Lake County Projects

This listing is produced by the Minnesota State Lottery from information provided by project managers and the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources. While we attempt to provide the most current information, specific project locations and allocations do change. Information on projects for the current biennium, in particular, should be regarded as preliminary.

Gitchi-Gami State Trail – 2005-07 biennium. This grant from the Trust Fund will allow the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to design and construct approximately two more miles of the Gitch-Gami State Trail. When completed, the trail will cover 86 miles between Two Harbors and Grand Marais.

Gitchi-Gami State Trail – 2003-05 biennium. Work continues on the Gitchi-Gami State Trail along Lake Superior’s north shore. This grant from the Trust Fund was combined with funding from other sources and is expected to allow the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to design and construct about five miles of the trail.

Linking Communities Design, Technology & DNR Trail Resources – 2003-05 biennium. This study by the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources intends to use computer technology and community participation to help build better trails in the state – trails that preserve, enhance and interpret natural and cultural features in the trail’s larger landscape. Two trails are part of this study – Gitchi-Gami State Trail along Lake Superiors’ north shore and The Minnesota River State Trail near Cannon Falls.

Gitchi-Gami State Trail - 2001-03 biennium. The Department of Natural Resources will use this appropriation to continue land acquisition and construction of this trail between Gooseberry Falls State Park and the Split Rock River on Lake Superior's North Shore.

State Park and Recreation Area Acquisition - 2001-03 biennium. Funding from two sources - the Trust Fund and the Future Resources Fund - was combined for this project to expand our public parks. Split Rock Lighthouse State Park in Lake County grew by 42 acres during the biennium. In all, more than 1,100 acres were purchased within the boundaries of nine state park and recreation areas from willing private landowners.

Minnesota County Biological Survey - 2001-03 biennium and 1999-01 biennium. 2001 marks the start of the eighth biennium of this ambitious twelve biennia project that identifies significant natural areas and systematically collects and interprets data on the distribution and ecology of natural communities, rare plants and area animals. Since 1987, surveys have been completed or are underway in 64 counties. Survey work in Lake County began during the 1999-01 biennium and continues in the 2001-03 biennium.

Assessing Lake Superior Waters off the North Shore - 1999-01 biennium. The Large Lakes Observatory (LLO) at the University of Minnesota - Duluth established benchmark data on microscopic plants, nutrient chemistry, water temperature and water currents in western Lake Superior during the biennium, thanks to this grant from the Trust Fund as well as funds from the Great Lakes Protection Account. Data from this project is available from the LLO through publications to the scientific community and the public.

If you would like to learn more about the Large Lakes Observatory, visit http://www.d.umn.edu/llo/index.html.

By-Products Application to Agricultural, Mineland, and Forest Soils - 1999-01 biennium with an extension to June 30, 2002. During the past few decades, there has been increased awareness of the importance of incorporating recycling into our everyday lives. It is equally important to support the idea of recycling on a large-scale, industrial level. One way of achieving this goal is to find environmentally sound, socially acceptable and economically feasible methods to beneficially use municipal and industrial by-products.

In northeastern Minnesota, where this study took place, major by-products include bio-solids (a by-product from city wastewater treatment plants), ash from wood-fired boilers and leftover sludge from paper production. These substances have the potential to improve growing conditions on cropland, mine-land reclamation projects and forest soils. Experiments with these materials in the lab, greenhouse, and field gathered data on plant growth and the chemical composition of plants, soils and groundwater.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) administered this project in conjunction with the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District in Duluth and cooperation from the University Of Minnesota and many other individuals and corporations. Findings from this study will help refine MPCA guidelines for by-product application and co-application, especially for mine land and forest soils where data is often lacking. Using these by-products as soil amendments provides an opportunity for their utilization as a resource as opposed to their disposal as waste.

Conservation-Based Development Program - 1999-01 biennium. The Minnesota Land Trust – a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting Minnesota’s land and water resources – used this appropriation to improve conservation practices for new housing developments throughout Minnesota. A sample of this new style of building is Park Bay, a development of two homes and 30 acres of open space along Lake Superior and Scenic Highway 61 in Lake County.

Gitchi-Gami State Trail - 1999-01 biennium. This appropriation funded the construction of 3 miles of the Gitchi-Gami State Trail within the boundaries of Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, including bridges over the Split Rock River, Split Rock Creek and No Name Creek. The grant also played a critical role in accelerating the project engineering and environmental documentation necessary to obtain federal funding for the trail segment that runs from the park to the city of Beaver Bay. The trail, which can be used for a variety of non-motorized recreational pursuits, will eventually run along the shore of Lake Superior from Two Harbors to Grand Marais. Lead agency: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Local Initiatives Grants Program - 1999-01 biennium. This appropriation allows the Department of Natural Resources to provide matching grants to local governments or private organizations for various projects related to local parks, natural and scenic areas, local trail connection projects, regional trail projects, environmental partnership projects and conservation partners’ projects. In Lake County, a conservation partnership will develop an east native flower garden.

