawing by Laura Corcoran, via Dr. Spivak's presentation at the MDA Pollinators Summit in mid-February.
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Why isn't Governor Dayton and his agencies talking about this? Water quality is actually improving, as many of us know. Read out state MPCA report here.
When the clean water evidence is different than the narrative those on the LEFT are projecting, they simply ignore the evidence and push for tougher standards.
The screenshot:
While Drakowski's friend and the former state senator deliver confident answers about the Dayton administration's motives, a quick review of the MPCA's website exposes a far different answer to Drazkowski's question.
Truth is, the agency is "talking about" the report. It's Drazkowski who's presented it out of context, as an orphaned document collecting cyberdust somewhere on the MPCA's website.
Minnesota’s water has come a long way from the days when raw sewage flowed untreated into rivers as a matter of course. However, there is still a lot of work to be done if we are going to restore the impaired lakes, rivers, and streams in the state. Land use is a major factor in our current water quality problems — agricultural drainage, urban and rural runoff, and erosion caused by removing vegetation from shorelines. It's not just the regulated facilities like wastewater treatment plants that need to do more, it's all of us — the citizens.
In general, Minnesota streams in the northeast part of the state are in better condition than elsewhere. Stream conditions — including the condition of fish and other organisms, and levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and other pollutants — worsen as you move west and south in the state. The changes correspond to the type and intensity of land use in each ecoregion, due to the differences in soils, climate, and other factors.
Overall conditions
Good progress has been made — mostly through improved wastewater treatment by cities and businesses — in reducing the levels of several pollutants in Minnesota waterways, including phosphorus, ammonia, and bacteria.
The amount of organic matter — primarily sediment and algae — in the water has been reduced overall, which helps keep oxygen in the water at healthy levels.
Nitrogen is the key, high-volume pollutant in state rivers and streams and has been increasing over time. Chloride concentrations are also rising.
Current regulations and voluntary best management practices will not be sufficient to maintain healthy rivers and streams and shield impaired ones from additional pollution. Even if all existing laws were followed to the letter, waterways would still be subject to unacceptable levels of nutrients and other contaminants. Targeted action will be required to cut off unregulated sources of pollution.
Long-term trend analysis of seven different water pollutants measured at 80 locations across Minnesota for more than 30 years shows consistent reductions in five pollutants, but consistent increases in two pollutants. Concentrations of total suspended solids, phosphorus, ammonia, biochemical oxygen demand, and bacteria have significantly decreased, but nitrate and chloride concentrations have risen, according to data from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) “Milestone” monitoring network. Recent, shorter-term trends are consistent with this pattern, but are less pronounced. Pollutant concentrations show distinct regional differences, with a general pattern across the state of lower levels in the northeast to higher levels in the southwest.
These trends reflect both the successes of cleaning up municipal and industrial pollutant discharges during this period, and the continuing challenge of controlling the more diffuse “nonpoint” polluted runoff sources and the impacts of increased water volumes from artificial drainage practices.
The report itself is linked on the bottom of this page, under the section title: Dive deeper: a more in-depth look at our rivers and streams. The agency is sharing this report. Indeed, it's used as the foundational document for "the bottom line on rivers and streams."
Moreover, the Environmental Quality Board's Beyond the Status Quo: 2015 EQB Water Policy Report focused one section on approaches to reducing chloride, one of the two pollutants that the 2014 report found to be increasing. At the Governor's Water Summit, much of the discussion about rural water quality centered around nitrates/nitrogen pollution in groundwater, as well as rivers and streams.
But there's more. The report notes that its data set ends at 2010, since a new framework for measuring water quality has been adopted following the approval by Minnesota voters of more tax dollars dedicated to water quality (among other things):
The Minnesota Milestone sites are a collection of 80 monitoring locations at rivers and streams across the state with good, long-term water quality data. The period of record is generally more than 30 years, through 2010, with monitoring at some sites going back to the 1950s.While the Milestone sites are not necessarily representative of Minnesota’s rivers and streams as a whole, they do provide a valuable and wide-spread historical record for many of the state’s waters.
Monitoring was done by MPCA staff for a standard set of key pollutants on a regular basis, usually monthly for 9 to 10 months of the year. Generally, sites were sampled each year through the mid-1990s, at which time the sampling frequency was reduced to two out of every five years on a rotating basis. In some cases and when appropriate for this report, data from the Milestone sites has been supplemented with data collected at the sites through other monitoring efforts. All water quality data is stored in the Environmental Quality Information System (EQuIS).
In 2010 the Minnesota Milestone program was superseded by the Minnesota Watershed Pollutant Load Monitoring Network, which will be used to evaluate water quality trends in the future. This new network has more than twice as many monitoring sites, much more frequent monitoring, and includes streamflow to document not only the concentration of pollutants, but also pollutant loads, flow weighted mean pollutant concentrations, and watershed pollutant yields.
Establishment of basin and major watershed monitoring sites within the network began in 2007 following the passage of Minnesota’s Clean Water Legacy Act with subsequent funding from the Clean Water Fund of the Minnesota Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. Establishment of subwatershed monitoring sites began in 2011 with all sites scheduled to be operational by 2015.
Moreover, the watershed approach led to the addition of data from lakes, while the earlier report only gathered information from "80 monitoring locations at rivers and streams across the state with good, long-term water quality data," the new report included water quality data from lakes. The "swimmable" part of the report summary notes:
How are our watersheds? Water quality is a reflection of what happens on the surrounding land. So far, MPCA's monitoring and assessment work highlights the following themes:
In watersheds dominated by agricultural and urban land, half or fewer of the lakes fully support the standard for swimming because of phosphorus. Excess phosphorus is the main driver of harmful algae in lakes.
Watersheds that are heavily farmed tend to have high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended solids in their waters. These pollutants hurt aquatic life and recreational opportunities.
