Statewide blog
Statewide Category Archive: Environment
Loving 'em to death
Posted at 3:18 PM on May 16, 2012
by Dan Gunderson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Outdoors, Research
MPR photo Dan Gunderson
Minnesota is home to the largest American White Pelican colony in North America.
In 1968 the pelican was nearly extinct in Minnesota, down to one known breeding pair, state Department of Natural Resources researchers say.
Now there are an estimated 50,000 white pelicans in the state. Most of the birds winter in the Gulf of Mexico and return in the spring to raise young.
About 34,000 nest on Marsh Lake, in western Minnesota. On just one island nearly a half mile long and a few hundred feet wide, about 10,000 pelicans nest along with thousands of gulls and cormorants.
It's a bill-to-tail mass of birds and eggs and chicks. You can't take your eyes off the ground while walking because you'll step on a nest.
Researcher Jeff DiMatteo has been to the spot for about 25 years to band young pelicans He worries that the pelican colony is gaining notoriety, and attracting more birding enthusiasts and amateur photographers.
The islands on Marsh Lake are a protected sanctuary.
MPR photo Ann Arbor Miller
Trespassing on the islands can lead to citations and fines, according to Minnesota DNR Non-Game Wildlife Program Supervisor Carrol Henderson.
"Pelican colonies are at a critical stage of nesting right now, with many newly hatched chicks. Only researchers with appropriate permits may visit the island to conduct their studies," Henderson said. "Otherwise, pelicans at this stage of nesting will not tolerate trespassing by photographers or curious members of the public because it can result in the death of young."
MPR photo Dan Gunderson
Researcher Jeff DiMatteo says that's exactly what happened last year at the Marsh Lake Colony. An unidentified photographer paddled out to one of the islands and set up a blind. The parents left their nests and refused to return until the photographer left. Several hundred chicks died as a result. Dimatteo worries growing interest in pelicans will lead people to "love em to death."
To minimize the impact of his research trips to the colony, Dimatteo doesn't spend much time in any one area. He moves slowly to avoid alarming the pelicans.
I also worried about how to record the birds without unnecessary disturbance. Pelicans don't make a lot of noise. To obtain the sound of adults on the nest, I stashed a small recorder among the nests, collecting it when researchers returned to the area an hour later.
There have been cases of pelican colonies abandoned after too much disturbance. A few years ago thousands of pelicans abandoned chicks and eggs at the Chase Lake Refuge in North Dakota. The reason remains unclear. No one knows the limits of the pelicans tolerance for disturbance.
The DNR's Carrol Henderson says people who want to see pelicans should check out a colony on Pigeon Lake near Hutchinson. There is a Highway Scenic Overlook that was provided specifically for birdwatchers to view the colony from a safe distance.
The beginning of the end of coal?
Posted at 3:41 PM on May 11, 2012
by Dan Kraker
(2 Comments)
Filed under: Around MN, Arrowhead, Environment, Utilities
Yesterday on All Things Considered I reported how the Minnesota Department of Commerce is pushing for the closure of five coal-fired electric generators in northern Minnesota by the end of the decade.
Minnesota's Commerce Department wants Minnesota Power to shut down one of its three coal-fired generators at its Taconite Harbor Energy Center along the North Shore of Lake Superior in Schroeder.
That recommendation from Commerce came after the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission ordered Minnesota Power to study the economics of closing some of its coal units. It was the first time the PUC had ordered a so-called "baseload diversification study." The PUC has since also asked Interstate Power and Light and Otter Tail Power for similar studies. It wants Otter Tail to evaluate retiring its Hoot Lake coal-fired power plant.
Tough new environmental regulations are increasingly making older and smaller coal-fired generation stations uneconomic. Many utilities are turning instead to cheap and much cleaner burning natural gas. Xcel has already converted two Twin Cities area coal plants to natural gas. Midwest Generation just announced it will close two Chicago area coal plants sooner then expected rather than retrofit them.
So is this the beginning of the end of coal? Bloomberg Energy Analyst Rob Barnett published a report this week that declares the "twilight of coal-fired power" in the U.S. Barnett says a proposed new EPA carbon dioxide standard rolled out last month "effectively bans the construction of new coal-fired power plants" in the U.S.
Still, Barnett says we'll still have coal-fired power in the U.S. for decades to come. It will just make up a smaller chunk of our electric generation. Already, coal's share of generation capacity has shrunk from 52% to 40% since 2000.
Minnesota Power's plans mirror that trajectory. The utility now derives about 95% of its electricity from coal. But next year that share will drop to 75%, and utility Vice President Al Rudeck says that will drop to 50% by 2025.
But the company also announced this week it will spend nearly $400 million dollars on environmental upgrades at its giant Boswell power plant in Cohasset. As Rudeck describes, the utility will invest more heavily in wind, hydro, and gas, but coal will still provide the base of its generation.
North Country trail winding across Minnesota
Posted at 2:10 PM on April 25, 2012
by Dan Gunderson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Sports & Recreation
Volunteer Bruce Johnson digs new trail in Hubbard County- photo courtesy NCTA
The North Country Trail Association is hosting informational meetings today in Fergus Falls. The meetings are to gather public input on a route from Fergus Falls to Breckenridge, across the Red River Valley.
The North Country Trail is still under construction, but will eventually run about 4,600 miles; from New York to North Dakota. It is the longest federally designated scenic trail in the United States. About 2,000 miles have been built, some across rather difficult terrain.
Volunteers are still constructing the trail across Minnesota . This new section is in Becker county.
Photo courtesy NCTA
In Minnesota, the trail also incorporates the famed Superior Hiking Trail along the North Shore of Lake Superior. The Minnesota arm of the trail organization is now in the planning stages for about 120 miles of trail across the Red River Valley to connect to the North Dakota trail segment.
The NCTA is also recruiting volunteers to help build and maintain the trail segments.
The meetings will be held from 3-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. at the West Central Initiative in Fergus Falls.
Walleyes, northern pike begin spring spawning runs
Posted at 4:31 PM on April 6, 2012
by Tom Robertson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Around MN, Environment, Lakes, Northwest Minnesota, Outdoors
AP photo
Bemidji area fishing guide Paul Nelson says walleyes, northern pike and perch have begun their spawning runs in many northern lakes.
Fish spawning activity is heavily dependent on weather. In a recent outdoors column in the Bemidji Pioneer, Nelson said cool temperatures following ice-out on area lakes this year put most of the fish in a holding pattern. But the subsequent warm-up now has fish actively spawning in lakes and rivers.
Now is the time of year that DNR fisheries workers are out stripping eggs from walleye so the fish fry can later be stocked in area lakes.
Nelson reports that crews have begun that process on the northeastern corner of Lake Winnibigoshish. Apparently most of the walleye were not "ripe" when they were captured in the nets. Warmer temperatures will quickly change that.
Ellison atrazine legislation
Posted at 2:12 PM on April 3, 2012
by David Cazares
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Farms
By Stephanie Hemphill
U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minneapolis, has reintroduced legislation to ban the controversial herbicide atrazine.
Farmers use atrazine to kill weeds, especially in corn fields. Surveys have found atrazine in surface and groundwater, and studies have shown it can cause fertility problems even at low levels.
In a news release, Ellison says the chemical "has only moderate agricultural benefits."
Syngenta, the manufacturer of atrazine, says the chemical does not pose a threat to drinking water supplies, and recent research shows no adverse effects on frogs.
In 2010, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture conducted a special review of atrazine, and concluded no changes were needed in the rules governing its use. The agency says about one-quarter of Minnesota corn fields are treated with atrazine.
Atrazine is banned in Europe.
An earlier attempt to ban atrazine in the United States failed in Congress.
Landowners face conservation decisions
Posted at 9:43 AM on April 3, 2012
by Dan Gunderson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Farms
MPR file photo Dan Gunderson
The Conservation Reserve Program signup period ends April 6th. During the four week signup that ends Friday, landowners can re-enroll their land, or sign up new acres.
Wildlife managers and conservation groups are concerned high crop prices will entice many landowners to let the CRP contracts expire and either farm the land themselves or rent the land for cropping.
Landowners get an annual per acre rental payment for keeping land enrolled in the CRP. In Minnesota USDA data shows the CRP payments range from $23/acre, to $146/acre.
By comparison, the National Ag Statistics Service (NASS) shows cropland rents for 2010 (the latest data available) ranged from $35/acre to $168/acre.
In Minnesota, the counties with most enrolled CRP acres are in the northwest.
What's the bottom line some of those landowners are considering?
The average CRP payment in Marshall county is $44/acre according to USDA.
NASS data 2010 cropland rent in Marshall county averaged $62/acre
Kittson county CRP averages $40/acre. 2010 crop rent: $62/acre
Roseau county CRP averages $36/acre. 2010 crop rent: $35/acre
Pennington CRP averages $41/acre. 2010 crop rent: $43/acre.
Those crop rent numbers are certainly low, since land rent has been steadily rising in Minnesota the past few years.
The decision landowners make will have a significant impact on parts of the Minnesota landscape, because about 292,000 acres of CRP contracts are set to expire later this year unless they are renewed.
Would you keep land in a Conservation Program even if it meant less money in your pocket?
(All data from USDA)
Wildlife expert to manage hunter, landowner issues
Posted at 12:31 PM on March 28, 2012
by Elizabeth Baier
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Southeast Minnesota
Photo by Rob Nopola
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has hired someone to to better work with deer hunters and landowners in southeastern Minnesota.
Since February, Clint Luedtke has met with farmers, recreational land owners and others to reduce deer-related crop damage and increase effective deer management strategies.
DNR officials describe southeast Minnesota as a "puzzle" when it comes to deer issues, since the region has many private farms, public forests, absentee landowners, crop depredation, and a growing interest in big buck hunting.
Some regional farmers say they lose thousands of dollars a year in crop damage because of deer.
DNR officials say hunting is the only tool for the agency to manage deer in some of these areas. But not all private landowners/farmers welcome hunters on their properties and DNR officials say many hunters sometimes focus only on catching big bucks.
Luedtke, a former wildlife biologist from Arizona, says many of the problems happen between farmers trying to raise crops near others trying to hunt larger bucks.
"We've got these pockets of deer that are persistently causing damage to crops," Luedtke said. "It has become such a big issue, so we're kind of under the hot seat to get something done."
Luedtke's region includes Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Olmsted, Wabasha and Winona counties.
St. Louis County makes dubious mining jobs claims
Posted at 4:08 PM on March 14, 2012
by Michael Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Arrowhead, Economy, Environment
Update 3/19: Commissioner Nelson says the year should have said 2030, not 2013.
A campaign by the St. Louis County commission to promote copper-nickle mining along the Iron Range is floating some fishy job numbers.
A pamphlet and a page on the commission's website touts: "New, nonferrous projects in Minnesota have the potential to add more than $2.7 billion to the state's economy and another 7,000 new jobs by 2013."
That phrase was parroted by Northland News Center's Kevin Jacobsen after a cheeky report on the "Hug a Ranger" campaign.
Blogger Aaron Brown has a more realistic reaction to the claim, "This is patently insane."
PolyMet, the copper-nickel project furthest along, puts job estimates at 300 construction jobs and 360 "permanent" jobs. None of those estimates are tied to 2013.
Minnesotans react to House vote on Stillwater bridge
Posted at 11:30 AM on March 1, 2012
by Michael Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Environment, Government, Twin Cities
What do you think about the proposed bridge?
PolyMet plans to turn farmland into wetlands
Posted at 5:24 PM on February 29, 2012
by Michael Olson
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Arrowhead, Economy, Environment
PolyMet Mining Corp. has announced plans to restore farmland in Minnesota to wetlands. The company is proposing to mine for copper and nickle in wetlands near Hoyt Lakes and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It is required to create one acre of wetland for everyone it destroys or impairs. Environmentalists caution that not all wetlands are created equal.
"PolyMet must ensure that it has adequate acreage of suitable land that can be converted into replacement/mitigation wetlands," PolyMet spokeswoman LaTisha Gietzen said. She adds that the wetlands "together with our existing wetland mitigation options, will ensure that we have more than enough mitigation acres to meet the requirements."
Friends of the Boundary Waters policy director Betsy Daub doubts the wetland will be of equal value. "It appears PolyMet wishes the Minnesota public to believe that replacing high-quality, hundreds-of-year-old peatlands with agricultural land is wetlands replacement and mitigation. It is not."
Daub continues, "Any replacement wetlands should be located close to the wetlands that are proposed to be destroyed. Otherwise the very important functions of those wetlands - such as water filtration, waterfowl habitat, storm water storage - will be lost from that area. Minnesotans need to know the truth: the PolyMet mine would result in the largest permitted destruction of wetlands in Minnesota history. Replacing this with farmland is not acceptable. PolyMet's proposal should be resoundly rejected by the State of Minnesota and the public."
In a press release PolyMet indicated the "transaction will close upon approval by appropriate securities regulatory authorities, which is anticipated in early March."
Related
Mining news from Minnesota Today
Minnesota Power offers bigger solar rebates
Posted at 3:08 PM on February 22, 2012
by Dan Kraker
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Arrowhead, Central Minnesota, Environment, Utilities
Minnesota Power, the utility serving northeastern Minnesota, has announced it will pay up to 60 percent, or $20,000, of the cost of a new solar electric system.
