Mille Lacs 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.

Advancing Utilization of Manure Methane Digester Electrical – 2003-05 biennium. This grant to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture helped install the methane digester fuel cell at the Haubenschild dairy farm near Princeton. With assistance from the Minnesota Project, the department staged 2 field days, 35 small tours, 10 formal presentations and 2 papers on the topic were presented at international conferences as a result of this project. The recommendation for farmers considering a fuel cell is to wait until the cost of purchase and installation comes down enough to make selling electricity to energy companies and co-ops economically viable. More information is available at http://www.mda.state.mn.us/feedlots/digester.htm.

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. Mille Lacs Kathio State Park located in Mille Lacs County grew by just over a quarter of an acre 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 - 1999-01 biennium. Minnesota still has pockets of rare plants, animals and natural areas that need to be protected, managed and studied. The Department of Natural Resources is surveying every county in Minnesota to locate these areas. Since the survey began in 1987, 50 counties have been surveyed. Survey work was completed in Mille Lacs County during the 1999-01 biennium.

Minnesota Wildlife Tourism Initiative - 1999-01 biennium. The Office of Tourism and Department of Natural Resources collaborated on this project to enhance Minnesota’s visibility as a national destination for wildlife tourism by placing advertisements in Audubon, National Wildlife, Wild Bird and Birder’s World magazines. To promote this industry within the state, an array of techniques was employed including workshops, field trips, cost-sharing grants for groups promoting local wildlife watching areas and printing and posting of signs for locations listed in the book Travelers Guide to Wildlife in Minnesota. With help from this project, the Mille Lacs Area Tourism Association put together a consumer advertising campaign and a birding brochure.

Mussel Resource Survey - 1999-01 biennium. During the first two years of this project (this biennium), biologists and other staff from the Department of Natural Resources sampled 886 sites in 32 Minnesota rivers, 64 tributaries and 12 lakes including one site on Estes Brook, one site on the Knife River, five sites on the West Branch of the Rum River and three sites on the Rum River in Mille Lacs County during June of 2000 and 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’s 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.

Minnesota’s Forest Bird Diversity Initiative - 1999-01 biennium, 1997-99 biennium, 1995-97 biennium, 1993-95 biennium and 1991-93 biennium. Forest birds are key indicators of the health of Minnesota’s forest ecosystem. To address concerns of forest sustainability, the 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.

Snake River Watershed Best Management Practices - 1997-99 biennium. The Snake River Watershed Management Board will accelerate the implementation of action items from the 1996 Snake River Watershed Management Plan. By applying best management practices to utilize a systematic plan to prioritize projects by impact on the water quality, available money will be used on projects with the greatest results. This has included constructing livestock ponds, stabilizing eroding stream banks and limiting contaminated run-off from reaching the watershed.

State Park and Recreation Area Acquisition, Development, Betterment and Rehabilitation - 1997-99 biennium. The Department of Natural Resources is expanding and improving state parks and recreation areas by building new facilities, repairing and upgrading existing facilities and buying privately-owned land within park boundaries. In Mille Lacs County, this program will fund road rehabilitation and acquire 25 acres for Mille Lacs Kathio State Park.

Environmental Action Grants for Minnesota Schools - 1995-97 biennium. The Department of Natural Resources will work with St. Olaf College’s School Nature Area Project in conducting a pilot program in which grants are matched to establish or enhance nature areas within walking distances of the school buildings. Students at Princeton’s Area Learning Center worked with preschoolers to construct a native plant garden.

State Park and Recreation Area Acquisition - 1995-97 biennium. The Department of Natural Resources is buying privately-owned land within state park and recreation area boundaries to avoid losing substantial natural and cultural resources. In Mille Lacs County, 267 acres were added to Mille Lacs Kathio 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 Mille Lacs 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. At Mille Lacs Kathio State Park, this program funded relocation of the campground.

Conservation Reserve Easements - 1991-93 biennium. This program acquires easements for wetland areas to enhance wildlife habitat, control erosion and improve water quality. Landowner compensation via easement payment has proven to be the most effective method in converting these private acres back to wildlife habitat. The Board of Water and Soil Resources purchased easements on over 131 acres of Mille Lacs County wetlands through this program.

Sealing Abandoned Wells - 1991-93 biennium. Eight wells were sealed in Mille Lacs County through this grant program matching state and county funds. Lead agency: Board of Water and Soil Resources.