Bacteria levels in streams are also a problem. Watersheds where fewer than half the streams fully support swimming because of bacteria levels are generally in areas with a higher density of people and livestock – the developed and agricultural portions of the state.
More lakes fully support the swimming standard in the more forested and wetland-rich areas of north-central and northern Minnesota. The same goes for streams in areas with lower populations and little animal agriculture.
The general pattern is that water quality is exceptionally good in the northeast part of the state and declines moving toward the southwest
It's worth remembering that report Draz imagines isn't part of the Governor and agencies' discussion (in reality, it is) noted that measured phosphorus levels dropped in the rivers and streams measured at the Minnesota Milestone sites because of stricter discharge standards for "point" pollution at wastewater facilities. Additionally, legislation Rep. Denny McNamara, R-Hastings, introduced and passed in 2005, banned the use fertilizers containing phosphorus for lawns by Minnesota homeowners excerpt under certain circumstances.
Remember, the earlier Minnesota Milestone sites monitoring also found nitrate pollution to be rising--and this comes from "non-point" sources like agricultural uses.
The broader framework allowed by the new system--brought about by a statewide popular--didn't result in a contradiction of the earlier data examined in the earlier report. Instead, the reports are complementary. Perhaps that's why Dayton's administration uses both of them at the MPCA. Draz and Al must have thought they had one heckova talking point there. Nope.
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Registration opened on January 14; we registered for it that day when we spotted the Governor's press release* announcing that registration was open via a link in a legislator's email update--though not the update from our own House member. It's possible that he sent one, and we deleted an emailed legislative update from Rep. Miller informing constituents of the need to register.
Whatever the case, we didn't have advance notice of the registration before the general public. UPDATE: Apparently, neither did state legislators; the House member in whose update we saw the link learned about the announcement via twitter. [end update]
Last week, Gov. Mark Dayton announced his Water Summit. Registration filled up fairly quickly, but rest assured, the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association will have several directors in attendance. Tuesday, at a pre-summit discussion at the Governor’s mansion, MSGA along with several agriculture groups discussed the upcoming summit. We shared our concerns that registration filled up quickly. There were also concerns that a number of spots were filled before ag groups were informed about the sign-up.
The Governor’s office offered that the Water Summit will focus on 10 areas from urban environments, funding, aquatic invasive species, water quantity, to rural environments, among others. Essentially, the plan is for stakeholders to gather and help build a strategic plan to guide the legislature in the coming years.
MSGA will engage in the Water Summit process with integrity and will keep the best interests of soybean growers in mind every step of the way. If discussions become polarized, we may need to reassess what direction to take. For now the optimism of working with all groups to build consensus warrants full engagement. . . .
We've put a couple of phrases in bold in the passage above.
What strikes us is that citizens active in local lakes associations and the president of a commodity group are both concerned that individuals were not able to register and take part in the discussion that is to "help build a strategic plan to guide the legislature in the coming years."
But we're more struck by the president of an interest group-- a person who was at "a pre-summit discussion at the Governor’s mansion, MSGA along with several agriculture groups discuss[ing] the upcoming summit"--fretting about slots going to people who aren't members of ag groups. Clearly, they weren't handed out to the local lakes associations volunteers.
It's the fact of "pre-summit discussions" at the Governor's residence that's most concerning. The registration process created a scarcity for the ordinary lake dweller or soybean grower--while interest groups have access to the governor's residence.
Perhaps the closing of the state capitol building has illuminated an unpleasant fact about the current condition of our state-level representative republic--or representative democracy if that's your preferred frame. It's not for citizens to contact their state lawmakers about water quality policy; rather it's for interest groups (whether ag, environment, or lake property holders) to get a place in the governor's office or the summit.
Those observers who wonder why Americans are supporting outsiders for President--though Bluestem laughs to think that a pop culture billionaire or a United States senator are "outsiders"--might address their attention to this unfolding dog and pony show.
What might compel a freshman legislator like Tim Miller to see his constituents' opinion as equally deserving of his attention, when the process has become so weighted toward interest groups in these informal events?
Or when the legislature creates statutory boards and councils to advise on policy--and in some cases to direct spending?
Image: the logo for Governor's Water Summit, which you may or may not have heard about in time. Your interests might be safe if you're a member of an ag commodity group. We suppose that environmental and property owner groups have an invite to the governor's residence as well.
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*We're not on the communications' office press release distribution list, a situation that puzzles the dedicated professionals working there each time we ask to be put on as much as it does us. Some things are just mysteries that pass human understanding.
A friend passed along a press release for an environmental listening session that Representative Tim Miller (R-Prinsburg) will be holding in Olivia on Thursday, February 4 in the basement of the Renville County Administration Building, 105 S. 5th St., from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
UPDATE: The Renville County SWCD just posted text from an email from Representative Miller that confirms that he's got a preferred sort of constituent for this meeting and an agenda that hasn't been shared in the press release below. There's also mention of the Governor's Water Summit--so Miller's trying to manipulate what he can report there as public opinion in his district.
Here's the text of the email that went out earlier in the week (giving some groups the advantage for notifying their members about the event):
On February 4 at 2:00 pm Chair Denny McNamara and a couple other members of the Environment Committee will be joining me for a listening session in Olivia in the basement of the Renville County admin building. The focus will be the DNR's involvement and actions concerning buffer mapping. However, if there are ANY other concerns, I will be welcoming those as well. This is a key chance to be heard, particularly in light of the Governor's Water Summit February 27, which I will also be attending. [emphasis added]
There will be a media release going out by the end of this week. If you would like a copy let me know. I ask you help me to encourage members of your organization to attend. Invite others as well. It is very important for Ag voices to be heard at this time.
Thank you. Let me know if you have any questions.
Tim Miller
MN House of Representatives 17A
651-296-4228
Miller is trying to stack his own meeting--and doing so in order to shape debate at the Governor's Water Summit. We also have to wonder how many members of the Environment committee can be invited before this becomes on an official House hearing.