Homes and businesses would also be eligible for a 30 percent federal tax credit, in addition to rebates for meeting energy efficiency standards and for nonprofit or tax-exempt customers. That means a typical residential solar system costing $40,000, could cost as little as $8,000 to the buyer.
But to maximize the size of their rebate, customers need to puchase solar products manufactured in Minnesota. That qualifies them for an additional $1,000 per installed kilowatt "Minnesota Made incentive," on top of the utility's existing base rebate of $2,000/kW.
The incentive for locally manufactured equipment matches an existing program already offered by Xcel Energy, the state's largest utility. But currently only two companies manufacture solar panels in the state, TenKsolar in Bloomington, and Silicon Energy, which recently opened a manufacturing plant in Mountain Iron.
Dan Williams, vice president of a Champlin-based solar installation company, told Midwest Energy News that the "Made in Minnesota" rebate programs help Minnesota-made solar equipment compete with cheap Chinese imports. Williams, whose company is called Powerfully Green, said a three kilowatt project with Silicon Energy panels might cost $25,000. But with Xcel Energy's Minnesota made rebate, he said, the homeowner's bill is only about $5,000.
Restoring sturgeon
Posted at 10:53 AM on February 10, 2012
by Dan Gunderson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Northwest Minnesota, Outdoors, Rivers and streams
Photo courtesy John Dickelman
A couple of weeks ago, John Dickelman who runs a guide service on the Red Rive, was fishing with Dave Longtine (pictured above) when they pulled a small sturgeon through the ice.
They released the fish after snapping a photo, but Dickelman said it was very exciting to actually see a sturgeon.
The aquatic giant from the past is making a comeback on the Red River thanks to a series of dam modification projects that I reported on today for MPR's Morning Edition.
The Red River was full of massive sturgeon in the 1800s, but construction of dams and overfishing mostly eliminated the population by the mid 1900s.
Photo courtesy Becker County Historical Society
Restoring sturgeon is a long term process. The fish grow slowly and typically don't spawn until they are 25 years old. They can live more than 100 years and reach 200 pounds or more.
The state Department of Natural Resources is stocking thousands of small sturgeon, and the White Earth Nation is also stocking sturgeon in lakes which feed into the Red River.
The ultimate goal is to remove barriers so sturgeon can migrate the entire length of the Red River and up the Otter Tail River.
Anglers who catch sturgeon must release them, but perhaps some day, 200-pounders will once again be pulled from the Red River.
St Johns pulls plug on coal in favor of natural gas
Posted at 4:02 PM on February 6, 2012
by Michael Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment
Saint John's University in Collegeville is pulling the plug on its coal fired power plant and will be switching to cleaner burning natural gas to power its campus.
University officials are touting the move as a sustainable measure that is possible now because the cost of natural gas has dropped significantly.
"Having coal on campus -- it's dirty, and everyone knows it," Derek Larson, an environmental studies professor at St. John's told the Saint Cloud Times. "Students will say, 'Great, you have a solar farm, but what about that coal?' Saying goodbye to coal, even temporarily, is a pretty big victory."
But every energy source has drawbacks and concerns are mounting over the extraction process used to collect natural gas.
The Washington Post reports "Negative publicity about water contamination at drilling sites in the Chesapeake Bay region and out west in Texas, Wyoming and Oklahoma is raising concern even among those who support gas exploration." These concerns have recently stopped the drilling process in West Virginia.
Objections to natural gas have been muted in part because some environmental groups favored natural gas over coal as an interim energy source while the nation moved to more sustainable sources.
Time magazine reports "that between 2007 and 2010 the Sierra Club accepted over $25 million in donations from the gas industry, mostly from Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy -- one of the biggest gas drilling companies in the United States and a firm heavily involved in fracking -- to help fund the Club's Beyond Coal campaign."
Banning pesticide use on lawns
Posted at 1:28 PM on February 2, 2012
by Dan Gunderson
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Farms, Government
Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS.
Our neighbors to the north are talking about a ban on "cosmetic" use of pesticides.
Several Canadian provinces ban pesticide use on lawns, and the Winnipeg Free Press reports Manitoba officials are preparing a ban on urban pesticide use that would likely be implemented next year.
The ban would not affect agricultural use of pesticides.
A Minnesota Department of Agriculture study in 2010 found
"Non-agricultural pesticide sales accounted for approximately 60% of the total pounds of all (agricultural and non-agricultural) pesticide sold in Minnesota."
Minnesota River quarry idea sparks debate
Posted at 1:43 PM on February 1, 2012
by Mark Steil
(2 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Rivers and streams, Southwest Minnesota
(Photo courtesy of Anne Queenan)
A proposal to quarry granite along the Minnesota River on the state's western border is generating debate in Big Stone County.
North Dakota-based Strata Corporation wants to turn the granite into stone aggregate for concrete, asphalt and other construction materials. Officials at the Grand Forks company say there is a severe shortage of aggregate in the construction industry.
A group of nearby residents argue the site about two miles southeast of Ortonville should be left as it is.
The above photo shows some of the land included in the proposed quarry area. Residents are concerned the development would have a variety of bad consequences, including lowering nearby property values, hurting wildlife and harming the Minnesota River's tourism potential in the area. They're also worried about environmental damage, wondering if the quarry will hurt surface and ground water supplies.
The Big Stone County Planning Commission will continue a hearing on the issue Thursday evening in the town of Clinton. A previous session in early January drew a full house, about 75 people.
It's not known if the commission will make a recommendation on the issue Thursday. But no matter what side of the debate they eventually come down on, the matter will go to the full county board.
Wolf Center says new Liam Neeson film full of 'scat'
Posted at 10:45 AM on February 2, 2012
by Dan Kraker
(11 Comments)
Filed under: Around MN, Arrowhead, Environment, Outdoors
Liam Neeson prepares to fight off wild wolves in a scene from "The Grey." (Photo courtesy Open Road Films via AP)
"The Grey" is the new thriller starring Liam Neeson, who leads a stranded group of oil-rig roughnecks to safety in the remote Alaskan wilderness while being stalked by a vicious pack of rogue wolves.
The film is doing quite well in theaters, taking in nearly $20 million through this past weekend.
But the International Wolf Center in Ely isn't thrilled with the action flick. In the Center's blog Wild Bytes, Jo Tubbs, the International Wolf Center's board chair, calls the movie "dark, depressing, and as accurate a portrayal of wolf behavior as King Kong was about gorillas."
The Center is nominating The Grey for its first ever Scat Award, in the Scare Tactics and Silly Information categories. The educational center's main complaint, according to Tubbs, is that wolves in the movie are portrayed as killers, "when the incidence of wolves killing humans in North America is so rare as to garner huge headlines."
She says only two cases have been documented--a 2005 killing by wolves in Saskatchewan, and a 2010 death near Chignik Lake, Alaska.
There are now about 3,000 wolves in Minnesota. The state's Department of Natural Resources took over management of the wolves last Friday after wolves in the Great Lakes region were removed from Endangered Species list.
Rochester tries again to oust crows
Posted at 10:43 AM on February 1, 2012
by Elizabeth Baier
(2 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Southeast Minnesota
Crows fills the sky near the Trask Worship Center at North Central University in Minneapolis, Minn. Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011. (MPR File Photo/Jeffrey Thompson)
The crows seem to really like Rochester.
For the last few months, thousands of crows have swarmed downtown Rochester, congregating in nearby parks, scavenging trash bins and leaving a blanket of droppings on sidewalks and parked cars near the Mayo Clinic.
Clinic officials covered some of the trees with nets to keep the birds away. And late last year, the City Council hired a bird abatement company to bring in "attack birds," including falcons and hawks, to scare off the crows.
The city took donations from downtown businesses to help cover the $25,000 cost, but the attack birds didn't seem to do the trick.
Now, city officials have given the bird abatement company the green light to try yet another plan to get the birds out of town.
The new plan, according to news reports, involves trapping and relocating the birds somewhere near Worthington in western Minnesota, even though it's unclear exactly where the birds would be released. The council says it'll pay the company $1,200 a day to proceed with the new plan.
Rochester is not alone in the great battle against crows.
Take a listen to MPR's recent coverage of the crow situation just 90 miles north in Minneapolis.
USDA updates plant hardiness map
Posted at 1:50 PM on January 25, 2012
by Dan Gunderson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Farms, Food
source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Gardeners who are perusing the new seed catalogs and dreaming of warm spring days might want to check out the new USDA Plant Hardiness Zone map.
U.S. Department of Agriculture officials say this is the first update to the plan hardiness zone map since 1990.
The just-released map uses temperatures from a more recent period, and over a longer time span, according to a USDA press release.
"This is the most sophisticated Plant Hardiness Zone Map yet for the United States," said Dr. Catherine Woteki, USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics. "The increases in accuracy and detail that this map represents will be extremely useful for gardeners and researchers."
USDA officials say the new map is also more detailed geographically, taking into account features like a valley or higher ground.
Perhaps that's why it appears Minnesota communities like Isabella and Aitkin are hot spots in a generally colder region.
The new map also allows for searches by zip code, and you can zoom in for greater detail.
Do you find the USDA zone map useful or is experience the best predictor of gardening success?
Power line work to include helicopter and implosives
Posted at 10:47 AM on January 18, 2012
by Tom Robertson
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Around MN, Arrowhead, Environment, Northwest Minnesota, Utilities
A sign at a rest stop near St. Cloud warns travelers of work on the CapX2020 powerline. Similar work is being done between Cass Lake and Grand Rapids this week. (MPR Photo/Nathaniel Minor)
People traveling on U.S. Highway 2 between Cass Lake and Grand Rapids may notice some unusual construction activity this week.
Utility companies constructing the CapX2020 high power transmission line are using a helicopter and implosive devices on the project. That phase of the work is expected to continue through April.
The helicopter will fly close to new transmission structures near Highway 2 in Cass and Itasca counties. The aircraft is being used to install conductor wire along the power line corridor.
Construction crews will also use implosive connectors to splice transmission conductor joints. The spit-second detonation creates a flash and a loud boom.
A video of the process is posted on the CapX2020 web site.
Project safety manager Eric Hamm is advising travelers not to stop and gawk at the work.
"Stopping along the road or work area increases the likelihood of vehicle accidents and may distract workers, making their jobs more dangerous as well," said Hamm.
Power company officials say similar work on the 230kV transmission line will happen early this summer at the other end of the line, between Wilton, west of Bemidji, and Cass Lake.
Company officials say the new line will improve electric service reliability and support growth in the region.
The project is owned by Minnkota Power Cooperative, Minnesota Power, Xcel Energy, Great River Energy and Otter Tail Power Company.
Invasive species change Minnesota lakes
Posted at 11:18 AM on January 13, 2012
by Dan Gunderson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Lakes, Water
MPR Photo/Dan Gunderson
Aquatic invasive species are drawing a lot of attention in Minnesota. Invasive plants like Eurasian milfoil have been common in Minnesota lakes for years. But new invasive species like zebra mussels and Asian carp are causing a higher level of anxiety about their effects on Minnesota's beloved lakes.
Many invasive species arrived via Great Lakes shipping. The U.S. Geological Survey has identified more than 136 exotic species that have established populations in the Great Lakes.
That's how the zebra mussel arrived. This animation created by the U.S. Geological Survey shows how the invasive invertebrate spread.
Geological Survey officials say once an exotic species is established, control efforts are very expensive and rarely successful. Just one invasive, the zebra mussel, is expected to cause billions of dollars in economic effects over the next decade.
Invasive species often have a variety of impacts on the ecosystem.
The zebra mussel, for example, is a filter feeder. That means each mussel filters up to a gallon of water a day, eating the plankton at the bottom of the food chain.
That means less food for some species of fish.
It also means increased water clarity in lakes. In Lake Erie for example, water clarity increased from a few inches to 30 feet as a result of zebra mussel filtering.
Light then penetrates deeper, and aquatic plants grow much larger. That's good for some species of fish like the northern pike, or bass, but all that weed growth hampers boating or swimming in lakes, and can reduce the lakes ability to support fish populations over time.
I often hear people say zebra mussels have no natural predators in Minnesota. That's not the case — Geological Survey officials say there is evidence migrating waterfowl have changed their flight patterns to feed on zebra mussel colonies.
Fish like sturgeon, catfish, freshwater drum and sunfish all eat the tiny zebra mussels.
But the mussel is so prolific, its population generally grows rapidly, despite predators.
Scientists say preventing the spread of zebra mussels is the only effective control. There are chemicals that will kill zebra mussels, but they're mostly used in small areas such as around water intake pipes.They have not successfully been used to treat an entire lake.
The state Department Natural Resources has experimented with pesticides to control an early infestation of zebra mussels. But the verdict on that approach is not in.
Minnesota officials are focusing on prevention with expanded boat inspection and decontamination. The state is also requiring workers who move equipment like docks and boat lifts to be trained to recognize aquatic invasive species.
Zebra mussels are commonly thought to hitch a ride from lake to lake on boats, but can just as easily travel on the boots of someone who goes from lake to lake installing or repairing docks, or on the gear of scuba divers or swimmers.
