St. Louis 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.

Mesabi Trail – 2003-05 and 2005-07 biennia. These grants from the Trust Fund will help the St Louis and Lake Counties Regional Railroad Authority acquire and develop parts of the Mesabi Trail. When completed, this paved recreational trail will run 132 miles and connect more than 25 communities between Grand Rapids and Ely. At the end of 2005, 97 miles of the trail are already open including a 51 mile segment from Nashwauk to Eveleth.

Mesabi Iron Range Geologic & Hydrologic Maps and Databases (08c1) – 2003-05 biennium. This grant allowed the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to combine many different layers of information into a single geographic database for the Mesabi Iron Range. The Department expects that this will be a much more efficient way to retrieve information for anyone needing to make decisions that impact the areas water resources.

Mesabi Iron Range Geologic & Hydrologic Maps and Databases (08c2) – 2003-05 biennium. For this project, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources worked with the Minnesota Geological Survey to produce geologic and hydrogeologic maps of the Mesabi Iron Range – an area in which the land surface and water flow has been profoundly affected by more than 100 years of mining. The maps will be used by government and industry to address issues such as community and industrial expansion, water use and watershed restoration in the eastern half of the mining area.

Water Recreation: Boat Access, Fishing Piers and Shore Fishing - 2001-03 biennium. The Department of Natural Resources combined this allocation from the Trust Fund with significant help from local partners to develop five public water access sites around the state, purchase three parcels of land to provide new or expanded access, construct two shore-fishing areas and add or modify eighteen public-fishing piers. In St Louis County, Trust Fund money helped rehabilitate a public access site on Lake Vermilion in cooperation with the City of Tower.

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 St. Louis County began during the 1999-01 biennium and continues in the 2001-03 biennium.

Accelerated Transfer of New Forest-Research Findings - 1999-01 biennium. With its roots in the 1993 Generic Environmental Impact Study on Timber Harvesting and Forest Management and the 1995 Minnesota Sustainable Forest Resources Act, the Sustainable Forests Education Cooperative used this appropriation to host an international conference in Duluth and continuing education workshops for natural resource professionals in Winona, Grand Rapids and Cloquet. The cooperative, supported by public and private members, encourages an approach to resource management where social, economic and ecological values work together to sustain healthy, productive forest systems.

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, mineland 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 Pollution Control Agency (PCA) 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 PCA guidelines for by-product application and co-application especially for mineland 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.

Lakescaping for Wildlife and Water Quality Initiative - 1999-01 biennium. This Department of Natural Resources’ program helped lakeshore homeowners learn how to use native plants on the shoreline and in the water to enhance wildlife habitat and improve water quality in their lake. With assistance from the Minnesota Lakes Association, the department conducted a series of workshops for property owners and constructed demonstration sites throughout the state. In St. Louis County, a demonstration site was completed on Embarrass Lake.

Local Initiatives Grants Program - 1999-01 biennium. Appropriations from the Trust Fund for this project allowed the Department of Natural Resources to fund the Natural and Scenic Area Grants program, the Conservation Partners Grants program and the Environmental Partnerships Grants program during the biennium. More than 140 different projects across the state were approved for matching grants from July of 1999 through June of 2001.

In St. Louis County, grants were received by the City of Duluth for a natural resource inventory and to restore and enhance natural vegetation in Lincoln Park, by the Laurentian RC&D for Floodwood School Forest environmental education materials, by the Citizens Action Committee of the St. Louis River to develop detailed plans for a habitat restoration project on the lower part of the river and by the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association of Ely for a timber stand release project on U.S. Forest Service land.

Mesabi Iron Range Water and Mineral Resource Planning Project - 1999-01 biennium. Water flow estimates from the abandoned Canisteo iron ore open pit mine near Coleraine indicate that it will fill up and possibly overflow by the end of this decade. This project, coordinated by the Range Association of Municipalities and School Districts, predicted where the water would go and recommended how to minimize the changes this would cause in the landscape. The Minnesota Geological Survey created and updated maps to support this effort. Also, the location and content of rock piles left behind by the mining industry near Calumet, Marble and Virginia were catalogued for future use as gravel mines and their potential for iron ore.

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 Iron Trail Convention and Visitors Bureau (now called then Iron Range Tourism Bureau) put together a birding brochure and added a birding and wildlife section to their website www.ironrange.org.