[end update]
UPDATE #2: We've learned that Representative McNamara will also be attending a "listening session" in Chokio the same day. Will the "couple of other members" of the Environment committee also tag along? Who of the committee members were invited? How many of these are happening around the state--and which organizations got the heads-up from state representatives before the general public knew?
Jeff Backer is even more slanted in his take on for whom this "listening session" is for, a local radio station reports in Rep. Backer Holding Environmental Session:
“Since taking office, I have received countless phone calls from folks around the area expressing frustration with the DNR, MPCA, and other environmental regulatory agencies,” Backer said. “It is my hope that this listening session will give farmers, local officials, sportsmen, and other concerned citizens the opportunity to speak with Chair McNamara and ensure that their voices are heard.” [end update]
The press release below is a masterpiece of dog whistling to those who want to see environmental protection itself as the problem rather than preserving water quality, soil health and such essentials, since Miller lets folks know that he's been hearing from those " who were concerned about land, water, and wildlife laws and regulations."
Note the construction of that phrase: "land, water, and wildlife" modify "laws and regulations."
Bluestem urges our readers in West Central Minnesota who are concerned about water quality, wildlife habitat, soil health to attend and let Representative Miller and Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee Chairman Denny McNamara.
We also hope that our readers in the audience will live tweet and Facebook the event using the hashtags #mnleg and #mnag.
The press release:
MINNESOTA HOUSE ENVIRONMENT CHAIR McNAMARA, REP. MILLER TO HOLD ENVIRONMENT LISTENING SESSION IN OLIVIA
ST. PAUL – After hearing from numerous constituents who were concerned about land, water, and wildlife laws and regulations, State Representative Tim Miller (R-Prinsburg) announces he will hold an environmental listening session in Olivia on Thursday, February 4 in the basement of the Renville County Administration Building, 105 S. 5th St., from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Also attending will be Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee Chairman Denny McNamara (R-Hastings).
Representative Miller said he invited McNamara to the listening session so he can hear firsthand from area landowners, hunters, and anglers.
“Whether its buffers, groundwater regulations or fish and deer management, I've heard consistently from residents in our area about environmental concerns,” Miller said. “By bringing the chairman of the environment committee to west-central Minnesota, residents can share their views with someone that directly tackles these issues at the State Capitol.”
Miller strongly encourages area residents to attend the listening session and share their thoughts, opinions, and questions about environmental rules and regulations in the State of Minnesota.
Photo: Representative Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg. via Facebook.
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On July 28, a heavy rain poured down upon the fields, bluffs and valley surrounding the South Branch of the Whitewater River in southeastern Minnesota, one of the state's most heralded trout streams.
Later that day or the next, between 9,000 and 10,000 fish in a 6.5-mile stretch of the river in Olmsted County were killed suddenly. The event nearly wiped out the wild brown trout population in that stretch.
That's not disputed.
Following an unprecedented investigation by three state agencies to determine a cause, the verdict arrived last month in the form of a 367-page report: "unable to draw a clear conclusion."
No smoking gun. No deadbeat landowner dumping chemicals in the dark of night. No bungled sewage plant operation. No catastrophic failure of a manure tank at a dairy farm.
Maybe that's a relief.
Or maybe it's worse. .
Maybe, as the report concludes, nothing illegal was done. Maybe all the herbicides, pesticides and fungicides -- including some lethal to aquatic life -- that were sprayed on crops by helicopter days leading up to the kill were in compliance. And maybe all the manure -- some of it laden with copper sulfate and other heavy metals -- was applied to nearby fields in compliance with state statutes.
Maybe that combination was flushed by heavy rain . . .
And maybe that created a toxic stew that killed the fish.
That's the suspicion of Jeffrey Broberg, a geologist, environmental manager and president of the Minnesota Trout Association. . . .
If they can't find the cause, then it's the general conditions," said Broberg. "That's what killed the fish: the normal farming practices."
Broberg isn't alone. State Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, who has a penchant for criticizing agricultural practices and policies, said the state's report contains enough information to point the finger at a combination of ag-based contributors.
"There wasn't a smoking gun," Hansen said. "There was a smoking Gatling gun."
The state report -- "South Branch Whitewater River: Unified Fish Kill Response" -- was completed by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Pollution Control Agency and Department of Natural Resources.
Farmers along the South Branch of the Whitewater River went about their business in July, as did the fish in the river.
Then it rained.
And the fish died.
That shouldn't happen.
Read the entire article at the Pioneer Press.
Photo: Dead trout in the river.(Photo courtesy Minnesota Department of Natural Resources).
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With the $1.5 billion Powerball fever heating up for Wednesday's drawing, an item in state representative Rick Hansen's legislative update caught our eye:
WHAT HAPPENS TO POWERBALL AND ENVIRONMENT?
I asked Legislative-Citizens Commission on MN Resources (LCCMR) staff this question. Here is the response:
When events like a large Powerball Jackpot reach record levels and results in a record number of tickets being sold, this increases the proceeds that go into the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. Prior to the January 13th, 2016 drawing, the Powerball Jackpot that began November 7th, 2015 through January 9th will be contributing $3.2 million to the Trust Fund. The Trust Fund receives 40% of the net proceeds (after expenses) that go into the corpus of the fund. The ticket sales will increase the net proceeds (profits) and increase the amount of money in the fund. Trust Fund profits are then available for investment to further grow the fund and consequently future dollars available for project spending.
The Trust Fund is a permanent fund that works similar to an endowment. The Minnesota Constitution provides that up to 5.5%* of the market value of the fund can be utilized for projects each year. Proceeds from the Minnesota Lottery are contributed to the Trust Fund's principal balance and are then invested in a combination of stocks and bonds to further grow the market value of the fund. As the market value increases over time, the dollar amount made available for projects through the 5.5% designation also increases.