Listen to my report on how Minnesota lake associations hope to spur action against invasive species on today's All Things Considered.
Minn. DNR announces new wolf hunting season for fall
Posted at 2:14 PM on January 6, 2012
by Nate Minor
(55 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Outdoors, Sports & Recreation
Wolves roam in the wilderness in February 2010 near the Minnesota-Wisconsin border. (MPR File Photo/Derek Montgomery)
By Elizabeth Dunbar
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said Friday it will propose a new wolf hunting season for as early as this fall.
The state expects management of the population to fall back into its hands after the gray wolf in the Great Lakes region is officially removed from federal protection later this month.
The DNR is seeking authority from the Legislature to create a new wolf license that would be available through a lottery system. The hunting season, which would include trapping, would likely take place between late November and early January, said Dan Stark, DNR large carnivore specialist.
DNR officials said it has not yet set the number of licenses it will distribute or a target harvest rate. The first hunting season will be conservative so that the DNR can begin to collect data on how successful hunters are and how the wolf population responds, officials said.
There are approximately 3,000 wolves in Minnesota, and Stark said the population needs to stay above 1,600 to remain sustainable. But he said success rates among wolf hunters in other states have been very low.
"It's kind of an opportunistic thing," he said. "Trappers targeting wolves are probably going to be more effective."
It will be the third time the federal government removes Great Lakes region wolves from the Endangered Species Act. The other two times, the wolf was put back under protection following legal action by some animal rights and conservation groups.
A legal challenge is still possible this time, and DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr acknowledged that hunting wolves will be a sensitive issue.
"The wolf is really an iconic species in Minnesota," he said. "We need to proceed with care."
Landwehr said the state has a history of managing game species responsibly.
"We take this conditional opportunity seriously, and we're going to demonstrate that we can do it right," he said.
Ed Boggess, director of the DNR Fish and Wildlife Division, said many of the specifics of the proposed hunt still have to be worked out. He expects that will happen during the upcoming legislative session.
Boggess said DNR officials will propose starting with a small number of licenses to be cautious.
"We don't want to do anything that would get the wolf put back on the list," he said.
Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, oversees DNR matters at the Legislature and said he supports a wolf hunting season. Ingebrigtsen said he wants to see the DNR's specific proposal but will do what he can to expedite legislation to allow the hunt.
Conservation groups: Is clean water Legacy money making a difference?
Posted at 9:37 PM on January 5, 2012
by Minnesota Public Radio
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Government
By Elizabeth Dunbar, Minnesota Public Radio
St. Paul, Minn. - Ensuring water projects funded through the state's Legacy Amendment are making a difference — and proving it to the public — is a major challenge, conservationists and those who oversee Legacy money acknowledged.
About 300 Legacy stakeholders, including conservation groups, legislators and state officials, gathered Thursday in St. Paul to hear how Legacy money has been spent so far on clean water, the outdoors and parks. The annual forum's goal is to ask whether Legacy money is going to projects and programs as voters expected.
Most of the attention was directed at the Clean Water Fund, which receives about a third of the sales tax revenue generated from the constitutional amendment approved by Minnesota voters in 2008.
Gene Merriam, president of the Freshwater Society, pointed to several reasons to question whether past funds for water projects are being spent effectively. That included a failed cleanup plan on Lake Independence and a report by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency showing only moderate improvements on the Minnesota River over the last 20 years, he said.
"That report tells us we have spent hundreds of millions of dollars and have very little to show for it," Merriam said. "We need to do better over the next two decades and better target our resources."
Measuring whether the water projects actually accomplish what they're supposed to isn't easy, said Keith Hanson, chairman of the Clean Water Council that oversees Legacy clean water money.
"This is a very significant thing that's on the minds of all the council members," Hanson said.
The MPCA will soon have its first performance report on the Clean Water Fund, Commissioner Paul Aasen said.
"We're only a few years into this, science takes time, but after three sampling seasons we can start to tell more of a story," he said.
Those who implement projects including rain gardens, drainage ditches and buffer strips near farms said members of the public need to be patient.
"Everybody wants instant gratification," said Tom Kalahar of the Renville Soil and Water Conservation District. "It's going to take many, many, many years to fix the landscape."
The needs far exceed the available funds, Kalahar said. For example, Renville County has spent $1 million to create about 21 miles of drainage ditch buffers since the Legacy Amendment went into effect. But the county needs up to 1,700 miles of such buffers, he said.
"We need about $99 million to get this job done," Kalahar said. "It's going to take us a while."
NO LEGACY FOR VIKINGS
Two lawmakers who oversee Legacy funding reiterated their opposition to using any Legacy funds for a new publicly-funded stadium for the Minnesota Vikings.
Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, and Rep. Dean Urdahl, R-Grove City, said they'll fight any such proposal.
"It's still out there; it's still active," Ingebrigtsen said of the view that the Vikings are part of Minnesota's heritage and should qualify for Legacy funds. "We ought to step up and say 'No, that's not what we voted for.'"
Urdahl's statement was greeted by applause in the Crown Plaza Hotel's ballroom: "No, there won't be any Legacy money going to a Vikings stadium," he said.
Minnesota group sues FDA over regulation of nano materials
Posted at 12:03 PM on December 23, 2011
by Dan Gunderson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Food, Government
Minneapolis based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy is one of a half dozen groups that sued the Food and Drug Administration this week over regulation of nanotechnology.
In the complaint, the groups allege the FDA failed to respond to a 2006 petition for regulation of nanotechnology.
The lawsuit asks the Federal District court to order the FDA to move forward with developing regulatory rule making for nanotechnology.
The lawsuit, filed in a California Federal Court, says consumer products like cosmetics and sunscreen containing nano particles are already widely used by consumers, but FDA has failed to address risks from the nano materials.
IATP Policy Analyst Steve Suppan says FDA should also regulate the developing use of nano particles in food packaging. Reporter Andrew Schneider, in a series done for AOL news last year, documented produce shipped to the U.S. from other countries with nano material coatings applied to prolong shelf life. But IATP analyst Steve Suppan says since FDA doesn't regulate the nano material, there is no product labeling.
Suppan says consumers should be able to count on scientific proof the nano materials are safe.
"Otherwise, there will be no basis for consumer confidence except for the agencies and companies ' just say trust us we know what we're doing.' There's obviously lots of instances where they've said that before which did not prove to protect consumers."
Suppan says the goal of the lawsuit is to force FDA to begin the process of regulating nano materials used in consumer products which it has authority to regulate.
An FDA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Nano materials are made by engineering common materials like silver or titanium dioxide at the molecular level. The tiny particles change the properties of the material as explained in this story I reported last year.
Scientists appear to be somewhat divided over the potential effects of these nano materials.
U of M to focus on consumer behavior and environment
Posted at 11:50 AM on December 15, 2011
by David Cazares
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Research
By Stephanie Hemphill
The University of Minnesota is setting up a sustainability initiative to help businesses and government agencies learn how to encourage consumer behavior that's good for the environment.
Akshay Rao, General Mills Chair in Marketing at the Carlson School of Management, said researchers who study human behavior have something to offer any organization that wants to market earth-friendly products or actions. He's recruiting corporations and government agencies to join a consortium that would oversee research to make such marketing more successful.
Research would be conducted both at the U of M other universities.
Rao said many corporations are already interested in the idea.
"People are experimenting with little ways of changing behavior, wondering why some things work and some things don't," he said.
As an example, he cited smiley-faces that utility companies attach to their customers' bills to encourage energy conservation. Some research has shown they work to prevent high achievers from cutting back on their energy-saving efforts. But it also indicated the approach doesn't work so well with Republicans.
Rao said his goal is to find approaches that work for everyone. Besides bringing academic rigor to corporate experiments, he hopes to answer a fundamental question:
"What is it we can find that is so fundamental about human behavior that it will lead people, regardless of their ideological preferences, to act in a manner that is beneficial to the planet?"
Rao said most money for sustainability initiatives goes toward developing new technologies.
"To make sure there is a viable market for new 'green' technologies, we must understand underlying consumer beliefs and behaviors associated with the adoption and use of those technologies," he said.
Rao is aiming for an endowment of up to $10 million. So far, Wells Fargo has contributed $250,000 to the project.
Fargo wins grant for new approach to public art
Posted at 2:45 PM on December 8, 2011
by Dan Gunderson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Arts, Environment, Flooding, Government
MPR photo Dan Gunderson
National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman visited Fargo Thursday to talk about a public art project he says the NEA will use as a model across the country.
Fargo received a $100,000 NEA grant to turn a large drainage basin into a public art space. The funding comes from the NEA Our Town program. The city will provide matching funds, mostly in staff time coordinating the project.
The city has been building these drainage basins for the past 10 years to catch runoff from heavy summer rains and prevent street flooding. The basins are empty most of the year, typically only holding water for a short time after a heavy rain.
Local artists will work with Jackie Brookner, an ecological artist from New York, to develop a plan for making the drainage basins into a space that's pleasing aesthetically and can be used for recreation.
Landesman says he liked the Fargo idea of incorporating art into community infrastructure.
"We're going to do much more public art, community based, and this is a perfect example," he says. ""We're making the point the arts are part of the real economy of this country. There are five million arts related jobs in this country."
The project will be designed over the next several months.
Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker says the basins are now used only by ducks and geese.
He challenged local artists to come up with ideas to make the sites useful and beautiful.
Walaker called the project a great example of "thinking outside the box".
Belle Creek township to appeal wind farm decision
Posted at 3:21 PM on November 30, 2011
by Elizabeth Baier
(4 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Government, Southeast Minnesota
Wind turbines dot a central Iowa field on May 23, 2011. (MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel)
Earlier this week, the Belle Creek township board in southeastern Minnesota voted to appeal a decision by the Public Utilities Commission that allows a developer to proceed with a $179 million wind project near Red Wing.
"People have not listened to us. Everybody's ignored us," Belle Creek Board Chair Chad Ryan said. "They're just plain ignoring what the people want."
Ryan said Belle Creek's decision comes after Goodhue County officials decided against filing an appeal of their own against the PUC.
The project, by developer AWA Goodhue Wind, could include 50 turbines spread across 32,000 acres of farmland in Goodhue County. The township wants a county ordinance with stricter setback requirements for turbines to govern the project, according to Ryan.
"Since the county won't fight it, we felt that we will," Ryan said. "Generally speaking, I would say that 80 percent of the citizens of Belle Creek wanted us to appeal, so that's probably one of the main reasons why we decided to appeal."
The turbine project has generated strong opposition from some residents, who question the effect the turbines will have on local wildlife and eagle populations.
Ryan estimates the appeal will cost the small township of 400 residents as much as $40,000. He said the town board has not decided whether it will also ask an appellate judge for a stay on the project, which could force the developer to wait to break ground on the project until the legal matter is resolved.
The long-standing controversy over the wind farm boils down to whether the state or the county regulate a project that includes 50 turbines spread across 32,000 acres of farmland in Goodhue County. Opponents of the controversial wind farm believe the county's ordinance with stricter setback requirements for the turbines should govern the project.
Under state law, counties are allowed to create their own laws on these issues, but the Public Utilities Commission has the right to override those laws for just cause. That's what the commission did earlier this year when it approved the 78-megawatt wind farm.
But earlier this month, Goodhue County commissioners voted against appealing that decision, saying it's the state's job, not the county's, to regulate large wind projects in Minnesota.
Invasive species aren't always pests
Posted at 12:03 PM on December 1, 2011
by Dan Kraker
(4 Comments)
Filed under: Around MN, Arrowhead, Environment, Research, Water
The havoc that aquatic invasive species like zebra mussels have wreaked on the Great Lakes and beyond has been well documented. They reproduce faster than rabbits, suck up plankton off lake floors, starving native species, and clog water intake pipes.
Zebra mussels, along with nasty critters like sea lamprey and those great flopping river acrobats Asian carp, have given invasive species a bad rap -- often very deservedly so. But new research suggests that the most recent Great Lakes invader may actually help their new home.
The "bloody red shrimp" was discovered in Lake Michigan in 2006. They've spread to all of the Great Lakes except Lake Superior. Like zebra mussels, they likely hitched a ride from the Black and Caspian seas in eastern Europe in the ballast tanks of ocean-going freighters. Requirements for ships to exchange ballast water at sea have since slowed the introduction of non-native species to the Great Lakes.
New research shows that the little crustacean, so named for its bright red spots, has become food for native species like yellow perch and alewife.
Mike Yuille, a graduate student at Ontario's Queens University, tells UPI that "forecasting how an invader will affect the growth and production of a specific native fish species is very relevant to conservation groups and government agencies hoping to conserve those fish." Yuille's findings will be published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research.
But the relationships among native and non-native species are complex. Yuille's research also suggests that round gobies have incorporated the shrimp into their diet. Gobies are another aquatic invasive species, also brought over to the Great Lakes from far eastern Europe in ballast water.
Environmental groups target North Dakota on air quality
Posted at 2:01 PM on November 10, 2011
by David Cazares
(2 Comments)
Filed under: Environment
By Stephanie Hemphill
Environmental groups are joining battle with the state of North Dakota and its coal industry over air quality in northern Minnesota and especially in three national treasures: the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Voyageurs National Park, and Isle Royale National Park.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency has been pushing coal-fired power plants in North Dakota to install specific pollution control technology, which utilities there say will not work on lignite coal. State officials back the utilities, and the North Dakota House of Representatives has weighed in, passing two bills critical of the EPA.