Minnesota Wolf Public Education - 1999-01 biennium. The International Wolf Center in Ely used this grant from the Trust Fund to develop an educational curriculum for students in grades 6 through 12, conduct teacher training workshops and create a traveling exhibit about the wolf and the controversies surrounding its management. The curriculum titled “Gray Wolves, Gray Matter” is available online at http://www.wolf.org/wolves/learn/educator/gwgm/gwgm_main.asp.

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 two sites on the Beaver River, two sites on Black Duck Lake, one site on the Little Cloquet River, 13 sites on the Cloquet River, four sites on the Floodwood River, two sites on Lake Superior, two sites on the Lester River, one site on Mission Creek, two sites on the Paleface River, one site on the Savannah River, 42 sites on the St. Louis River, three sites on Stoney Brook and 12 sites on the Whiteface River in St. Louis County during June, July, August and September of 2000 and June 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.

Nongame Wildlife Management - 1999-01 biennium. The Department of Natural Resources’ Nongame Wildlife Program used this grant from the Trust Fund to help carry out more than 65 wildlife conservation projects during the biennium. Among the research, habitat management, information and education and planning activities were planting of lakescaping sites, development of bald eagle management plans, surveys of loon, hawk and owl populations, habitat improvements for endangered and threatened species and wildlife management workshops.

Projects in St. Louis County included a survey of wood turtle populations on the St. Louis River, a study of goshawk populations and management of a common tern nesting colony on Interstate Island.

The website for the Nongame Wildlife Program is http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/ecological_services/nongame/index.html.

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.

Public Boat Access and Fishing Piers - 1999-01 biennium. With help from the Minnesota Future Resources Fund and donations from local contributors, Trust Fund money was put to work acquiring land for future public access sites, developing existing sites and building and extending fishing piers. In St Louis County, land was purchased for a new boat access site west of Ely on Wolf Lake and fishing piers were installed at Longyear Lake in Chisholm, Lake Vermillion north of Virginia at Hoodoo Point and the West Two Rivers Reservoir near Mountain Iron.

Sustainability Forums - 1999-01 biennium. Sustainability was the topic of discussion at these three-day workshops held in Red Wing, Willmar, Duluth and Winona. The objectives at each workshop were to increase citizen knowledge and awareness of community sustainability principles, improve communication between citizens and local government leaders and enhance opportunities for citizen leadership in the development and implementation of community sustainability action plans. This project was planned and conducted by the Minnesota Division of the Izaak Walton League of America.

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.

A Public School Partnership: Environmental Service Learning - 1997-99 biennium. Kindergartners caring for school grounds and first-graders setting up and maintaining a compost program at a local zoo are examples of how the Stowe Environmental Elementary School in Duluth will teach environmental education to elementary students. Each grade level will use classroom and field learning to study and complete service projects.

Loons: Indicators of Mercury in the Environment - 1997-99 biennium. Loons are excellent early-warning indicators of mercury contamination because they eat fish, live 20 to 30 years and are easily captured. The University of Minnesota is studying more than 150 loons (including St. Louis County populations) to analyze mercury levels in their bodies. That information will be used to better understand mercury contamination in Minnesota’s rivers and lakes and to determine the relationship between mercury and loon reproduction and behavior.

Minnesota Rare Mussel Conservation - 1997-99 biennium. This University of Minnesota project is attempting to improve freshwater mussel conservation and to protect them from invading Zebra mussels. In St. Louis County, fish and mussel surveys will take place in the Little Fork River to determine host fish for Minnesota’s three threatened freshwater mussels.

Public Boat Access - 1997-99 biennium. The Department of Natural Resources is increasing public access to popular lakes and rivers by installing 12 fishing piers, three shoreline accesses and two boat ramps. One of the boat ramps is being built on Pelican Lake at Orr. Sites for the fishing piers and shoreline accesses are being determined.

Restoring White Pine in the Minnesota Landscape - 1997-99 biennium. Through 1900, white pine was a major forest component in much of Minnesota including St. Louis County. However, logging, fires and regeneration problems reduced white pine acreage by about 85 percent and there is now a moratorium on harvesting white pine as well as a statewide effort to determine why it has problems regenerating. The University of Minnesota, who is in charge of the research, aims to recommend methods for successful seeding and planting.