The lottery's sales figures represent the total dollars generated before expenses are deducted. Expenses include prizes and administration. While higher sales figures for the lottery generally mean greater contributions to the Trust Fund, the contributions are not based on lottery sales but on the lottery's net proceeds - the amount left over after all expenses are deducted. The Trust Fund is constitutionally designated to receive 40% of net proceeds from lottery sales. This is the equivalent of a little over 6 cents of every dollar of lottery sales. For every dollar spent on playing the lottery:
Approximately 62 cents is paid out in player prizes;
Approximately 14 cents goes toward administration expenses, vendor costs, and retailer commissions;
Approximately 5 cents goes back to the state in-lieu-of-sales tax and is split between the Game and Fish Fund and the Natural Resources Fund;
Approximately 19 cents accounts for the net proceeds, of which 60 percent (~13 cents) is contributed to the state's General Fund and 40 percent (~6 cents) is contributed to the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.
Through the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, Lottery dollars have supported projects that benefit Minnesota’s environment in every one of Minnesota’s 87 counties. Here are five ways Lottery dollars have benefited everyone in Minnesota:
To help honeybees and other pollinators
In the fight against Emerald Ash Borers
To develop clean, renewable energy for Minnesota’s future
Protecting and improving Minnesota’s water quality
Minnesota’s state bird wins, too! The ENRTF-funded Minnesota DNR research of the impacts of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Minnesota loons is going to bring $39 million in settlement money to the state.
That final item may give the Mesabi Daily News' Orchids & Onions Killer Loons Warriors the fantods, but we'll leave that battle to Matt McNeil at AM950.
Artwork: The Minnesota Lottery helps fund Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.
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At Minnesota Public Radio, Dan Gunderson cuts to the chase in Money, race, politics tangle northern Minnesota land deal, a report on the White Earth Band of Ojibwe's request to the Outdoor Heritage Council to buy 2,000 acres by the Wild Rice River using a $2 million Minnesota Legacy Amendment grant.
Here are the money graphs:
. . . "Let's take the race element out of it, let's take the natives owning property out of it," she said. "I'd like for everyone involved to look at not who's owning the property, just what will this do for conservation."
There doesn't seem to be any question the land, owned now by Potlach Corp., is worth conserving. The parcels totaling 2,034 acres, are nearly surrounded by state wildlife management areas. The land White Earth wants to buy would be open for public use, much like state wildlife areas. . . .
Protecting this land from development will help protect water and wildlife, Chris Knopf, major gifts officer with the Indian Land Tenure Foundation, said as he walked part of the property recently, a trail across a grassland surrounded by pines, poplar and aspen by the Wild Rice River.
White Earth, he added, is concerned about protecting water flowing into nearby Lower Rice Lake, a prolific wild rice lake where tribal members harvest thousands of pounds of rice every fall.
"The project stands on its own for its conservation merits. That's really gotta be the focus of the Outdoor Heritage Fund and the legislators as well," said Knopf, whose nonprofit works with tribes across the country to "help recover traditional lands." . . .
Susan Olson, who sits on the outdoor heritage council with McNamara, supported the White Earth project last year and will vote for it again this year.
She calls concerns about property taxes and non-state land ownership red herrings.
"If you put anybody else's name on this, if you just pretended that this was some county that was doing this ... everybody would be like, 'Oh my god, this is the best project ever,'" she said. "But it's all about who's asking for the money."
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We've just gotten surprising news that the request by Duininck for a variance was turned down by the Renville County Board of Adjustment and Appeals at this morning's hearing.
In an email to Bluestem, Clean Up the River Environment (CURE) Water Program Coordinator Ariel Herrod writes in part:
This morning, about 20 people attended the hearing, although only 4 landowners were notified. . . .
At the end of the hearing, and to everyone's surprise, the Renville County Board of Adjustment and Appeals denied the variance request, citing the arguments made throughout the morning that issuing the variance would not "maintain the essential character of the locality."
. . .[T]he option still remains that Duininck will sue in an attempt to overturn the decision. However, without such a lawsuit, this mining project has effectively been stopped in its tracks, because residents in the area were given the chance to speak up.
The site, on the floodplain, was close to the Minnesota River and about a half mile from the Joseph R. Brown Wayside Park. The Brown mansion was destroyed in the 1862 US Dakota War. We enjoy taking guests to the Upper Minnesota River Valley to the site, which is also a favorite of geocaching enthusiasts. Please thank the county by visiting its lovely riverside parks and spending some money on your way up or down the river valley.
The wayside park is also within easy driving distance of Upper Sioux Agency State Park and the Swedes Forest and Gneiss Outcrops Scientific and Nature Areas (SNA).
Photo: The Joseph R. Brown Wayside Park is home to the ruins of "Farther and Gay Castle," the Brown family mansion that was burned in the 1862 US-Dakota War. We love to tell the story of Indian agent and inventor Joseph Brown's role in renegotiating treaties (and those terms' impact on the run-up to war) and the courage and eloquence of his French and Dakota wife, Susan Frenier, whose Dakota name is Hinyajice-duta-win (Soft Scarlet Down), in securing the lives of her children and hired hands when they were captured in fleeing the fire.
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Our friends at Clean Up the River Environment (CURE) alerted Bluestem to a public hearing at 8:30 am on Thursday, August 27th, in Olivia regarding Duininck Inc.'s request for a variance to mine gravel less than 1000 ft from the Minnesota River in Renville County.
As the map shows, and CURE writes, the proposed pit is also near one of our favorite places to take friends visiting the Upper Minnesota River Valley:
Duininck Inc. controls a little less than 20 acres in the Sacred Heart South Township, and while they have ignored that particular parcel for years, they are now planning to reopen the gravel mine. Surrounding areas are Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program land vibrant with wildlife, and the historical Joseph R. Brown Wayside Park is only a half-mile away. The pit is also in the Minnesota River floodplain, and, according to locals in the area, floods frequently.