According to Drew Kerr in Midwest Energy News, "Visibility has been reduced by one-half to two-thirds what it would be under natural conditions at national parks and forests in the western United States because of haze-forming particulate matter such as nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide..."
Smog also affects human health.
The Sierra Club and the National Parks Conservation Association are buying ads in local newspapers in North Dakota and northern Minnesota, directing readers to a website designed to promote citizen involvement in the fight.
On its website, the Lignite Energy Council asserts that "employment and economic growth are the most important factors relating to length of life."
Meanwhile, North Dakota's attorney general is suing Minnesota over Minnesota's renewable energy standards, saying the rules get in the way of interstate commerce.
Measuring attitudes on wind energy
Posted at 3:24 PM on November 9, 2011
by Dan Gunderson
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Northwest Minnesota, Technology, Utilities
MPR photo Dan Gunderson
About 30 people will gather in Moorhead ,Minn., on Thursday to share their thoughts on wind energy development.
The Minnesota Wind Energy Landscape Symposium is a project of Macalester College researchers. Funded by the National Science Foundation, it'ss one of three such
events scheduled across the country to sample public opinion on wind turbine development. The other Symposia were held this summer in Wyoming and Michigan.
Participants will have a chance to hear from experts on the topic of wind development. They'll also have an opportunity to respond to various development scenarios.
The goal is to develop a set of best practices for local wind development projects.
Macalester Professor Roopali Phadke also hopes to use the information in her study of
visual impact assessments for wind turbine projects, and to better understand public concern about wind turbine location.
In the past few years there's been increasing opposition to wind turbines as a growing number of people object to having wind turbines sited near them because of concerns about visual aesthetics or in some cases, noise from the turbines.
Wind energy development has slowed in recent months as a result of the stagnant economy.
There are several wind turbine projects in various stages of development in west central Minnesota.
North Dakota sues Minnesota over energy act
Posted at 4:01 PM on November 3, 2011
by David Cazares
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Utilities
By Stephanie Hemphill
North Dakota has made good on its threat to sue Minnesota over the Next Generation Energy Act passed by the Legislature in 2007 and signed by then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
The law prohibits Minnesota utilities from building any new power plants that would produce a net increase in carbon emissions. They also cannot add to their imports of electricity from fossil-fueled-fired power plants
North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said the law unfairly restricts interstate commerce, as state officials explain in this fact sheet.
Environmental groups backing the law point out that it applies equally to Minnesota and surrounding states.
The law provided exceptions for power plants that offset carbon emissions with reductions elsewhere, and this would be an option for any North Dakota power plant that wants to sell new electricity to Minnesota.
Stenehjem points to other exceptions in the law: two industrial projects on the Iron Range, and two power plants -- all of which were already in various stages of planning when the law was negotiated and passed.
Neither of the power plants has been built. Backers of Big Stone II dropped their project because of rapidly-rising cost estimates and expected federal carbon-reduction initiatives. Mesaba Energy can't find a buyer for the electricity it wants to produce.
That suggests that the law is working as intended, moving Minnesota utilities toward cleaner sources of energy. Most of them are adjusting to the Next Gen Act's requirements quite comfortably. Because their plans for the next few years focus on wind and other renewable energy, they don't need to build new coal plants.
Utilities recently reported to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission that - with few exceptions - that renewable energy is costing ratepayers the same as coal-fired power, or very little more.
Meanwhile, North Dakota is fighting with the federal government over emissions limits designed to protect national parks and wilderness areas -- including some in North Dakota and Minnesota.
Sand mining debate moves south to Winona
Posted at 11:17 AM on October 21, 2011
by Elizabeth Baier
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Southeast Minnesota
The controversy over frac sand mining has spread to yet another pocket of southeastern Minnesota.
Dozens of people showed up for a Winona County Planning Commission meeting Thursday night, where commissioners were scheduled to discuss proposals for three sand mine operations in the Saratoga township. But the public comments went on until 1 a.m. and commissioners decided to table the proposal until their Nov. 17 meeting.
Planning commissioners asked for more time to study issues surrounding frac sand mining before making a recommendation to the county board, according to Winona County Zoning Administrator Eric Johnson.
Johnson said residents voiced concerns about road safety, as well and environmental and health issues.
Parts of southeastern Minnesota are full of "frac sand," highly sought after for its size and strength. With perfectly round grains that look like brown sugar crystals, the sand is ideal for the oil and natural gas exploration, which uses it to extract fuel from underground rock in a process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
The sand in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois is considered some of the best frac sand in North America because it's chemically inert and can withstand intense pressure needed to break rock.
But in some areas of southeastern Minnesota, the sand is buried deep in the ground and the process of extracting that sand has met with environmental and health concerns. Earlier this year, Goodhue and Wabasha counties put a moratorium on sand mining mines.
The natural gas industry denies widespread problems. The federal Environmental Protection Agency is conducting a national study to evaluate the environmental contamination in gas drilling areas around the country and expects to release its findings sometime next year.
DNR asks bear hunters not to shoot radio-collared bears
Posted at 2:04 PM on August 26, 2011
by Tom Robertson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Arrowhead, Environment, Northwest Minnesota, Outdoors, Research
Researchers with the state Department of Natural Resources monitor about 35 radio-collared black bears in northern Minnesota, and they're asking people heading out for the bear hunting opener Sept. 1 to be careful not to shoot them.
Most of the radio-collared bears are in northwest Minnesota, especially near Thief Lake Wildlife Management Area and the Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge. But researchers are also keeping track of bears in the Chippewa National Forest, Voyageurs National Park, Camp Ripley, the Cloquet Forestry Station and near the Eagles Nest chain of lakes in northern St. Louis County.
The bears are marked with large colorful ear tags or colorful streamers.
DNR bear research biologist Dave Garshelis said he hopes hunters will be especially vigilant, because the state has a lot of money invested in the collared bears.
"These animals provide long-term data on reproduction and habitat use that is invaluable for bear management across the state," Garshelis said. "Researchers have invested an enormous amount of time and expense in these individuals."
Many of the collars have global positioning units that collect and store data, which is downloaded by researchers when they visit the bears in their dens.
Shooting a collared bear isn't necessarily illegal. DNR officials say they recognize that hunters might not see a tag or collar in some situations.
Hunters who accidentally shoot a collared bear should call the DNR's Wildlife Research office in Grand Rapids at 218-327-4146.
New cell tower to be built near BWCA
Posted at 8:39 PM on August 3, 2011
by Michael Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment
A judge ruled Wednesday that AT&T can build a cell phone tower near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The approved tower, at 199-feet, is less than the 450-foot tower the company was initially seeking.
Hennepin County District Judge Philip Bush allowed the smaller tower. The tower, reports the Star Tribune, will be "unseen from inside the federal wilderness, would provide similar cell phone coverage and provide for public safety without spoiling the scenic view."
The decision pleases the environmental group Friends of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. That's the group that sued to get a smaller tower built.
Proponents of the tower highlighted the economic benefits of improved telecommunications in the Iron Range. They also cited additional safety for those lumbering tourists searching for the next portage.
While extending cell service into a wilderness area could have benefits, Bush reasoned, there's no case law or finding that it's a national need.Boundary Waters visitors are instructed by the U.S. Forest Service not to rely on cellphones in emergencies and that satellite phones are available. According to Forest Service statistics, there are about 16 emergency incidents annually among 250,000 visitors in the 1.1-million-acre BWCA.
Tony Hayward to oversee environment and safety at Glencore
Posted at 11:41 AM on July 26, 2011
by Michael Olson
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Around MN, Environment
Former BP CEO Tony Hayward has been hired by Glencore to oversee environment and safety, reports MinnPost. Hayward led the British oil company during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.
Glencore International, a Swiss commodities trader, is a strategic partner with PolyMet at the planned hardrock sulfide mine near Hoyt Lakes and Biwabik. "Glencore has options to boost its stake to 24% in PolyMet under current agreements," reports the Wall Street Journal.
The environmental permitting process continues at the site.
MinnPost's Don Shelby, fresh from a trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, explains his concerns about Hayward and the PolyMet mine:
PolyMet is just the first of many hardrock mining operations in line to seek permits. PolyMet is outside the BWCA watershed. If there is a pollution problem, it will affect the Embarrass, Partridge and St. Louis Rivers and Lake Superior. The others, if they are permitted to operate and then discharge toxic waste, as nearly every other such mining operation has, the pollution will flow into the pristine boundary waters where I just drank unfiltered lake water. The discharge of toxic waste into the BWCA is not just a pollution problem, it will be, for millions of people, the end of the world. That's not a pollution problem.Related Statewide: Should regulators judge PolyMet on Glencore's record?
Also on MN Today
Feds crack illegal fish net ring in Minnesota (Pioneer Press)
Federal shutdown threatens work on Duluth airport's new terminal (Duluth News Tribune)
Pawlenty struggles to prove himself in Iowa (Los Angeles Times)
Minnesota Scenes
Lake Superior warming could harm shipping and tourism
Posted at 10:43 AM on July 25, 2011
by Michael Olson
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Around MN, Environment
The rise in Lake Superior temperatures will likely place significant strain on the regional economy over the next few decades, according to a new environmental survey.
Some of the key findings suggest ice could be absent from the lake within 30 years and within 50 years the lake could drop by two feet.
The report by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and Natural Resources Defense Council says that "human-caused climate disruption is already damaging national parks in the Great Lakes region."
Loss of wildlife is one kind of disruption:
In Isle Royale, the moose population has declined to half the long-term average. Temperatures higher than moose can tolerate are suspected to be responsible--as in nearby northwest Minnesota, where the moose population has crashed in the past two decades from 4,000 to fewer than 100 animals, coinciding with higher temperatures. Also, warmer winters in Isle Royale enable many more ticks to overwinter so that a single moose can be infested by 80,000 ticks, causing such a large loss of blood that the moose are more vulnerable to the park's wolves, which also have declined in number. Other park mammals at risk as the climate changes include lynx and martens.
A survey of moose populations by the University of Minnesota isn't conclusive, but concerns linger about their numbers.
Still, Bayfield Mayor Larry MacDonald says more action is needed to protect the lake.
"Anyone who has a dock or a breakwall may be sticking out of the water and unusable," MacDonald tells WDIO.The study is based on the impact climate change will have on the Great Lakes National Parks but Mayor MacDonald said the findings of this study should concern all who live on the big lakes, including those affected by the shipping industry.
"For every inch the lake goes down the shipping industry is greatly affected," said MacDonald. "Everything is going to cost more to ship."
Also on MN Today
. Minnesotans react to atrocities in Norway.Rep. Cravaack toils to build his record
"Do-nothing" Congress and a family move muddy the Minnesota freshman's prospects for legislative accomplishments (Star Tribune).
Heat, rain, mosquitoes in Minn. add up to potential West Nile
A hot, wet summer has sent the mosquito population soaring, raising the odds that West Nile virus may soon make an appearance.
"This is the time of year we really need to make sure we're putting bug spray on," said Gloria Tobias, disease prevention and emergency preparedness coordinator with Countryside Public Health in Madison (West Central Tribune).
SCSU hockey program leaders, fans hopeful for strong future despite conference changes
The formation of two new college men's hockey conferences has created uncertainty for St. Cloud State University and the national landscape of the sport.
At the same time, it has left Huskies fans with a range of emotions that include anger, frustration and even fear (St. Cloud Times).
Goodhue advisory panel rejects sand mining moratorium
Posted at 7:00 AM on July 22, 2011
by Elizabeth Baier
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Southeast Minnesota
(MPR Photo/ Elizabeth Baier)
The Goodhue County Planning Advisory commission has recommended that county commissioners deny a moratorium on silica sand mining, despite resident opposition to the method.
The issue came up earlier this year when Windsor Permian, a division of Oklahoma-based Windsor Energy, bought 155 acres near Red Wing for $2.6 million.
Although the company indicated it would used the land as a "sand pit," Goodhue County officials have not received any permit applications from them.
Residents have been pushing county commissioners to call a moratorium on any further mining before Windsor Permian applies for any permits. The moratorium would prevent sand mines from being established for a year.
The County Board of Commissioners will consider the advisory commission's recommendations before making its final decision on the moratorium. That meeting has not yet been scheduled.
Parts of southeastern Minnesota are full of "frac sand," highly sought after for its size and strength. With perfectly round grains that look like brown sugar crystals, the sand is ideal for the oil and natural gas exploration, which uses it to extract fuel from underground rock in a process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
The sand in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois is considered some of the best frac sand in North America because it's chemically inert and can withstand intense pressure needed to break rock.
There are already a handful of frac sand mine operations around the region.
But in some areas of southeastern Minnesota, the sand is buried deep in the ground and the process of extracting that sand has met with environmental and health concerns.
The natural gas industry denies widespread problems. The federal Environmental Protection Agency is conducting a national study to evaluate the environmental contamination in gas drilling areas around the country and expects to release its findings sometime next year.
