Amendment ‘lights up’ environmental skies
by Kathleen Preece
While many of us were celebrating the fireworks of a Fourth of July weekend holiday, the State of Minnesota was quietly, steadily, and in a lucrative manner collecting a few million additional dollars on your July purchases to give light to the dreams and aspirations of naturalists and natural resource managers across the state.
Based on the passage of a constitutional amendment during the November 2008 general election, citizens began paying, on July 1, three-eighths of one percent more sales tax.
The amendment, which covers a 25-year period (until June 30, 2034), stipulates that this additional revenue be deposited into four dedicated funds: Outdoor Heritage (33 percent); Clean Water (33 percent); Parks and Trails (24.25 percent); and Arts and Cultural Heritage (19.75 percent).
A little tax history
Prior to the passage of this Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment, the Minnesota sales tax rate was 6.5 percent, with revenues received from this tax deposited into the general fund. The newly passed rate hike increase of 3/8ths of one percent (.375 percent) to 6.875 percent is estimated to raise an additional $240.5 million in fiscal year 2010 alone, to be deposited and distributed according to the percentage breakdown as stated above.
The Outdoor Heritage cut of the funds had wildlife and outdoor groups, forest and prairie managers, and aquatic biologists vying for dollars and the opportunity to throw light on projects near and dear to their hearts. If there are fireworks to be continued past the official holiday, they are happening on the horizons of these natural resource enthusiasts, as the ever-growing sales tax fund begins to filter from the Outdoor Heritage Fund to distribution points recommended by an Outdoor Heritage Council. The Outdoor Heritage Council was created to serve as an adviser to the Minnesota Legislatures on projects that should be funded by the new and additional tax revenues.
After the Outdoor Heritage Council heard numerous proposals and requests for a portion of the pot of money, the Legislature heard the Council recommendations for projects scattered throughout 77 of Minnesota's 87 counties; there were a few winners and a number of losers who will likely pin their hopes on next year’s allocation of the funds.
One of the brightest lights in the sky came from a $20,000,000 allocation to the Forest for the Future/Upper Mississippi River Project. The project maintains and protects forest ecosystems though the use of perpetual conservation easements and other management tools. Approximately 187,000 acres of northern forests, wetlands, and shoreline will be permanently protected and open to public hunting, fishing and other recreation, while still maintaining forest management objectives. Most of the property is also located within the watershed of the upper Mississippi River. The project was considered a cornerstone of the 19 projects recommended by the Outdoor Heritage Council to the Minnesota Legislature.
Six projects that were approved by the Legislature fell under the category of fish, game and wildlife habitat, with funded projects totaling $13,903,000. The projects included controlling rough fish that are destroying fish habitats and aquatic vegetation in the Shell Rock river Watershed District that covers about 246 square miles in Freeborn County.
Trout Unlimited received just over $2 million to restore and enhance in-stream and riparian fish and wildlife habitat in 11 watersheds across the state.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ Fish and Wildlife Division received over $5 million for its Aquatic Management Area acquisition program. The funded proposal includes habitat management easements that include angler access on designated trout streams.
Nearly $14 million was committed fish, games, and wildlife to protect, restore and/or enhance habitat.
A similar amount was committed to the prairies of Minnesota, with nearly $4 million granted for protection of 800 acres of new wildlife habitat in the southeast area of the state. The newly created wildlife management area will be open to fishing, hunting, trapping, and compatible outdoor recreation uses. Minnesota Land Trust received 500,000 for a Bluffland Prairie Protection Initiative to protect up to 500 acres of land in the bluff lands region of southeast Minnesota that contains unique and ecologically important prairie, oak savanna, and grassland habitat along the Mississippi River.
The “wilds” were not the only shining stars in this first year of Heritage dollars. Anoka County Parks and Recreation Department received nearly $2 million to acquire and restore over 500 acres of prairie, wetland, forest, and shoreline habitat along the Rum River and Cedar Creek in the cities of Oak Grove and Andover. This area will provide additional opportunities for public fishing, hunting, and wildlife conservation.