The Joseph R. Brown Wayside Park is home to the ruins of "Farther and Gay Castle," the Brown family mansion that was burned in the 1862 US-Dakota War. We love to tell the story of Indian agent and inventor Joseph Brown's role in renegotiating treaties (and those terms' impact on the run-up to war) and the courage and eloquence of his French and Dakota wife, Susan Frenier, whose Dakota name is Hinyajice-duta-win (Soft Scarlet Down), in securing the lives of her children and hired hands when they were captured in fleeing the fire.
Right now, it's a lovely and peaceful place, but given the way sound echoes in the valley, we're concerned about the proposed project. We'd rather be able to hear migrating wild swans each spring in the river bottoms than mining equipment.
According to Renville County Ordinance (Chapter Seven, Section 2.7), an Interim Use Permit for a new or expanded mining operation can only be granted if the property is at least 20 acres in size. As Duininck only owns or has a permanent easement on 16.98 acres, Duininck cannot reopen this gravel mine without receiving a variance from the County Board of Adjustment and Appeals. The meetings of the Renville County Board of Adjustment and Appeals are public, and interested persons can be heard during the meetings.
While the staff of the Board of Adjustment and Appeals have duly noted that the ordinance requiring that mining parcels be at least 20 acres was in place before Duininck bought the property, Duininck insists that they did not know about this provision. This sounds like a lack of due diligence and respect for the community where Duininck hopes to extract resources.
If you can join us at the meeting, please do. Even if you can’t, please share this news with friends and acquaintances in the area. It’s just not right that these decisions can be made with minimal citizen input.
Public Hearing Time and Location: Thursday, August 27th at 8:30 am Renville County Government Services Center 105 South 5th Street, Suites 312/313 Olivia, MN 56277
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White Earth Nation has resubmitted its proposal, "Protecting Forest Wildlife Habitat in the Wild Rice River Watershed," for consideration for a grant by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council (LSOHC) for Fiscal Year 2017.
The Ojibwe band is requesting $2,188,000 to acquire the land and protect 2,034 acres of forestland, riparian corridors, and open meadows that are home to bald eagles, trumpeter swans, black bear, gray wolves, whitetail deer, grouse and "much more," according to the proposal (see fact sheet and proposal embedded below.
While Steve Green, R-Fosston, objected to the proposal over issues related to payment in lieu of taxes (PILT), the proposal has been opposed by those irate over Ojibwe bands prohibiting wolf hunting on tribal lands. Traditional Ojibwe religion and culture cherish the gray wolf.
According to the Indian Land Tenure Foundation's Chris Knopf, the Wild Rice River proposal wasn't the only proposal that raised PILT issues, but it was the only one shot down by the legislature because of the issue. In a phone interview, Knopf said that the legislature should address perceived PILT problems separately, rather than punishing one grant applicant over the matter.
The dynamics are already in play in published summaries of the council members' comments. Council member Jane Kingston commented: "No PILT for 2034ac/$2.1M," while frequent native sovereignty critic Ron Schara wrote, "Need to discuss this proposal about changes. Legislature already eliminated it???"
Representative Denny McNamara, R-Hastings, raised the question of using the concept in the proposal, but stripping it from the control of the indigenous nation: "Should consider as a DNR WMA or AMA."
Susan Olson welcomed the re-appearance of the proposal: "Thank you for bringing this project back to the Council, it should never have been removed by the legislature for the last funding cycle. Good job addressing all of the points of contention raised by legislators during discusions of the bill. **Note re: criteria #8 - phrasing is specific to only restoration or enhancements, so a straight acquisition will be penalized because it is not possible to award any points based on the criteria."
Another wild card in the Council's future? Outdoor advocate Dill's death created a vacancy. Bluestem will have more more when we learn about the recommendation of Minority Leader Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, to fill the seat on the Council.
Bluestem believes it's a fine conservation project, made more urgent because the timber company that currently owns the property is actively offering more than 1500 for sale and the land may slip from public access if these games continue.
The Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council was established by the legislature with the responsibility of providing annual funding recommendations to the legislature from the Outdoor Heritage Fund. The Outdoor Heritage Fund, one of four funds created by the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, receives one-third of the money raised by the tax increase.
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Bluestem has been following the effort to keep the White Earth Band of Chippewa's request for Legacy funding for a project to protect a stretch of the Wild Rice River.
Later this afternoon, Rep. Phyllis Kahn will be offering H0303A31 an amendment to HF303, the Legacy Omnibus bill. The pre-filed amendment would add this language:
(h) Protecting Forest Wildlife Habitat in the Wild Rice River Watershed
1.5$2,188,000 in the first year is to the 1.6commissioner of natural resources for an 1.7agreement with the White Earth Nation 1.8to acquire lands in fee to be managed for 1.9wildlife habitat purposes. A list of proposed 1.10land acquisitions must be provided as part of 1.11the required accomplishment plan." 1.12Page 11, line 27, delete "$4,318,000" and insert "$2,130,000" 1.13Adjust amounts accordingly
But the resistance to the White Earth Nation's owning the land and managing it is so strong that House Environment chair Denny McNamara (R-Hastings) will move to amend the amendment with H0303A47, which strips out the involvement of the White Earth Nation.
Just two years ago, I was lambasted for having the gall, as a legislator, to propose changes. This year, a Republican legislator is doing the same, and the critics …
Two years ago, outdoor sports columnist Dennis Anderson of the Star Tribune vilified my leadership of the House Legacy Committee because I had the temerity to change the funding recommendations of the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council.
In a series of eight articles prominently featured in the sports pages, Anderson excoriated me because I believed that elected legislators should be able to change recommendations of the Outdoor Heritage Council. So virulent were his criticisms that I actually received a death threat from one of his readers.
