No Child Left Inside Bill

[Lee Borgersen]

  No Child Left Inside Bill.

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Legislation aimed at getting more kids outdoors in more ways — dubbed the "No Child Left Inside bill" — was included in the final natural resources package approved by Minnesota lawmakers in May with $1.2 million in grants now available.

The legislation earmarks $182,000 in fiscal 2020 (starting July 1) from the state’s general tax fund and $318,000 from the Game and Fish Fund stocked by license fees “for grants for natural-resource-based education and recreation programs.”

There’s also specific money earmarked to promote youth participation in for traditional outdoor endeavors — archery trapshooting, hunting firearms safety and fishing — in schools across the state. The one-time $500,000 allotment will be in the form of state grants to school districts and American Indian schools to encourage more participation in school-based outdoor sports.

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And there’s more: Lawmakers made another $200,000 specifically available for high school fishing teams which are growing rapidly across the state.

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Under the No Child Left Inside grant program, lawmakers have ordered the DNR commissioner to “establish and administer a program to provide grants for outdoor environmental, ecological, and other natural-resource-based education and recreation programs serving youth.” The commissioner “may award grants under this section to public entities or private nonprofit organizations: with priorities to programs that “provide students with opportunities to directly experience and understand nature and the natural world; use a research-based, effective environmental, ecological, agricultural, or other natural-resource-based educational curriculum; maximize the number of participants that can be served; serve children with limited opportunities to participate in natural-resource-based outdoor activities; use public park and other natural resource venues and personnel as a resource; and commit matching funds or in-kind resources.”

In the final minutes of their 2019 session last month Minnesota lawmakers approved $1.2 million for programs to get kids involved in outdoor activities, including fishing. It's called the "No Child Left Inside" grants program. 

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[LPS]