News Topic: Funding

News Topic(s): What's New  Parks  Funding  

07/17/2010 - The new Lake Vermilion State Park could get a small chunk of money to improve access and develop trails, under a recommendation from the Legislative-Citizen Committee on Minnesota Resources.

The LCCMR is recommending $3 million for early development work on the park. LCCMR spokesman Mike Banker says it's small change compared to the total development cost, but it should help.

News Topic(s): What's New  Recreation  Parks  Hiking  Funding  

07/14/2010 -

Combine the chance to spend $35 million a year to improve parks and trails with Minnesotans' love of the outdoors and here's what you get: hefty crowds, in one case more than 100 people, for meetings to talk about how Legacy Amendment money should be spent.

Recognizing that much is at stake, nearly 1,000 people came to 17 sessions held around the state in May and June.

News Topic(s): Wildlife  What's New  News!  Land Conservation  Funding  Darby   

07/04/2010 - Darby Nelson is president of the Board of Directors of Conservation Minnesota and a member of the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council (LSOHC).

An article in the June 27 Minneapolis Star Tribune, “Deal Has Legacy of Questions,” about the $36 million acquisition of perpetual easements on forest land in northern Minnesota unfortunately leaves the reader with several misleading perceptions. Star Tribune writer Mike Kaszuba suggests both Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council Chair Mike Kilgore and staff of the national conservation group the Conservation Fund had conflicts of interest regarding that purchase. The implication that these people personally benefited at public expense is ludicrous. He also questions whether the purchase was what taxpayers intended for the Outdoor Heritage Fund.

News Topic(s): Wildlife  What's New  Recreation  Funding  

06/14/2010 - The Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council took to the field at the end of May to get a firsthand look at several of the projects underway that we have funded. Let me share with you some of the things we saw in the Fergus Falls area.

We visited a lake enhancement project that Ducks Unlimited (DU) and the DNR are addressing at Jenny Lake, a shallow lake in Douglas County. Jennie is a lake that was historically an important rest stop for migrating waterfowl. Intensive agriculture, drainage, and high water levels in recent decades resulted in both degraded water quality and invasive fish problems that have had the effect of greatly degrading the lake’s ability to support waterfowl.

News Topic(s): Wildlife  What's New  John Helland  Funding  At the Capitol  

05/17/2010 - What seemed to be a good step in the right direction is the fact that the House and the Senate both passed into law the amounts for projects recommended by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council.  The definitions for "protect, enhance, and restore" seem to have worked themselves out too, but really devolved into a sideshow that perhaps nobody needed. Next