Anderson’s main point was that the conservation, hunting and fishing interests in the state had been original advocates for constitutionally dedicating sales tax receipts to outdoor projects and that, as part of that effort, those groups sought and received approval for a joint citizen-legislative body to recommend projects to be funded. Anderson felt that there should be absolutely no deviation from those recommendations. He believed that legislators should not be trusted, given a history of environmental degradation in the state for which he blamed the Legislature and politicians.
My sin, in Anderson’s myopic view, was that in 2013 I believed that the council had improperly excluded $6.3 million in conservation projects in the metro area from ever being considered for a hearing, that it had excluded a land acquisition project for the Fond du Lac Reservation solely because of anti-Indian bias, and that it did not consider aquatic invasive species a threat to conservation, hunting and fishing interests.
In addition to accepting all of the council’s recommendations, I used undesignated Outdoor Heritage Fund money to fund these three projects.
Those changes generated a firestorm led by Anderson and joined by dozens of conservation and sports groups. Anderson even threatened Gov. Mark Dayton and the DFL House with electoral defeat if they dared to even consider these changes.
My position won the day on the floor of the Minnesota House, in the joint House and Senate conference committee, and by verbal agreement of the governor. In the end, Anderson’s threats convinced Dayton to veto the provisions. (Ultimately, each of the rejected proposals was recommended by the council, passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor the year after the Anderson outcry.)
Just this year, a council project for the White Earth Reservation has been removed entirely by the Republican-controlled Minnesota House. The White Earth project followed the process and was among the highest-ranked.
So where are Dennis Anderson and his horde of conservation allies and hunters and fisherpersons who believe in the sanctity of the council’s process? Nowhere. Where is the hue and cry? Silence.
Why is this happening?
Why the double standard?
Is it because the House Republican author and council member Denny McNamara, who had voted for the White Earth project during council meetings, flip-flopped and changed the council’s recommendation at the legislative level when he was in charge?
Is it OK for a Republican, but not DFLers, to change the council’s recommendations?
Is it because a woman proposed the change two years ago?
Or is there a consistent theme that some mainly Republican members of the Legislature just don’t want to fund projects on Native American land because they don’t value Native Americans’ religious freedom and their desire not to allow the hunting of wolves on their land?
Whatever the reasons, it is abundantly clear to me that Anderson and his allies in the conservation, hunting and fishing communities are rank hypocrites.
In just two years, they have gone from vocal defenders of the Outdoor Heritage Council and its process to silent and deadly collaborators in killing the White Earth project.
There has been no such high-minded sanctimony this year over process from Anderson and his adherents. Rather, only smug self-satisfaction that their Caucasian Legacy remains intact.
Strong language for the Minnesota Nice folks who might not feel comfortable with such directness.
Photo: A canoe in wild rice beds.
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Given that much of the responsibility for the pollutants on the maps above lies at the feet of agricultural land use, the release of "Swimmable, fishable, fixable? What we've learned so far about Minnesota waters" by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency should provoke wailing and gnashing of teeth as well as tears from the state's ag storytellers, apologists and the legislators who enable them.
- A new report released today by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) provides additional evidence that agricultural and urban runoff is contributing significantly to the impairment of Minnesota’s lakes, rivers, and streams. The new study, which monitored half of the state’s 81 major watersheds, takes an in-depth look at the lakes and streams in major drainage areas. According to the MPCA, it is unlikely that current or new clean water funding can significantly improve the deteriorating conditions of many of the state’s waters – unless the state employs new strategies to prevent the pollution from happening in the first place.
The study, “Swimmable, Fishable, Fixable?” (www.pca.state.mn.us/fixable), found that poor water quality is concentrated in certain regions of the state, especially in southern Minnesota. MPCA researchers noted that in heavily farmed areas, surrounding lakes and streams had high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment. These high levels make it difficult to support aquatic life, and in some cases prohibit people from swimming in lakes and streams. The report’s findings conclude that poor water quality in southern Minnesota waters is caused predominantly by agricultural runoff. Urban areas also suffer from elevated levels of water pollution caused by runoff.
“We have seen many of these patterns developing over the last 20 years. With the comprehensive watershed information we are gathering, we are much closer to a diagnosis that can point us toward the changes that need to happen,” said MPCA Commissioner John Linc Stine. “While the Legacy Funds Minnesota citizens invested are helping us take steps forward, it’s clear that we can’t buy our way to healthy waters.”
Key Findings in the Report
The report released today was compiled by the MPCA over the last several years, and was funded by the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Constitutional Amendment. The MPCA found that phosphorus and nitrogen, high bacteria levels, and mercury contamination continue to be problems in many of Minnesota’s lakes, rivers, and streams. These pollutants, which are typically the product of urban and agricultural land runoff, have left many bodies of water inadequate for human consumption and aquatic life. Key findings from the report include:
Urban and Agricultural Impact – Areas of Minnesota with larger human and livestock populations are struggling the most with water-quality. According to the MPCA study, runoff from land under intense urban or agricultural uses has left half or less of the lakes in those areas clean enough for healthy aquatic life and enjoyable swimming.
Bacteria Levels – Higher levels of bacteria were discovered in many Minnesota waters. Generally, higher levels of bacteria indicate feedlot runoff or human waste in a water body, indicating it may be unsafe for swimming and other recreation.
Mercury-Tainted Fish – Despite Minnesota’s progress in preventing mercury from entering lakes, rivers, and streams from our state’s power utilities and other sources, the MPCA study concluded that mercury remains widely present in fish. The vast majority of lakes and streams examined in the study – 97 percent of 490 stream sections and 95 percent of 1,214 lakes studied – contain fish tainted by mercury.