Farmers change crop rotation to protect drinking water
Posted at 2:02 PM on July 22, 2011
by Dan Gunderson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Farms, Northwest Minnesota
MPR file photo Tom Robertson
Farmers are switching to alternative crops in an effort to protect drinking water wells for the city of Park Rapids.
The city water supply is threatened by high nitrate levels. The nitrates are a result of irrigated potatoes grown in the area. The irrigated potatoes need lots of nitrogen fertilizer. Some of the nitrogen finds its way into the groundwater raising the nitrate level in the drinking water as my colleague Tom Robertson reported.
Trying to reduce nitrogen use on the usual row crow crops hasn't solved the problem. So this year, in about a 1.5-square-mile area, farmers are trying a new crop rotation.
The typical three-year crop rotation is potatoes, corn and beans. Those are all row crops which tend to allow more nutrients to leach through the soil to the groundwater, Minnesota Department of Agriculture Water Quality Advisor Luke Stuewe says.
In an unprecedented change in agricultural crop rotations, farmers will plant potatoes in year one and then two years of sorghum sudan grass. The grass has a thick root system that will use most of the nutrients in the soil.
That will mean an economic hit for the farmer, in this case R.D. Offutt farms. Senior Agronomist Dale Stevens says not growing potatoes will mean a loss of several hundred dollars per acre.
Stevens says there's a long-term commitment to the changed crop rotation. But it might take a few years to see if it offers a solution to nitrate pollution of groundwater.
Stuewe says there's a lag time between what happens with land use and the impact on groundwater.
The state will be monitoring the project closely and perhaps what's learned will be useful in other parts of the state where agriculture threatens sensitive groundwater areas.
Census on the prairie: counting an endangered orchid
Posted at 8:45 AM on July 15, 2011
by Dan Gunderson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment
Photo courtesy University of Minnesota Crookston
Volunteers in Minnesota are counting one of the most spectacular denizens of the tall grass prairie -- the western prairie fringed orchid, which has been on the endangered species list since 1989.
Although the orchid is found at 43 locations around Minnesota, its population has steadily declined.
But the fringed orchid is getting a boost by prairie preservation projects like the Glacial Ridge Wildlife Refuge east of Crookston. It's one of the largest prairie restorations in the country and provides a great spot for the orchid and other prairie plants to prosper.
The orchid is a spectacular sight, but it's primary pollinator is pretty cool to watch work.The hawk moth looks like a moth, but flies like a hummingbird as it dips it's long proboscis into the flowers. Here's a video of the hawk moth in action.
Common threats to the orchids include conversion of land for agricultural purposes, herbicide drift, or spread of invasive species.
The orchid is also found on the Sheyenne National Grasslands in southeastern North Dakota. However, the population there took a big hit last summer when a company spraying herbicide on roadside ditches nearly 200 of the endangered orchids.The company owner pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced July 18 in federal court.
Minnesota researchers will gather on the University of Minnesota Crookston campus July 20 to talk about this year's orchid census and research to protect the endangered plant.
Downed power lines create wildlife kill zone
Posted at 10:01 AM on July 8, 2011
by Dan Gunderson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment
MPR file photo
Linemen for North Star Electric Cooperative found a grisly scene recently while troubleshooting a power outage in northwest Minnesota, where power lines run through some very remote and difficult terrain.
In a three-mile stretch of power lines through a bog south of Baudette, they found the high water had softened the ground so two power poles tipped, leaving a high voltage line about two feet above the ground. When crews arrived they found a bear on the power line.
It had been electrocuted and tripped a breaker, North Star General Manager Dan Hoskins said.
Beaver dams had flooded the area, so linemen had to walk and boat in to the area. But the bear wasn't the only animal they found.
There were critters laying everywhere. Hoskins didn't have an exact count, but several bear, deer and wolves had been electrocuted.
Hoskins isn't sure how long the line was down but he said it was last inspected about eight months ago. He called called it a very unusual situation.
The power line has been temporarily repaired but crews won't be able to put in new power poles in the boggy area until the ground freezes this winter.
Hoskins said the wildlife fatalities have been reported to the state Department of Natural Resources.
Efforts to sway farmers to make own fuel falling flat
Posted at 11:46 AM on June 24, 2011
by Dan Gunderson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Farms
MPR file photo on an on farm press for making biofuel
The Climate Network, and the National Farmers Union are hosting the Midwest Renewable Energy Tour June 27- July 1.
The tour will make stops in Milbank, South Dakota; Morris, Minnesota; and Madison Wisconsin.
The tour features German farmer Dirk Ketelsen talking about the successful renewable energy movement in Europe.
NFU President Roger Johnson says "This is an educational opportunity for family farmers and ranchers, a chance to see what others like them are doing to take advantage of this increased demand for renewable energy."
I recently checked back on a story I did in 2007 about an effort to encourage more farmers to make their own biofuel.
It turns out the project was a success from a technical standpoint, but few farmers adopted the practice of making their own renewable fuel. Economics appears to be the big reason. Crop prices have been high and fuel prices, although higher, apparently haven't hit the threshold where it makes economic sense for farmers to make their own fuel.
Funding available for farmers who fence the Sauk
Posted at 1:25 PM on June 15, 2011
by Michael Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Central Minnesota, Environment, Farms
By Alison Dirr
On Wednesday morning Todd Foster and Scott Miller set out from the Sinclair Lewis Campground in Sauk Centre.
The duo are continuing their 150 mile trip down the Sauk River mapping obstructions as they go.
Although the pair say they haven't encountered many fences on their journey so far, those remaining do violate state law.
In order to find a solution to the fences, the Sauk River Watershed District began offering a cost-share program a few years ago that funds up to 50 percent of landowners' costs to come into compliance.
Funds may be dedicated to both alternate watering systems and fencing that runs parallel to the bank and extends about 25 feet into the water. These measures allow cattle to drink from the river without entering it.
According to Holly Kovarik, SRWD's administrator, the organization has received grants and loans that make this possible.
For more information on the fencing issue, see Sunday's coverage.
"The watershed district is a cost share and we have pursued grants specifically for exclusion fencing that [landowners] can put along [the river] and keep the cattle off the river," she said.
Kovarik said the group has a number of reasons they are looking for a new solution.
In part, she said, one of the SRWD's primary purposes is to monitor water quality. She said removing cattle from it would be a step in the right direction as the water currently tests positive for E. coli.
In addition, according to Kovarik, a number of canoeists and kayakers have gotten caught in the fences, many of which are made from barbed wire.
Tell us about Minnesota's rivers and streams We want to know about the rivers and streams that you know best. Which are in the best condition? Which ones have problem spots? Share your observations here.
"You're moving down the river pretty quickly, come around a corner and there's a fence there," Adam Hjelm, SRWD's public outreach coordinator, said. "You don't have time to react."
Hjelm was part of a group that canoed a portion of the Sauk River in 2008 in order to catalogue bank erosion in addition to logs and fences blocking the river.
But ultimately, Kovarik said, the cost share program is entirely voluntary and SRWD cannot force landowners to participate. However, she added that "more than I can count" have taken them up on the offer since the program began.
DNR takes lax approach to fences along Sauk River
Posted at 2:00 PM on June 16, 2011
by Michael Olson
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Central Minnesota, Environment, Farms
Photo credit: Todd Foster
The state's Department of Natural Resources has not enforced a law that forbids fences across the Sauk River in central Minnesota. It is a misdemeanor to obstruct public waters, but farmers continue to run fences between pasture land divided by the river. The fences, sometimes electric or barbed wire, pose a serious risk to canoeists and kayakers.
"[The Sauk River] was designated as a state water trail in 2006 and so our first efforts were in putting a map together and getting information on the website," Erik Wrede, DNR water trails coordinator, said. "Now just recently we've been getting information that there are fences on the Sauk."
The DNR had location data of fences along part of the river in 2008. Members of the Sauk River Watershed District who canoed that portion used GPS technology to map the fences and other blockages in the river.
They relayed this information to the DNR at that time, but Wrede said the agency did not act because the information covered only part of the river.
Wrede is waiting for the completion of a trip, under way now, by Scott Miller and Todd Foster. The duo is mapping all of the hazards along the 125 miles of the Sauk including fences. One the DNR receives their data Wrede says the agency will start working to bring farmers into compliance.
"We want to do it in one fell swoop instead of piecemeal," Wrede said.
Wrede cites difficulty in determining who the landowners are, even with GPS data of the location of some of the fences. The agency also wants to engender goodwill with the farmers that have used the land in this manner for generations.
Miller and Foster are taking a week to paddle the Sauk and have encountered a few fences, less than have been encountered on previous trips. But at this point they are only halfway though and have a significant amount of farmland to pass through yet.
You can follow Miller and Foster on their blog as they update along the way.
MPR News intern Alison Dirr contributed reporting and research to this post
Tell us about Minnesota's river and streams We want to know about the rivers and streams that you know best. Which are in the best condition? Which ones have problem spots? Share your observations here.
Related
Statewide: Mitigation funds available to farmers along the Sauk
Statewide: Canoeists begin 125-mile journey down the Sauk River
Saint Cloud Times: Canoeists aim to get word out on Sauk River
Canoeists begin 125-mile journey down the Sauk River
Posted at 12:16 PM on June 12, 2011
by Michael Olson
(2 Comments)
Filed under: Central Minnesota, Environment, Farms
By Alison Dirr
Canoe enthusiasts Todd Foster and Scott Miller will pack a collapsible ladder when they leave today for their 125-mile paddle from Lake Osakis to the Mississippi River.
The pair plans to use it to scale some of the fences blocking their path down the Sauk River. According to Foster, farmers and landowners use the barriers to prevent cattle from leaving their lands.
"Generally [land] right along the river is kind of marginal crop land because it gets muddy... so a lot of times [farmers] don't plant right up against the river but they still want to use that land so they use it as pasture for cattle," Foster said. "And if you own both sides of the river, you want your cattle to be able to get from one side of the river to the other side of the river to pasture."
However, the fences violate state statute by obstructing the public waterway. They may also create hazards for those traveling down the river.
Tell us about Minnesota's river and streamsWe want to know about the rivers and streams that you know best. Which are in the best condition? Which ones have problem spots? Share your observations here.
According to Foster, members of the Sauk River Watershed District, an organization whose goal is to "enhance and protect our natural resources" traveled the upper Sauk River two or three years ago. The group charted obstructions (LINK, if possible) in the waterway as they went.
He estimated they found 25 to 30 fences spanning the river between Lake Osakis and Sauk Center at that time.
"There's been no enforcement or no real action to try to remove these fences, so I expect most of them to still be there," he said.
In fact, they don't have far to travel before they encounter their first obstacle.
"A couple days ago I went up to Lake Osakis just to look at the river and check things out and from the road, about 100 yards after we start the trip, there's a fence," Foster said. He added that the chain link extends into the water, making it impossible to pass.
Other fences will resemble clotheslines stretched across the waterway, and still others, he said, will be electric.
"Some fences, I would imagine, that we're going to be able to push the strands of the fencing up with our paddle and try to sneak underneath it with the canoe," he said. "[With] the first fence I was looking at just a couple days ago that's not possible so we will have to get out and portage around that."
This presents another potential problem, however, because they will be trespassing on private land. Foster said he hopes landowners will be understanding considering their fences force canoeists to find an alternate route.
He expects most will allow them to pass, although he has not contacted any landowners along the Sauk River in advance. He has, however, alerted law enforcement and the Department of Natural Resources in case a conflict should arise.
But although he recognizes this possibility, Foster said he wants to stress that he has no problem with farmers themselves.
"We're not anti-farming or whatever," he said. "We understand that for decades and decades this has been the practice with the fencing issue, but moving forward we need to find a solution that can kind of work for everybody."
MN Today will continue to track the progress of duo as they make their way down the Sauk this week.
Great Mississippi River Cleanup kicks off
Posted at 2:15 PM on June 10, 2011
by Elizabeth Baier
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Southeast Minnesota
(Photo courtesy of Living Lands & Waters)
Thousands of volunteers are expected to descend on the banks of the Mississippi River this weekend for the Great Mississippi River Cleanup.
The cleanup, organized by Living Lands and Waters, begins tomorrow and has now expanded to 30 cities around the Midwest. In the Upper Midwest, the cleanup will run from St. Paul, Minn. to Prairie Du Chien, Wis.
Other Minnesota cities joining this northernmost leg of the cleanup include Red Wing, Wabasha, and Winona.
In Wisconsin, volunteers will participate in Alma, Buffalo City, and LaCrosse.
As many as 1,500 volunteers are expected to take part in this year's clean-up of the iconic waterway.
Later this summer, volunteers will also gather at other cleanup sites, including:
- July 9th, Guttenberg to Clinton, IA
- August 13th, Quad-Cities to Keokuk, IA
- September 17th, Canton, MO through St. Louis, MO.
"Doing the clean up in phases will help bring our important message to more people," Living Lands & Waters Founder and President Chad Pregracke said in a statement. "And that's part of what Living Lands & Waters is all about: bringing the health of our rivers to the attention of everyone who depends upon them, and then working to improve it."