Pheasants Forever will take its $3 million to acquire wildlife management areas and waterfowl production areas to enhance grassland and prairie habitats and to provide public recreation opportunities.
Ducks Unlimited will use part of its $2.5 million to protect shallow lakes and large wetland habitat critical to migratory waterfowl and other wildlife habitat critical to migratory waterfowl and other wildlife by improving water quality and rejuvenating aquatic ecology in turbid shallow lake basins. Water control structures, pumps, and fish barriers will be used to provide the state and UF Fish and Wildlife Service with water level control capabilities to conduct temporary, periodic draw-downs of water to improve wetland habitat quality.
Wetlands in the state will receive additional attention through a Board of Water and Soil Resources project, funded through the Outdoor Heritage Fund to the tune of over $9 million to obtain perpetual conservation easements. It will use its funding to leverage additional federal dollars to create and sustain 343 jobs and income to local landowners, businesses and other with anticipation of protecting and restoring 5,800 acres of new habitat. In total, wetlands projects to enhance, restore, and/or protect received $20,536 in this first round of Outdoor Heritage grants.
The three-eighths of one percent more sales tax is being collecting as we speak (and, as we spend), with a next allocation to happen in early 2010. Details of an Outdoor Heritage Conservation Partners Grant Program are now being worked out by the Council. The partners program would allocate small grants to local conservation groups and organizations, such as local Audubon Society or Izaak Walton League chapters, for conservation work. Such projects might involve restoring a local wetland or grassland, improving a trout stream or clearing buckthorn from a nature preserve. The grants would be made on a competitive basis.
The opportunities the Heritage Fund provides for Minnesota’s natural resources continues to grow as the fund grows. You can count on the fact that naturalists and resources managers will strive to catch the attention of the Council and the Legislature, and prove the worth of their respective projects for a portion of the 2011 value of the fund, projected to be worth over $90 million.
While many of us were celebrating the fireworks of a Fourth of July weekend holiday, the State of Minnesota was quietly, steadily, and in a lucrative manner collecting a few million additional dollars on your July purchases to give light to the dreams and aspirations of naturalists and natural resource managers across the state.
Based on the passage of a constitutional amendment during the November 2008 general election, citizens began paying, on July 1, three-eighths of one percent more sales tax.
The amendment, which covers a 25-year period (until June 30, 2034), stipulates that this additional revenue be deposited into four dedicated funds: Outdoor Heritage (33 percent); Clean Water (33 percent); Parks and Trails (24.25 percent); and Arts and Cultural Heritage (19.75 percent).
A little tax history
Prior to the passage of this Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment, the Minnesota sales tax rate was 6.5 percent, with revenues received from this tax deposited into the general fund. The newly passed rate hike increase of 3/8ths of one percent (.375 percent) to 6.875 percent is estimated to raise an additional $240.5 million in fiscal year 2010 alone, to be deposited and distributed according to the percentage breakdown as stated above.
The Outdoor Heritage cut of the funds had wildlife and outdoor groups, forest and prairie managers, and aquatic biologists vying for dollars and the opportunity to throw light on projects near and dear to their hearts. If there are fireworks to be continued past the official holiday, they are happening on the horizons of these natural resource enthusiasts, as the ever-growing sales tax fund begins to filter from the Outdoor Heritage Fund to distribution points recommended by an Outdoor Heritage Council. The Outdoor Heritage Council was created to serve as an adviser to the Minnesota Legislatures on projects that should be funded by the new and additional tax revenues.