High Levels of Nitrogen and Phosphorus – The MPCA study also found that watersheds that are heavily farmed or developed tend to have high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and suspended solids in their waters. Nitrogen and phosphorus can cause algal blooms while suspended solids make the water murky. These pollutants hurt aquatic life and recreational opportunities.
Problems Vary Regionally – While urban and agricultural runoff were the general source of problems across Minnesota, the types of pollution causing problems in specific bodies of water varied regionally. Typical problems included issues such as low oxygen levels, excess nutrients, excess sediment, disruption of natural water flows, a lack of habitat, and a lack of connectivity between different bodies of water.
Recommended Strategies to Improve Water Quality
In addition to identifying stressors and healthy conditions in Minnesota’s lakes and streams, the MPCA and partner agencies have recommended strategies to restore and protect our waters. Those recommendations include: stream buffers, nutrient and manure management, storm water controls, and in-lake treatments. While most strategies are tailored for their specific watersheds, some strategies recommended by the MPCA do call for stronger and more targeted application of state and local laws on feedlots, shoreland, septic systems, storm water controls, and wastewater discharges.
“We are in this for the long haul – and we are talking 20 or more years,” said Commissioner Stine. “We need continued vigilance to protect our healthy waters and take targeted action to restore those that are impaired. It took decades for our lakes and streams to become polluted, and it will take many more years to restore them.”
Photo: Maps of pollution by chemical, via the report.
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A young organizer at Clean Up the River Environment (CURE) has sent us this notice of a meeting with Minnesota Senate District 17 lawmakers in Willmar on Saturday, March 14:
Please join CURE and other conservationists for a District 17 Legislator Meeting with your elected officials, Senator Lyle Koenen, Representative Tim Miller and Representative Dave Baker. They have all confirmed with CURE that they will be able to join us and listen to our concerns about conservation during this meeting in Willmar.
Who: A face-to-face meeting with three of your elected officials, Senator Lyle Koenen, Representative Tim Miller and Representative Dave Baker.
What: A face-to-face meeting with three of your elected officials, Senator Lyle Koenen, Representative Tim Miller and Representative Dave Baker
When: Saturday, March 14th, 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM
Where: Executive Boardroom, Willmar Convention Center, 240 23rd St SE, Willmar, MN 56201. Follow signs once in building.
Why: This meeting will provide you with an opportunity to meet face-to-face with your elected officials to express your concerns and support for issues relating to agriculture, the environment, renewable energy and everything conservation related.
We're hoping that you will be able to join us and will let other concerned citizens know about this opportunity for their voices to be heard.
Share widely with your networks in the region. If you plan on attending, please let me [Kristian Nyberg CURE Energy Program Coordinator] know by simply responding to this email, or by calling the CURE office at 1-877-269-2873.
CURE is a grassroots, rural-based environmental group which works on clean water, clean energy and healthy soil in the Upper Minnesota River Valley.
Photo: A town hall in West Central Minnesota earlier this year.
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The Democrat from South Saint Paul has released a statement about Speaker Daudt's action:
Speaker Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) chose to disregard Minority Leader Paul Thissen’s (DFL-Minneapolis) recommendation that Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St Paul) continue his service on the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council (LSOHC). Speaker Daudt chose instead to remove Rep. Hansen from the council yesterday.
The LSOHC recommends spending more than a $100 million in Legacy funds to protect, restore and enhance prairies, wetlands, forests and fish, game and wildlife habitat each year. Rep. Hansen was an original co-author of the Legacy Amendment. He has served on the original council from 2008-2011 and again from 2013 until now. He was the chief author of Outdoor Heritage Fund bill last session, which passed 90 to 39 on a bipartisan basis.
Rep. Hansen was also removed from the council the last time Republicans were in the majority (2011-2012) by then Speaker Kurt Zellers. Rep. Hansen, an avid hunter and angler who owns a family farm with conservation practices, has been one of the few consistent voices asking tough questions of groups vying for the Legacy funds.
Rep. Hansen released the following statement:
“I’m disappointed to have been replaced again. As a suburban legislator with a rural background, I brought a science and practical habitat background to the table. I always worked to ensure these public projects got the proper vetting they require. We need to fully examine every proposal to make sure it is sound. Some special interests do not like that. However, I took this public responsibility seriously and am proud of my service on the council.”
“I look forward to protecting the outdoors, clean water and the public purse at the Legislature during the next two years. Setbacks occur, but we must move ahead and serve in other ways.”
Photo: Representative Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul).
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Following his autocratic removal of Representative Jean Wagenius (DFL-Minneapolis) not just a minority lead on the Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee, but as a member of the committee itself, Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) has replaced Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL – South St. Paul) on the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council.
Minority Leader Paul Thissen had recommended both lawmakers for the respective bodies. Minnesota House custom has allowed minority caucuses to pick leads on committees.
It's not the first time the Republicans have sought to banish Hansen, a frequent critic of special interests who also farms and hunts, from the Council. In 2011 the Star Tribune reported in Hansen booted from Lessard Sams Council:
The ax has fallen on Rick Hansen, the legislator who had been a critic of Legacy money spending.
Hansen, a DFLer from South St. Paul, has been removed from the Lessard Sams Outdoor Heritage Council, which recommends spending from the so-called Legacy constitutional amendment for outdoors projects.
Although he was to serve until 2013, Hansen said last month that subtle changes in the law were made to shorten his term. On Tuesday, Hansen was replaced by House leaders.
A letter signed by House Speaker Kurt Zellers announced the changes. Hansen said he was informed by a fellow legislator of the move. “Rep. [Leon] Lillie told me,” said Hansen, referring to the Lillie, a DFLer from North St. Paul who was appointed to the council.
Hansen had complained that the legislative changes that shortened his term amounted to a “get rid of Rick Hansen amendment.” Council members who at times were at odds with Hansen denied there was an attempt to remove the DFLer, and one said that “Rick needs to just kind of put his paranoia to rest.”