According to Living Lands & Waters, the organization has removed more than six million pounds of trash through cleanup efforts along the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois and Potomac Rivers since its launch more than 12 years ago.
The group has also coordinated flood relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina and the historic floods in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Lake Delton, Wis., in 2008.
New book preserves history of heron rookery
Posted at 9:55 AM on May 31, 2011
by David Cazares
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment
By Stephanie Hemphill
A lot of birders were dismayed to learn that tornado that struck north Minneapolis last week destroyed the Great Blue Heron rookery in North Mississippi Regional Park. A few birds were rescued, but most of the young chicks died.
Luckily, Rebecca Field has just come out with a book about the rookery. Field is a board member with Audubon Minnesota, and she spent more than 100 hours on the banks of the Mississippi River last spring and summer recording the entire breeding season.
Her book, The Great Blue Heron in the Rookery and Beyond, is full of pictures, and a complete description of the life of herons. Proceeds go to Audubon Minnesota.
"The rookery may be destroyed," Field said, "but I am so happy to have preserved its history in better times."
Students design energy efficient home for State Fair display
Posted at 11:31 AM on May 6, 2011
by Dan Gunderson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Education, Environment, Research
Courtesy NDSU
In a special preview today, 22 architecture students at North Dakota State University architecture will unveil their designs for a passive energy home they will build at this year's Minnesota State Fair.
Passive houses can achieve energy savings of 80 percent or greater.
The structure will be designed to be the size of a four person cabin you might find in the northern Minnesota woods. According to Design Build Studio instructor Malini Srivastava, it will be heated by the equivalent of six light bulbs.
Passive homes take advantage of passive heat sources such as the heat generated by its occupants, the waste heat from appliances, passive heat from the earth, and solar heat.
Srivastava said the student project will be the first passive house to be displayed at the Minnesota State Fair. It will be part of the Eco-Experience exhibit.
The structure will be built to meet international passive house performance criteria.
Students in the Design Build program at NDSU will plan the structure over the summer and build it at the state fair this fall.
The students will show their designs from 1:30 to 8 p.m. in Renaissance Hall, 650 NP Avenue, Fargo.
Minnesota companies recognized for energy saving efforts
Posted at 11:36 AM on April 12, 2011
by David Cazares
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment
By Stephanie Hemphill
The federal government has recognized three Minnesota-based companies for leadership in protecting health and the environment through energy efficiency achievements.
The companies are among 111 businesses nationwide receiving the honor.
The 3M Corp. of St. Paul is recognized for "sustained excellence." The Environmental Protection Agency said "3M sets aggressive energy goals that are supported by senior management, and monitors progress by tracking monthly energy use at 212 locations worldwide."
Two companies are designated as "Partners of the Year." Andersen Corporation, Bayport, is recognized for its "commitment to making ENERGY STAR qualified products available to consumers, and the quality of its cross-cutting environmental efforts."
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in a statement that the companies are using cost-effective ways to protect health and grow the economy.
"Those who have invested in these energy saving technologies display economically-sensible solutions that are good for our communities and our future," Jackson said.
EPA program to help Bemidji with sustainable planning
Posted at 11:36 AM on April 4, 2011
by Tom Robertson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Government, Northwest Minnesota
The Environmental Protection Agency has picked Bemidji to participate in a federal program that aims to help cities with revitalization efforts.
Bemidji is one of 32 communities in 26 states chosen for the Sustainable Communities Building Blocks program. The designation doesn't come with any big cash grant. But it does provide city leaders with a day-long session of technical assistance to achieve sustainable planning goals.
The Building Blocks program is a public-private partnership designed to give communities new redevelopment tools. In a daylong session later this spring, EPA-funded private sector experts will help city officials identify smart growth principles for fiscal and economic health.
Smart growth principals include creating a range of housing opportunities within a city; creating walkable neighborhoods; encouraging collaboration with community organizations; and fostering distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place.
Bemidji City Manager John Chattin said the city won't focus on a particular project during the session. He said city leaders will benefit from a fresh set of eyes reviewing the city's needs and its potential.
Moorhead builds solar energy project
Posted at 9:27 AM on March 29, 2011
by Dan Gunderson
(4 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Government, Northwest Minnesota
Photo courtesy US DOE
Moorhead will build a solar energy pilot project this summer to generate electricity for the city.
Moorhead Public Service, the city's public utility, will install three solar panel arrays that track the sun through the day. The panels will generate up to 10 kilowatts of electricity a day. City officials say that's enough electricity to power several average homes.
Moorhead Public Service has two wind turbines which generate electricity for the city. The first went on line in 1999.
"Moorhead was a leader when it began its wind turbine project over ten years ago and now Moorhead is a leader, again, in promoting renewable energy, " MPS General Manager Bill Schwandt said.
The new solar panels will cost about $100,000. A grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will pay about 40 percent of the project cost according to city officials.
City officials hope the pilot project will stimulate local businesses and homeowners to consider solar energy applications.
MPS' Energy Services Manager Dennis Eisenbraun thinks the project will also help determine the viability of solar technology in Moorhead's weather extremes.
Map courtesy NREL
It will be interesting to see how effectively solar panels generate electricity in Moorhead. As this map from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory shows, Minnesota isn't exactly a hot spot for solar energy potential.
Data from the National Climatic Data Center says over a year, it's sunny 57 percent of the time in Moorhead.
Moorhead expects to have the solar energy project online and generating electricity by the end of September.
When nuclear disaster strikes
Posted at 4:45 PM on March 24, 2011
by Michael Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Minnesota
If any of Minnesota's nuclear plants had a disaster today, people living in a 10 mile radius of the plant would be evacuated. That's according to current U.S. emergency-response plans. But when disaster struck at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission recommended that American within 50 miles of the disaster evacuate. So far high levels of radiation have been detected 25 miles away from the plant. The Wall Street Journal has compared the two evacuation approaches. Here's what they look like in Minnesota.
Do you live near one of Minnesota's nuclear plants? What would you do if disaster struck the closest one to your home or office?
Legislators seek revenue from state lands
Posted at 5:45 AM on March 24, 2011
by David Cazares
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment
By Stephanie Hemphill
The House Environment Committee is passing a slew of amendments to an omnibus spending bill.
They may sound minor and geeky, but they're part of a trend that's fairly clear: a push of the pendulum away from science and conservation, and toward boosting revenue from state lands and encouraging recreation.
The most controversial move happened when the committee voted strictly on party lines to change the state limit on sulfate in wild rice waters from 10 parts per million to 250 parts per million. State Rep. David Dill, DFL-Orr, sided with Republicans in a lopsided vote to prohibit the Pollution Control Agency from requiring businesses to invest in equipment to control sulfates until a study is completed on the issue. The study is expected to take at least two years, which could delay several mining projects.
Here's a roundup of other amendments:
Amendment A8 says land purchased with Environmental Trust Fund (otherwise known as lottery) money will be designated as recreation areas, instead of scientific and natural areas. Recreation areas have fewer protections and allow many more human activities.
The same amendment cuts in half the amount of money to be spent on acquiring these lands, and designates the money to a new account set up to manage state lands.
Amendment A7 requires the state Department of Natural Resources to harvest black walnut and other trees in Whitewater and Frontenac State Parks and put the proceeds in the state's general fund.
Amendment A11-0168 would take money from an account dedicated to repairing environmental damage from off-highway vehicles and put it in the ATV grants-in-aid program, helping clubs build more trails.
The committee also agreed to remove language requiring the DNR to manage school trust fund land "with sound natural resource conservation and management principles." Some legislators think this will result in bigger profits from logging on school trust land.
Meanwhile, Denny McNamara, chairman of the House Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee, continued making substitutions in the list of projects to be funded with lottery money. McNamara, R-Hastings, removed research on the pesticide used to control Emerald Ash Borer and the statewide count of breeding birds. But McNamara supports research projects on the golden eagle and the boreal forest.
State Rep. Kate Knuth, DFL-New Brighton, expressed frustration with these last-minute alterations, saying she worries that in the future Minnesota's best scientists might not want to deal with such a politicized process.
Reporter Stephanie Hemphill covers the environment for MPR News
State waters contain chemicals and pharmaceuticals
Posted at 1:47 PM on March 10, 2011
by Dan Gunderson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment
Photo Getty images
Researchers have collected more data that shows how widespread endocrine active chemicals are in Minnesota surface water. It appears these chemicals are found in most rivers and lakes in the state, even in remote locations.
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency scientists are analyzing groundwater to see if these chemicals are also found in aquifers. It will be several months before that research is completed.
Endocrine active chemicals are compounds that might come from detergents, plastics, or pharmaceuticals, just to name a few sources. They can mimic hormones in the body and potentially have a variety of effects.
Minnesota researchers are focusing primarily on fish as they look for these effects.
A recent study by a Swedish researcher found Levonorgestrel, a pharmaceutical progestin used as a contraceptive, causes sterility in frogs.
The study, done at the Department of Environmental Toxicology, Uppsala University found exposure to low levels of the progestin
"severely impaired oviduct and ovary development and fertility."
The study found that after mating, only one of 11 female frogs laid eggs, while all of the females who were not exposed to the drug laid eggs.
The Swedish researchers point out that as several progestins are commonly found in surface water, more research is needed to study the effect on wild frog populations.
Some Minnesota scientists believe the use of DNA micro array technology will offer new insights on how these drugs affect aquatic life. The micro array research lets scientists see which of thousands of genes are switched on or off by the chemicals in surface water.
Minnesota scientists have discovered hundreds of genes in fathead minnows are affected by the endocrine active chemicals in surface water. For example, genes related to the immune system and the formation of red blood cells are changed.
By knowing what functions those genes control, scientists will then be able to focus on specific physiologic systems, like the immune system, or creation of red blood cells to learn what the long term effects are.
Until now, much of the research has focused on how endocrine active chemicals affect reproductive systems. But it appears they could have much broader affects, at least on aquatic species.
Listen to my story Friday on the MPR News program Morning Edition.
Weather service to train storm spotters in three states
Posted at 3:01 PM on March 3, 2011
by Elizabeth Baier
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Southeast Minnesota, Weather
MPR Photo/ Elizabeth Baier
Blue tarps blanketed roofs and sheets of plywood covered broken windows in neighborhoods and communities around Minnesota in 2010, a record year for tornadoes in the state.
In all, 104 tornadoes touched ground in Minnesota in 2010.
Now, officials with the National Weather Service in La Crosse are looking for a few good volunteers to help spot some of that severe weather when it hits this year.
The weather service recently released the Severe Weather Spotter Training Schedule for 2011.
Training sessions will be held across starting March 10. Minnesota locations include Austin, Rochester, St. Charles and Stewartville. Wisconsin training will take place in Fort McCoy, Arcadia, Medford and La Crosse. In Iowa, sessions will be held in Monona, Fayette and Osage.
The weather service relies on volunteer storm spotters to report severe weather, including tornadoes and flooding.
Spotters are typically volunteer fire fighters, police officers and amateur radio operators, but individual spotters can still participate.
The service says spotters are vital in reporting severe weather, especially in spring and summer months when activity picks up.
In the past 11 years, Minnesota has seen an average 48 tornadoes per year. The top two tornado years on record in the past decade.
Voyageurs National Park offices move to riverfront
Posted at 10:26 AM on February 22, 2011
by Tom Robertson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Arrowhead, Economy, Environment, Government, International Falls, Northwest Minnesota
Voyageurs National Park officials will begin moving next month into a new park headquarters complex on the Rainy River in International Falls.The city development includes a natural grass amphitheater and future plans for a hotel, restaurant and other private development.
The federal government will lease the complex of buildings from the International Falls Economic Development Authority.
The development will be known as the James Oberstar Riverfront Complex, in honor of the longtime U.S. Democratic Congressman who was defeated last November. Here's a look at the layout: internationalfallscomplex.pdf
Mayor Shawn Mason says the development will be another tool for economic development for the area. She told International Falls' newspaper, The Journal, that the amphitheater performance area "adds another dimension to our way of life."
City officials are planning a big dedication celebration for July 2. It will include an amphitheater performance by the Canadian band Loverboy, and an international tug of war competition across the Rainy River between International Falls and Fort Frances, Ontario.
U of M aims to boost agriculture, protect environment
Posted at 10:01 AM on February 15, 2011
by David Cazares
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Farms
By Stephanie Hemphill
The University of Minnesota is teaming up with agribusiness and conservation groups to use a massive data base to boost food production while reducing harm to the environment.
The Global Landscapes Initiative combines on-the-ground reports and satellite images to pinpoint trends in crop production, fertilizer and water use, and other variables in agriculture around the world.
To make the information more useful, University researchers convened a group that included Cargill and General Mills, The Nature Conservancy and other non-profit conservation groups. Participants will identify key questions and help design tools to use the information on the ground.
Paul West, the initiative's chief collaboration officer; said the information can help agribusiness make key decisions.
"Where to invest acquiring oats, corn, beans in areas that will have a smaller environmental impact per ton of food that is produced," West said.
Environmental groups also will be able to identify vulnerable areas that need greater protection.
West said all the information will be posted on the web to make it available to the largest possible audience.
In coming decades, farmers will need to more-than-double food production while doing more to protect land and water, he said.