State Wolf Management - 1997-99 biennium. Soon, the wolf will no longer be an endangered species in Minnesota and managing it is expected to be widely debated. Anticipating that debate, the International Wolf Center in Ely is providing an electronic forum through a specialized email system for groups and individuals to exchange information, make comments and ask questions.

Training and Research Vessel for Lake Superior - 1997-99 biennium. The University of Minnesota, Duluth is using this grant to help buy a used 86-foot commercial fishing boat that will be used for education and research on Lake Superior. The boat’s capacity is 20 people for daylong excursions or six people for trips of up to 10 days.

Environmental Action Grants for Minnesota Schools - 1995-97 biennium. Minnesota universities that train students to be teachers do not offer environmental education courses because it is a new field of study and is not required for teacher licensure. The Office of Environmental Assistance is working with universities, including the University of Minnesota, Duluth, to develop four such courses that can be required for students and offered to teachers as in-service programs.

Environmental Action Grants for Minnesota Schools - 1995-97 biennium. The Department of Natural Resources will work with St. Olaf College in making grants for school area nature sites. Students at Duluth’s Chester Park Elementary School created a nature area behind the school by planting trees, shrubs and wildflowers.

Environmental Indicators Initiative - 1995-97 biennium. Minnesota lacks a comprehensive strategy for monitoring the health of its environmental. That is why the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the University of Minnesota, Duluth’s Nature Resources Research Institute is developing a network whereby environmental information from throughout the state will be collected to help the DNR assess and communicate environmental trends and the health of the state’s environment.

Forest Management to Maintain Structural and Species Diversity - 1995-97 biennium. The Department of Natural Resources will study the long-term effects of current and alternative timber harvest practices in forest plant and animal life. In St. Louis County, management prescriptions were developed while songbirds were monitored. A major portion of the study was conducted by the University of Minnesota, Duluth.

Minnesota Forest Bird Direct Initiative - 1995-97 biennium. Minnesota has a narrow forest belt that supports more songbirds than anywhere in North America. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is monitoring the location and number of forest birds in Minnesota. In St. Louis County, the study will determine how birds are adapting to a changing environment so that the DNR can manage habitat needs.

RIM Fisheries Habitat Development, Hatchery Rehabilitation and Stream Flow Protection - 1995-97 biennium. The Department of Natural Resources will undertake projects to acquire, improve or restore fishing habitat. Under this program, nongame species including the wood turtle and terns were given priority management.

Water Access - 1995-97 biennium. This appropriation allowed the Department of Natural Resources to acquire and develop boating access sites, fishing piers and shoreline access. Under this program, an access site was acquired and constructed at Caribou Lake, a fishing pier was added at Judson Pit and land was acquired for shore fishing on the French River on Lake Superior.

Access to Lakes and Rivers - 1993-95 biennium. Fishing piers, boat ramps and shoreline access sites are being built around the state to provide boaters and anglers with more access to popular Minnesota lakes and rivers. In St. Louis County, this Department of Natural Resources’ program acquired and developed water access sites on Lake Vermillion and installed fishing piers on Embarrass Lake and Silver Lake.

Fisheries Acquisition for Angler Access and Habitat Development - 1993-95 biennium. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is buying easements along three miles of trout streams and three miles of warm-water streams to increase access for anglers and improve fish habitats. The DNR is also protecting critical fish habitats by purchasing 200 acres of land near those habitats. In St. Louis County, land and easements were acquired along a half-mile of the Sucker River.

Mercury Reduction in Fish - 1993-95 biennium. The University of Minnesota, Duluth received this grant to study methods of reducing levels of mercury contamination in fish in northeast Minnesota lakes and rivers.

RIM Critical Habitat Match - 1993-95 biennium. This Department of Natural Resources’ program provides matching funds for those who want to buy or improve critical fish, wildlife and native plant habitats. In St. Louis County, 240 acres of peatland were acquired and 1,987 acres were acquired at the Big Rice Lake outlet.

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, brushland, forests and non-game habitat while planting and managing native vegetation to enhance hunting, observing nature and education. In St. Louis County, the program funded forest opening development, brushland development, wood turtle management, a landscaping-for-wildlife demonstration area, forest stand development, a survey of goshawk habitat and populations and a survey of reptile and amphibian habitat and populations.

St. Louis River Land Acquisition - 1993-95 biennium. This project purchased undeveloped land along the St. Louis, Cloquet and Whiteface Rivers. The land will be protected for its valuable scenic, recreational, historic and archaeological qualities.