Mussel Resource Survey - 1999-01 biennium. During the first two years of this project (this biennium), biologists and other staff from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources sampled 886 sites in 32 Minnesota rivers, 64 tributaries and 12 lakes, including four sites on the East Branch of the Baptism River, two sites on the Baptism River, one site on Caribou River, two sites on the Cloquet River, one site on Cloquet Lake, one site on the Kawishiwi River, one site on the Knife River, one site on Lake Superior, four sites on the Little Isabella River, two sites on the Manitou River and a tributary, one site on Sand River, two sites on the Split Rock River, 15 sites on Stoney River, one site on Birch Lake and four sites on McDougal Lake in Lake County during July, August and September of 2000 and June, July and August of 2001.

According to the website for this project, http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/ecological_services/nhnrp/mussel_survey/index.html, freshwater mussels, commonly called clams, occur throughout the world but reach their greatest diversity in North America where about 300 species are found. Unfortunately, within the last 100 years mussel communities have declined in abundance and diversity due to dam construction, stream channelization, water pollution and sedimentation, over harvesting and the recent introduction of the exotic zebra mussel. In response, groups such as the American Fisheries Society and The Nature Conservancy have identified mussels as the most imperiled group of animals in North America. The primary goal of this project is to build the information base necessary to sustain freshwater mussels in Minnesota. Building this base of information is expected to take about six years to complete.

Predicting Water and Forest Resources Health and Sustainability - 1999-01 biennium. This project, organized by the University of Minnesota Natural Resources Research Institute in Duluth identified and compiled existing data on forest birds, amphibians, aquatic insects and native plant communities in the Drift and Lake Plains and the Northern Superior Uplands of northern Minnesota. The result is a mathematical model called SUSTAIN that can be used by resource managers to predict future forest ecosystem health and sustainability for northern Minnesota forests.

Tools and Training for Community-Based Planning - 1999-01 biennium with an extension until June 30, 2002. Minnesota Planning used this appropriation to develop computer software and train staff from regional development commissions and county planning and zoning offices in its use. The software, named EPICplanner, is designed to be an easy to use geographic information system and is available without cost to help local units of government map and plan their growth by showing jurisdiction, landscape, soils and infrastructure information. According to the project manager, the five pilot counties – Cook, Hubbard, Lake, LeSueur and Pine – were critical in identifying the desired decision-analysis tools and testing the product.

Minnesota’s Forest Bird Diversity Initiative - 1999-01, 1997-99, 1995-97, 1993-95 and 1991-93 biennia. Forest birds are key indicators of the health of Minnesota’s forest ecosystem. To address concerns of forest sustainability, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Natural Resources Research Institute (at the University of Minnesota, Duluth) launched Minnesota’s Forest Bird Diversity Initiative in 1991. The Initiative’s goal is to develop landscape management tools to maintain the state’s unique diversity of forest birds through long-term monitoring of bird populations, research, modeling, and education. This initiative relies on more than 1,600 bird count locations in Beltrami, Carlton, Cass, Cook, Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, Mille Lacs, Olmsted, Pine, Rice, St Louis, Wabasha and Winona Counties. For more information about this project, including other sponsors, visit www.nrri.umn.edu/mnbirds.

State Park and Recreation Area Acquisition, Development, Betterment and Rehabilitation - 1997-99 biennium. The Department of Natural Resources is expanding and improving its state parks and recreation areas by building new facilities, repairing and upgrading existing facilities and buying privately owned land within park boundaries. This program will fund three projects in Lake County:

- Acquisition of 43 acres at Tettegouche State Park
- Rehabilitation of the sewer system at Gooseberry Falls State Park
- Acquisition of 81 acres at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park

State Park Betterment - 1995-97 biennium. This program improves state parks by rehabilitating existing facilities and building new ones. Projects range from rehabilitating and restoring trails and historic structures to building new offices and shops. Under this program, the Department of Natural Resources added a new visitor center at Gooseberry Falls State Park and planted trees at Spilt Rock Lighthouse State Park.

State Park and Recreation Area Acquisition - 1995-97 biennium. This appropriation allowed the Department of Natural Resources to acquire additional land for existing state parks. In Lake County, 13 acres were added to Gooseberry Falls State Park, 160 acres to Tettegouche State Park and 113 acres to Split Rock Lighthouse State Park.

RIM Wildlife Habitat Stewardship - 1993-95 biennium. About 29,000 acres of state land is being developed and improved to protect wildlife and native plants. The Department of Natural Resources is restoring prairies, brush land, forests and non-game habitat while planting and managing native vegetation to enhance hunting, observing nature and education. The Lake County grant was used for forest stand development.

State Park Betterment - 1993-95 biennium. This program improves state parks by rehabilitating existing facilities and building new ones. Projects range from rehabilitating and restoring trails and historic structures to building new offices and shops. This grant is used for a new office and interpretive center, facility relocation and pedestrian trails at Gooseberry Falls State Park.