Stephanie Hemphill covers the environment for MPR News.
Citizens' group aims to connect Minnesotans to outdoors
Posted at 2:03 PM on February 14, 2011
by David Cazares
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Sports & Recreation
By Stephanie Hemphill
Minnesotans voted to tax themselves to improve parks and trails, part of the Legacy Amendment of 2008. But Minnesota is changing demographically, with newcomers from places less connected to the outdoors, and kids who are more comfortable with video games than camping.
Given that somewhat contradictory picture, a citizen's group has spent 18 months preparing a plan for the future of Minnesota's parks and trails.
The plan identifies four major strategies -- connecting people with the outdoors, acquiring land and creating new opportunities for park use, investing in existing facilities and coordinating all levels of government and nonprofit groups.
Courtland Nelson, director of parks and trails for the state Department of Natural Resources, expects better coordination among the four categories of Legacy Amendment funding: clean water, habitat, parks and trails, and arts and culture.
"It makes all the sense in the world, if we're doing some component of land protection within a state park, that should have an opportunity to be evaluated by the Lessard-Sams Council," said Nelson, who is guiding the planning process. "Similarly, we have a number of public programming issues that could be enhanced by arts and culture investment."
The DNR is ramping up its public relations efforts.The agency hired Chris Niskanen, an outdoor writer for the Star-Tribune, to head its communication office, and brought on Bob Lessard, a long-time crusader for the Legacy Amendment, to work with conservation groups "to ensure that the agency is listening and responding to their ideas and concerns."
In addition, the DNR named Erica Rivers Assistant Commissioner for Customer Relations and Outreach. Rivers was most recently project manager for the Lake Vermilion State Park development.
The agency is updating web pages to make them user-friendly, and posting an interactive display at key locations like the airport and the Mall of America. All in an effort to keep Minnesotans active in the outdoors.
Reporter Stephanie Hemphill covers the environment for MPR News.
DNR to discuss chronic wasting disease in Pine Island
Posted at 8:00 AM on February 14, 2011
by Elizabeth Baier
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Minnesota Today RSS Feeds, Southeast Minnesota
Officials with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will hold a public meeting tonight in Pine Island to discuss Chronic Wasting Disease in wild deer.
Officials will answer questions from landowners about the agency's efforts to manage the disease, commonly known as CWD. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Pine Island High School cafeteria.
Lou Cornicelli, big game coordinator for the DNR, said department staff will update residents on the latest CWD information but will not issue hunting permits to individual landowners at the meeting.
"We're not going to be issuing shooting permits because they take time because you have to explain laws and what they can and can't do," Cornicelli said. "We'll have a mechanism to get names and follow up with those folks really quickly."
DNR officials have been issuing special hunting permits to some southeastern Minnesota landowners as part of the special harvest to test for the disease. As of Feb. 10, the DNR had issued 125 permits and tested 41 deer, all of which tested negative for the disease.
The permits allow landowners to shoot as many whitetail deer as they want on their property. They also allow landowners to authorize other individuals to hunt on their land.
DNR officials are removing lymph nodes from the deer carcasses to test for CWD. If the tests come back negative, hunters can keep the deer and process the meat. If they're positive, the DNR will dispose of the carcass.
A deer-feeding ban also begins Monday to reduce the spread from deer-to-deer, according to Cornicelli. CWD doesn't pose a risk to humans, but the disease is progressively fatal for deer, elk and moose.
Officials from a number of the other agencies, including the Minnesota Board of Animal Health and the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association also will be present to answer questions.
House bill would speed environmental review
Posted at 8:30 AM on February 10, 2011
by David Cazares
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Environment
By Stephanie Hemphill
The Minnesota House could act today on a bill requiring state agencies to simplify their environmental reviews of development projects, making it easier for industry to obtain permits.
Gov. Mark Dayton issued an executive order last month, directing state agencies to speed up environmental review. But some legislators are considering a bill that would do more than set goals for a quicker process.
It would allow companies proposing a project to conduct their own environmental studies. And it would bump appeals of agency decisions up to the appeals court, rather than the more local district courts.
The state office of Management and Budget analyzed a companion Senate bill, and found it could actually slow down reviews, because it requires periodic reports to the Legislature.
The House may also take up a bill removing Minnesota's ban on new nuclear power plants -- which has already passed in the Senate.
Reporter Stephanie Hemphill covers the environment for MPR News.
Should genetically modified crops be used in wildlife refuges?
Posted at 11:21 AM on February 2, 2011
by Dan Gunderson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Farms
MPR file photo- Native plants poke through the rubble of a corn crop
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has long used farming as a management tool. On some wildlife refuges crops are planted as food for waterfowl and other wildlife. In Minnesota a common use of farming is to prepare land before restoring it to native vegetation.
Later today on the MPR News program All Things Considered, I'll have a story about an environmental review of the use of genetically modified crops on national wildlife refuges.
Wildlife managers say farming a piece of land for three or four years is the best way to kill all of the weeds that might be established on land that's been laying dormant. That gives native plants a better chance at survival.
Managers like to allow farmers to use genetically modified corn or soybeans. They say that means a single herbicide, Roundup, is used instead of other longer lasting herbicides.
Some national environmental groups are questioning the practice.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Midwest Region has an environmental assessment of the practice up for public comment for the next couple of weeks.
Duluth beach whale burps not so cute
Posted at 11:10 AM on January 13, 2011
by Bob Kelleher
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Arrowhead, Environment
A Duluth beach walker came across these balls of fibrous stuff on a beach near the city's Lakewalk, not long after a New Year's Eve storm. The round bundles -- about the size of a plumb -- seemed to combine plant material and other things tightly wound with bits of plastic.
He left the bundles with his dad, long time resident Glenn Maxham, who took the oddities to the experts at Minnesota Sea Grant, a group that works to help preserve Lake Superior and its shores. Its members identified the things as "whale burps."
Also known as surf balls, they're are fairly common on ocean beaches worldwide.
But the source isn't as cute as the name. The balls apparently start with human junk, like left over fishing line, or in this case, some kind of partially degraded black plastic mesh. Whipped by a good wind, the plastic rolls along a beach, picking up seaweed, twigs, grass, shell fragments or what ever gets in the way.
Sea Grant notes the damage discarded plastics do on water bodies worldwide. When the plastics break down they release suspected cancer-causing chemicals like styrene monomer and bisphenol A, also known as BPA. Sea Grant quotes a United Nations Environmental Program estimate that some 46,000 pieces of plastic float in every square mile of ocean.
Even on Lake Superior, about a third of the refuse collected in an annual beach clean up is plastic, trailing only behind cigarette butts, which account for half.
Sea Grant suggests no need to wait for the annual beach cleanup. Anyone can grab a plastic bag and hit the beaches, providing, of course, they're not currently covered in snow.
CRP at 25; what's the future?
Posted at 11:01 AM on December 29, 2010
by Dan Gunderson
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Farms
MPR photo Dan Gunderson
The federal Conservation Reserve Program marks its 25th year this month. The program was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan.
The idea was to pay farmers to stop growing crops on poor quality farmland susceptible to erosion and plant grasses or trees instead.
Minnesota is among the leading states in CRP enrollment. Recent USDA data show Minnesota is sixth in acres enrolled with 1,642,877, fifth in payments with $106,349,155 in rental payments to landowners and third in number of farms enrolled in the program with 32,956.
The conservation acres are mostly in the northwest corner of the state where 5 counties account for nearly 40 percent of the CRP acres in Minnesota.
Many of those acres could return to active farmland in the next five years as farmer contracts with the CRP program end. By 2015 about 50 percent of the conservation acres in Minnesota could be cropland again.
Some of that land will likely be re-enrolled in the program. USDA is maintaining about 30 million acres of CRP nationwide.
But if crop prices are strong, and rent for crop land is high, land owners have a financial incentive to get out of the CRP program and earn better money from crop production.
There are many studies showing the environmental and wildlife benefits of CRP. All of those idled acres reduce water pollution and create habitat that increases the population of many wildlife species.
There are also many studies showing CRP negatively affects the economy of rural communities, especially in those counties with a lot of CRP acres. When the land is idled farmers aren't spending money at Main Street businesses.
It will be interesting to see what choices landowners make in the next five years, and what incentives Congress includes in the 2012 farm bill to encourage conservation.
Regional research yields international connections
Posted at 10:44 AM on December 16, 2010
by Dan Gunderson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Environment, Northwest Minnesota
MPR photo Dan Gunderson
It's been a fruitful year for the Grand Forks-based Energy and Environmental Research Center. EERC has inked contracts with Israel, India and most recently China to export its research on energy related technology.
The deal with China could be a big one. EERC developed a new system to improve
filtering the emissions from coal fired power plants. I reported on the project when then it was tested at the Big Stone power plant in 2006.
It's called a hybrid particulate collector and it grabs pollution from smokestacks using electrostatic charges and massive filter bags. EERC claims it's the state of the art in
particulate pollution control and apparently Fujian Longking Co., Ltd., an international corporation based in China agrees. The company will have exclusive rights to commercially deploy the technology.
China has been building hundreds of coal fired power plants, so the market for the technology could be huge just in China. Of course if the technology is successfully commercialized, the manufacturing jobs will likely be in China too.
The deals signed earlier this year with Israel and India involve developing hydrogen
technology and infrastructure. EERC is doing a lot of research on ways to use hydrogen as a viable transportation fuel source.
EERC says it now has relationships with more than 50 countries.
Harvesting wetlands to improve water quality
Posted at 6:00 AM on December 6, 2010
by Dan Gunderson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Northwest Minnesota
Photo courtesy Water Innovation Centre
Manitoba is trying a new approach to reducing phosphorus in Lake Winnipeg. The lake is in jeopardy because of too much phosphorus.
As I reported earlier this year, a significant share of that phosphorus comes from the Red River, which flows north draining a big chunk of northern Minnesota and eastern North Dakota.
There's a very large marsh on the south end of Lake Winnipeg which filters much of the water flowing in from the Red River. Manitoba plans to harvest about 200 hectares (about 300 acres) of marsh grass and use it for biomass fuel.
Here's the logic: Plants in a wetland take up phosphorus from the water while they are growing. That's what makes wetlands good filters for pollution like phosphorus and nitrogen.
The problem is, when all that vegetation dies at the end of the growing season, the stored phosphorus in the plant is turned loose again as the vegetation decays. So in the spring when wetlands are usually flushed by high water, there's a big spike in phosphorus flowing out of the wetland.
The idea here is to harvest the marsh grasses at the end of the growing season. That takes the stored phosphorus and nitrogen off the landscape.
Manitoba officials plan to turn the grass into biomass fuel to be burned in an electric generation plant, and they say they expect harvesting 300 acres of marsh grass will remove as much phosphorus and nitrogen as is produced annually in the waste water of a town of 20,000 people
DNR seeks input on Parks and Trails Legacy Plan
Posted at 8:23 PM on November 26, 2010
by Tom Robertson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Arrowhead, Central Minnesota, Environment, Government, Northwest Minnesota, Southeast Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota, Sports & Recreation, Twin Cities
MPR Photo/Tom Robertson
You'll soon have a chance to weigh in on the DNR's draft plan to guide state and regional parks and trails Legacy Amendment funding for the next quarter century. The plan will be available for review and public comment starting early next month.
The plan is mandated by the Legislature and is designed to establish a 25-year vision for the parks and trails effort in Minnesota, especially as it pertains to funding generated by the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment passed by voters in 2008.
The amendment created a three-eighths percent sales tax increase for natural resources and the arts. Of the money generated, 14.25 percent goes toward state parks and trails projects.
Minnesota residents are asked to comment on recommendations on how parks and trails connect people with the outdoors and how the state takes care of existing recreational resources.
The DNR also wants feedback on their proposed strategy for land acquisition and on developing new parks and trails to meet future needs.
You can comment on the plan online, or attend one of several workshops around the state:
-- Thursday, Dec. 2, 7-9 p.m., Country Inn and Suites, 1900 Premier Dr., Mankato
-- Monday, Dec. 6, 7-9 p.m., Holiday Inn -- downtown waterfront, 200 W. First St., Duluth
-- Tuesday, Dec. 7, 7-9 p.m., Hampton Inn and Suites, 1019 Paul Bunyan Dr. S., Bemidji
-- Wednesday, Dec. 8, 7-9 p.m., University of Minnesota Continuing Education and Conference Center, 1890 Buford Ave., St. Paul.
Bemidji-Grand Rapids power line project receives approval
Posted at 8:41 AM on November 1, 2010
by Tom Robertson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Arrowhead, Environment, Government, Northwest Minnesota
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has approved a route permit for a 230-kilowatt line that will run just west of Bemidji to Grand Rapids.
The line is the third CapX2020 project to receive approval. CapX2020 is a joint initiative of 11 regional power companies to upgrade and expand the electrical transmission grid. It's said to be the largest such upgrade in the Upper Midwest in 30 years. The effort broad effort is expected to cost nearly $2 billion and cover a distance of more than 700 miles.
The Bemidji to Grand Rapids route is 68 miles long, running along U.S. Highway 2 from Cass Lake to Ball Club. It follows existing oil pipeline routes.
Construction will begin in January, and the line is expected to be completed by late 2012.