After the Outdoor Heritage Council heard numerous proposals and requests for a portion of the pot of money, the Legislature heard the Council recommendations for projects scattered throughout 77 of Minnesota's 87 counties; there were a few winners and a number of losers who will likely pin their hopes on next year’s allocation of the funds.One of the brightest lights in the sky came from a $20,000,000 allocation to the Forest for the Future/Upper Mississippi River Project. The project maintains and protects forest ecosystems though the use of perpetual conservation easements and other management tools. Approximately 187,000 acres of northern forests, wetlands, and shoreline will be permanently protected and open to public hunting, fishing and other recreation, while still maintaining forest management objectives. Most of the property is also located within the watershed of the upper Mississippi River. The project was considered a cornerstone of the 19 projects recommended by the Outdoor Heritage Council to the Minnesota Legislature.
Six projects that were approved by the Legislature fell under the category of fish, game and wildlife habitat, with funded projects totaling $13,903,000. The projects included controlling rough fish that are destroying fish habitats and aquatic vegetation in the Shell Rock river Watershed District that covers about 246 square miles in Freeborn County.
Trout Unlimited received just over $2 million to restore and enhance in-stream and riparian fish and wildlife habitat in 11 watersheds across the state.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ Fish and Wildlife Division received over $5 million for its Aquatic Management Area acquisition program. The funded proposal includes habitat management easements that include angler access on designated trout streams.Nearly $14 million was committed fish, games, and wildlife to protect, restore and/or enhance habitat.
A similar amount was committed to the prairies of Minnesota, with nearly $4 million granted for protection of 800 acres of new wildlife habitat in the southeast area of the state. The newly created wildlife management area will be open to fishing, hunting, trapping, and compatible outdoor recreation uses. Minnesota Land Trust received 500,000 for a Bluffland Prairie Protection Initiative to protect up to 500 acres of land in the bluff lands region of southeast Minnesota that contains unique and ecologically important prairie, oak savanna, and grassland habitat along the Mississippi River.
The “wilds” were not the only shining stars in this first year of Heritage dollars. Anoka County Parks and Recreation Department received nearly $2 million to acquire and restore over 500 acres of prairie, wetland, forest, and shoreline habitat along the Rum River and Cedar Creek in the cities of Oak Grove and Andover. This area will provide additional opportunities for public fishing, hunting, and wildlife conservation.
Pheasants Forever will take its $3 million to acquire wildlife management areas and waterfowl production areas to enhance grassland and prairie habitats and to provide public recreation opportunities.
Ducks Unlimited will use part of its $2.5 million to protect shallow lakes and large wetland habitat critical to migratory waterfowl and other wildlife habitat critical to migratory waterfowl and other wildlife by improving water quality and rejuvenating aquatic ecology in turbid shallow lake basins. Water control structures, pumps, and fish barriers will be used to provide the state and UF Fish and Wildlife Service with water level control capabilities to conduct temporary, periodic draw-downs of water to improve wetland habitat quality.
Wetlands in the state will receive additional attention through a Board of Water and Soil Resources project, funded through the Outdoor Heritage Fund to the tune of over $9 million to obtain perpetual conservation easements. It will use its funding to leverage additional federal dollars to create and sustain 343 jobs and income to local landowners, businesses and other with anticipation of protecting and restoring 5,800 acres of new habitat. In total, wetlands projects to enhance, restore, and/or protect received $20,536 in this first round of Outdoor Heritage grants.
The three-eighths of one percent more sales tax is being collecting as we speak (and, as we spend), with a next allocation to happen in early 2010. Details of an Outdoor Heritage Conservation Partners Grant Program are now being worked out by the Council. The partners program would allocate small grants to local conservation groups and organizations, such as local Audubon Society or Izaak Walton League chapters, for conservation work. Such projects might involve restoring a local wetland or grassland, improving a trout stream or clearing buckthorn from a nature preserve. The grants would be made on a competitive basis.The opportunities the Heritage Fund provides for Minnesota’s natural resources continues to grow as the fund grows. You can count on the fact that naturalists and resources managers will strive to catch the attention of the Council and the Legislature, and prove the worth of their respective projects for a portion of the 2011 value of the fund, projected to be worth over $90 million.
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