But said Hansen of the council: “There’s not a strong tolerance for dissent.” Hansen had cast the only “no” vote during the past three years on the council’s funding recommendations.
Given that the Republicans have repeated their 2011 decision, Daudt's action suggests that it's not "paranoia" on Hansen's part, as the brave anonodem asserted at the time.
Bluestem has to wonder exactly what Daudt thinks he's achieving here, other than handing over more goodies to a Range DFLer to distribute to good old boys in exchange for a solid vote for trashing the state's environment. Certainly the corporate interests that funded the independent expenditure attacks on defeated rural DFLers in the 2014 elections will be getting their money's worth.
. . .“I think there are many outdoor groups, and some individuals who worked on the campaign (to establish the Outdoor Heritage Fund), who see this money as their money, rather than the people’s money,” said Hansen. “And I see it as the people’s money, and I believe there needs to be more accountability, transparency and effectiveness regarding the recommendations and use of these funds.”
. . .Although his time on the council is finished, Hansen said that he will continue working on conservation issues. “Whether I’m on the council or not, I still have a voice here at the capitol and want to make sure this (the use of money from the heritage fund) is done right,” said Hansen.
Passage of the Legacy Amendment also showed that Minnesotans take seriously their responsibility to our state's greatest assets.
Similarly, those who serve as stewards of the Legacy funds have an exceptional responsibility to spend the money with maximum transparency, accountability and wisdom.
Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, took this task seriously.
So much so that he became a controversial member of the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council, which recommends expenditures for the portion of the fund dedicated to "restore, protect and enhance Minnesota's wetlands, prairies, forests and habitat for fish, game and wildlife."
Hansen asked the hard and uncomfortable questions about priorities and processes.
He clashed with some fellow board members over his perception that those who were instrumental in pushing for passage of the amendment were too influential in lobbying for its funds.
His skepticism was reflected in his Lessard Council voting record as well: He voted against the board's recommendations twice, and abstained once, over the three years there has been a vote.
No other member has opposed a funding recommendation during that period.
Last week Speaker of the House Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, replaced Hansen on the board.
The new legislative members are Rep. Denny McNamara, R-Hastings, and Rep. Leon Lillie, DFL-North St. Paul. Zellers gets to name two elected and two citizen representatives to the 12-member board, as does Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, R-Buffalo.
Gov. Mark Dayton appoints four citizen representatives.
The elected officials play a critical, dual role because the Lessard Council's funding recommendations need to be approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor.
Unlike the citizen appointees and those lobbying the Lessard Council for specific projects, these legislators are directly accountable to the public.
As our voice, they should speak as aggressively as Hansen did -- and ask difficult questions in order to avoid the potential of groupthink that can creep into a process that by its very nature can become insular.
Minnesota exceptionalism can be seen in the natural and artistic worlds that the Legacy Amendment is meant to protect.
And it can be seen in Minnesota voters, who bucked the national tax-slashing trend in order to leave a legacy.
More than ever, that same quality needs to be reflected in those who are responsible for protecting the public's extraordinary investment in the state's future.
Bluestem sees nothing different in the GOP's repeat of the 2011 action, other than a lot more money invested in getting rid of rural Democrats serving in the Minnesota House.
There's another dimension to Hansen's removal as well. In discussion of grants requests, Hansen has also defended the rights of Native American bands to ban wolf hunting on their own lands; many Ojibwe people object to hunting wolves because of the cultural importance of the animal to their heritage.
During Hansen's absence of the Council in 2011-2012, it turned down a request by the Fond Du Lac Band of Chippewa because of sovereignty questions. Dave Orrick reported in the Pioneer Press:
The proposal -- the first request to use Minnesota Legacy Amendment tax dollars to protect natural habitat on sovereign land -- tapped into a litany of touchy issues surrounding tribal relations, from wolf hunting to how tribal members pay taxes. . . .
Several Outdoor Heritage Council members, including state Rep. Dennis McNamara, R-Hastings, objected to the fact that tribal members would retain their hunting and fishing treaty rights, which are not subject to state laws. Such sentiments prompted Diver to send a letter accusing the council of being "punitive and discriminatory."
On Tuesday, McNamara proposed that if additional money became available this year, the project should be funded -- a reversal of his position. "I wish I had been better informed the first time," McNamara said. . . .
Council member Ron Schara said the Indian sovereignty of the land was a concern.
"The issue for me was never hunting and fishing rights," Schara said. "The issue was buying land (to be placed in Indian trust). To illustrate my point, the Fond du Lac closed tribal lands to the wolf hunt. I don't think people who pay sales tax in Minnesota would want us to buy land that could be closed to hunting."
Diver said the decision to close tribe-owned land to wolf hunting -- because wolves are regarded as "our brothers" -- was unique.
"I know of no other species where this would be so disagreeable to us," she said. "Other species are meant to be taken." . . .
House DFL Leader Paul Thissen expressed his disappointment today in House Speaker Kurt Daudt’s decision to replace Representative Rick Hansen (DFL – South St. Paul) on the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council. Leader Thissen recommended Rep. Hansen to serve as the DFL House member on the council. Republicans also replaced Hansen on the committee the last time they held the majority in 2011. Rep. Hansen is in his 6th term and has served on the Outdoor Heritage Council for 4 years.
The move also comes after Republicans removed Rep. Jean Wagenius from her position as designated minority lead on the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee prior to session.
Rep. Thissen released the following statement:
“I am disappointed that Republicans are again playing games with qualified appointees to committees and councils. Rep. Hansen was a co-author of the Legacy Amendment that led to the creation of the Outdoor Heritage Council, was one of the original members of the council, and is a state leader on outdoor and environmental issues.
“Republicans and Speaker Daudt have talked a lot about wanting to work together to find solutions, but their words don’t match their actions. House Republicans continue to say one thing and do another.”
Photo: State Rep. Rick Hansen.
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