New program for cities focuses on sustainability, renewable energy
Posted at 9:30 AM on October 14, 2010
by Tom Robertson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Government, Northwest Minnesota
Community leaders from across northwest Minnesota will gather on the University of Minnesota's Crookston campus Oct. 27 to learn about Minnesota GreenStep Cities, a new program designed to help regional municipalities become more sustainable.
The informational meeting is sponsored by the Northwest Clean Energy Resource Team. The goal is to connect Minnesota communities with resources to implement energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.
GreenStep Cities is described as a "challenge, assistance and recognition program to help cities achieve their sustainability goals through implementation of 28 best practices."
The city of Blackduck was the first northwest Minnesota city to officially join the effort. The program has been piloted in Bloomington, Edina, Falcon Heights, St. Louis Park and Victoria.
Koochiching County moves ahead with high-tech garbage solution
Posted at 10:55 AM on October 8, 2010
by Tom Robertson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Arrowhead, Environment, Government, Northwest Minnesota
Koochiching County recently signed a contract with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency as part of its Renewable Energy Clean Air Project.
It's another step forward in the county's quest to adopt emerging technology to deal with its garbage.
For several years the county has explored a technology called plasma gasification. The technology uses extreme temperatures to convert all sorts of waste -- municipal trash, woody biomass, wastewater sludge, construction debris -- into fuel and other marketable byproducts.
The county's plan is to build such a facility in International Falls. It would be one of the first of its kind in the country.
The deal with the MPCA releases $2.5 million that will be matched with federal funds to further develop parts of the project, including preliminary design, permitting and preconstruction services.
While some environmental groups are skeptical of the technology, supporters tout it as an environmentally friendly alternative to landfilling. The gasification process uses energy similar to a bolt of lightening, creating temperatures as hot as the sun. The extreme heat results in extremely clean emissions, say proponents.
Leaders in Koochiching County say the project will create high tech jobs for the struggling region. They believe their facility could be a model for the rest of the country.
A company called Coronal LLC is the developer and manager of the project.
Kittson County to appeal court ruling in road dispute with DNR
Posted at 8:46 AM on October 1, 2010
by Dan Gunderson
(2 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Northwest Minnesota
MPR Photo
A northern Minnesota county wants the state Supreme Court to weigh in on a road dispute with the DNR.
At issue are some trails alongside drainage ditches in Kittson County, in the far northwest corner of the state.
As MPR reported last year, the county wants the trails open for all terrain vehicle traffic. The DNR says the trails were never intended to be roads and should be closed. The Minnesota Court of Appeals sided with the DNR earlier this year.
The Kittson County Enterprise reports the county commission voted to petition the states high court for review of that appeals court ruling.
The dispute has led to dueling signs. Some put up by the county declared roads open and others put up by the DNR declared roads closed.
Canada moves to clean up Lake Winnipeg
Posted at 8:48 AM on September 14, 2010
by Dan Gunderson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Northwest Minnesota
Canadian federal and provincial governments signed an agreement to clean up Lake Winnipeg, the Winnipeg Free Press is reporting today.
Since water doesn't recognize political boundaries, and much of the pollution causing massive algae blooms in the lake comes from Minnesota and North Dakota, any clean up would need to include the states.
It's not clear how this agreement involves the states. There has been talk recently about having multi-party talks in Washington D.C. to negotiate several water issues causing political skirmishes across the international border.
Perhaps this move by Ottawa indicates they plan to push harder for cross border cooperation.
DNR seeks input on Lake Vermilion State Park master plan
Posted at 10:10 AM on September 8, 2010
by Tom Robertson
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Arrowhead, Environment, Government, Regions, Sports & Recreation
The DNR is taking another step toward development of Minnesota's newest state park. The agency is looking for public comment on what people want to see in the new Lake Vermilion State Park in northeast Minnesota.
Lake Vermilion State Park was established earlier this summer when the state closed on a 3,000-acre land transaction with U.S. Steel.
The DNR is asking people to respond to a short questionnaire.
The questionnaire includes 19 questions. They explore the kinds of experiences and facilities Minnesotans would like to have in their newest state park. The process takes most people around five minutes to complete.
"We'd like this to be a year-round destination," says state Parks and Trails Director Courtland Nelson. "So we're asking everyone to think about what would entice you to come to the park in the winter as well as the summer."
The questionnaire will be available through the end of September. Answers will be used by DNR staff and the park's Citizen Advisory Committee to guide the master planning process.
Another public input period will happen later this fall, when the DNR will ask for comments on the draft park master plan.
Organic farmers not immune to economic downturn
Posted at 1:14 PM on September 3, 2010
by Ambar Espinoza
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment
An organic strawberry patch at a Hutchinson farm. (MPR Photo/Ambar Espinoza)
A report on organic farming found Minnesota organic farmers had a tough financial year in 2009 just as conventional farmers struggled financially, too.
"In previous years, such as in 2008, organic farms were slightly more profitable than conventional farms; in 2009 that was not the case," said Meg Moynihan, Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) Organic and Diversification Specialist. "The profit margins were down and the average net farm income was also down."
Moynihan said those profitability drops were also true for farming in general. She says conventional crop, livestock, and dairy farmers also had a tough 2009.
"The dairy side did a little better than the crop side because dairy producers lock in a price for their milk a year ahead of time," said Moynihan. "The major organic dairy buyer in Minnesota did supply management strategies that kept prices high, but other farms had some difficulties."
For the past four years, the MDA has published information about the profitability of organic farms in the state. It's a special project supported by the United States Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency.
The data in the report come from 70 certified organic farmers voluntarily enrolled in Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) farm business management education programs. The data are compiled and analyzed by the Center for Farm Financial Management (CFFM) at the University of Minnesota. Moynihan says the information provided by the farmers, including identities and locations, is entered anonymously into the database to protect the farmers' identities.
Moynihan said many assumptions about organic farming exist. "Either that, 'Organic farmers don't produce much in terms of yields, and they are all hanging by the skin of their teeth and how can they possibly stay in business?' versus the other perspective that organic produce is much more expensive in the stores and so, 'organic farmers must be making a killing and so organic farming must be hugely profitable.'"
These rumors kept swirling around, she said, and nobody had real data about how organic farms perform. This project attempts to fill those gaps of information.
The long-standing farm business management education programs run by MnScu have been used by many farmers, including non-organic farmers. In fact, about 2,000 farms participate in this program. The MDA offers organic farmers scholarships to enroll in the classes because few organic farmers participate in the programs. Each semester the scholarship money amount decreases to gradually wean the farmers off financial aid.
The farmers work with farm business management instructors to track economic activity on their farms. Instruction is tailored to the farmers' interests and their individual farming operations. At the end of the year, the farmers get detailed data about their enterprises.
Moynihan said an independent evaluator who surveyed participating farmers collected positive feedback from farmers. Farmers reported that the detailed data about their farming operations were very helpful. Farmers can see what areas of their enterprises are profitable and what areas are not. The report also takes a look at statewide averages, not only at whole farm performance, but at the performance of different enterprises: dairy, corn, soybeans, wheat, hay, etc.
Moynihan said organic meat is not included in the report. The system that runs these numbers requires a minimum number of operations before it can generate an average, partly to ensure the statistical validity of numbers and partly to protect the identity of people. Moynihan said the program doesn't have enough livestock producers who participate. "The dairy industry is advanced in the state. Organic livestock production is not quite as popular," she said.
The 44-page report, Organic Farm Performance in Minnesota, is available here.
Minneapolis composer brings 'Noopiming' presentation to northern Minnesota
Posted at 9:52 AM on September 2, 2010
by Tom Robertson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Arrowhead, Arts, Environment, Northwest Minnesota
Minneapolis composer, producer and sound artist Mike Olson brings his unique multimedia show to far northern Minnesota beginning this week.
The artist will debut his original composition, called Noopiming, at the Backus Community Center in International Falls Sept. 2.
Noopiming is an Ojibwe word meaning "in the north, inland, in the woods." Olson says the title was chosen as a direct reference to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, where he's had a lifetime of outdoor experiences.
Olson says creating the recorded choral piece started with eight singers (four male and four female) who gathered to record a large number of musical gestures under Olson's guidance.
For the end result, Olson layered and combined the individual sound clips into one complete work. Click here to listen to a sample of the piece.
The presentation includes stunning photos of the BWCA, created by photographer Dale Robert Klous.
Olson brings Noopiming to northern Minnesota with financial help from the Minnesota State Arts Board, using funding from the state's arts and culture heritage fund.
Following tonight's 7:30 p.m. debut in International Falls, the show will continue in Ely on Sept. 4; Grand Marais on Sept. 8; and Duluth on Sept. 10.
The sandhill crane is now the 'ribeye of the sky'
Posted at 10:49 AM on July 20, 2010
by Bob Ingrassia
(8 Comments)
Filed under: Environment, Northwest Minnesota
Sandhill Cranes flying in formation into the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge near Socorro, N.M., (Associated Press photo)
I was surprised by the news that Minnesota has set a sandhill crane hunting season for the first time. Somehow I was under the impression they are rare, endangered birds.
Well, now I know. They're not that rare. And while they remain protected in most of Minnesota, they are not endangered.
My family and I love hearing and seeing the cranes that live in the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, not far from our cabin in Big Lake. The cranes are tall, elegant birds. With a wingspan of up to 8 feet, they are quite a sight in flight.
Just last week, an article in the Brainerd Dispatch reinforced my impression about the status of cranes. The paper reported that authorities were looking for two teens or young men that shot at cranes. One of the birds was wounded and later euthanized.
And now in parts of Minnesota, it will be OK to hunt sandhill cranes. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources announced a crane season from Sept. 4, through Oct.10. The DNR says:
The open area will consist of the "Northwest Goose Zone," which includes portions of Kittson, Roseau, Marshall, Pennington, Red Lake and Polk counties. There will be a daily bag limit of two birds with a possession limit of four.
Outside the Northwest Goose Zone, sandhill cranes will remain protected, which means you can't shoot them.
Minnesota joins a growing list of states that allow some sandhill crane hunting. The DNR says about 450,000 sandhill cranes live in the mid-section of North America. The ideal population is about 350,00. Though once endangered, sandhill cranes "have long been considered 'recovered' and have been hunted in some states since 1961," the DNR says.
During migration, the cranes often cause crop damage.
Fall migrants feed in agricultural fields, primarily small grains and waste corn. Concentrations of fall migrants in the northwest can cause severe depredation problems, especially during wet autumns when farmers are unable to harvest swaths before September. ... As the crane population continues to expand, prevalence and severity of damage, and increased demand for depredation control should be expected.
So the DNR has concluded hunting will help keep the sandhill crane population in check. I won't be rushing out for a permit, but I can accept the rationale for a limited sandhill crane season. It's the same idea behind managing seasons and putting limits on ducks, deer and fish.
North Dakota hunters have been bagging sandhill cranes for years. The guys in this video show how they get it done.
You can buy your sandhill crane decoys at Cabela's.
And I'm certainly not the first one to type "sandhill crane recipes" into Google. Dive in and you'll see plenty of references to the tasty "ribeye of the sky," sandhill kabobs and sandhill fajitas.
Wood dirtier than coal? Them's fighting words!
Posted at 12:50 PM on June 16, 2010
by Bob Ingrassia
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Environment
| May 2012 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | ||
Master Archive
Recent Entries
- New Ulm woman carries torch for closing Kmart
- International Falls wins $657,000 grant for rail hub project
- New approach for organic weed control
- Around MN: Chipotle struggles after firing 450 undocumented workers in Minn.
- Daycare disaster; Paul delegates deliver; Solar eclipse
- Canada may close unique environmental research facility
- Long day ahead for firefighters near Ely
- Photos: Forest fire threatens homes and cabins near Ely, Minn.
- Whooping cough concerns; Underappreciated Modernist designs; Sen. Bills?
- Loving 'em to death
Categories
- Around MN
- Arrowhead
- Arts
- Central Minnesota
- Courts
- Discrimination
- Economy
- Education
- Environment
- Ethanol
- Farms
- Flooding
- Food
- Government
- Healthcare
- Homeless
- Hunger
- International Falls
- Lakes
- Law enforcement
- mining
- Minnesota
- Minnesota Sounds & Voices
- Minnesota Today RSS Feeds
- Northwest Minnesota
- Outdoors
- Politics
- Regions
- Research
- Rivers and streams
- Roads
- Snow
- Southeast Minnesota
- Southwest Minnesota
- Sports & Recreation
- Technology
- Tribal issues
- Twin Cities
- Utilities
- Water
- Weather
Services
Sponsors
Join the conversation Insight Now
Online Debate - Should MN rely on mid-level health care workers to improve rural health care?
Are we going about Wind Power all wrong?
MN Sounds and Voices Hearing what defines us
Minnesota Sounds and Voices: The Spin Collective dancers
The sun is setting on Lake Superior as members of the Spin Collective dancers soak small kevlar orbs in fuel and set them afire. Then, wielding them at the end of chains or long metal arms, they begin twirling the orbs in what's called a poi dance.
From the Audio Archives
1973: Defining Irish
Dr. Eoin McKiernan talks about what it means to be Irish.
