Natural resources are finally noticed After years of neglect, the state is paying attention to its dwindling gifts, with several groups joining in.
By Doug Smith, Star Tribune
Last update: June 23, 2007 ? 4:48 PM
http://www.startribune.com/outdoors/story/1263578.html Minnesota's natural resources -- its waters, lands, wildlife and the recreation they provide -- long have been considered the state's jewels.
But often they were taken for granted.
Now those resources are getting unprecedented scrutiny. And that attention ultimately could reshape which resources are protected and preserved, how that is attempted and how much residents will pay.
Call it a perfect storm for natural resources -- the collision of three events that ultimately could change Minnesota's natural resource management forever, and offer citizens more control.
Here's what's happening:
? A comprehensive statewide conservation and preservation plan is being developed by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources. It will be a science-based blueprint for where money should be spent to preserve and protect natural resources. It will look at the state's land, water, fish, wildlife, air and outdoor recreation. The preliminary report is due next month.
? A separate study released in May by the Conservation Legacy Council examined how the state's natural resources are managed and funded, and recommended a dramatic overhaul. If not, the state will face continued degradation of its waters, lands and wildlife habitat, reported the group -- comprised of citizens and legislators. Supporters say this report and the statewide conservation plan now being developed could be the backbone for a new approach to conservation in Minnesota.
? Dedicating a portion of the state sales tax for conservation is, after nine years of contentious debate at the Capitol, a real possibility. The state House and Senate agreed on wording, and legislative leaders have said they expect next winter to put the issue on the 2008 ballot as a constitutional amendment for voters to decide. If approved, it would infuse $300 million yearly for clean water, wildlife habitat, forest preservation, parks, trails and the arts. The Conservation Legacy Council supported the idea.
Of course, it's also possible the plans will just gather dust on shelves and the dedicated funding concept will somehow die either in St. Paul or at the polls in 2008, leaving the state to continue managing and funding its natural resources as it has for the past 50 years.
Still, perhaps never before has so much focus been put on natural resources.
"I would consider it unprecedented," said Gary Botzek, executive director of the Minnesota Conservation Federation. Botzek said there is a heightened interest and awareness, both among the public and in government, about problems facing the environment and natural resources.
Anne Kapuscinski is a University of Minnesota professor in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology and a key player in the statewide conservation and preservation plan.
"There's been a sea change by leaders and citizens," she said. "People are finally realizing the big changes that are coming to our natural resources. The cumulative impacts have finally reached a threshold."
Could this be a key point in the state's conservation history? "I sense that it is," Kapuscinski said.
Said Brian McClung, spokesman for Gov. Tim Pawlenty: "The time to resolve these issues is here.
"We've been having this conversation for a number of years, but the governor thinks we've reached a critical point where care of our natural resources needs to rise above political considerations."
Statewide conservation plan The Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) oversees spending more than $20 million annually from the state's environmental trust fund -- money from the state lottery. The newly reformed commission, which now includes seven citizens along with 10 legislators, decided to order a comprehensive statewide conservation plan to prioritize the state's needs and help the commission determine where to spend those dollars.
The University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment was selected to do the study along with two private consulting firms. It will cost $300,000, and more than 50 people -- mostly university volunteers -- are working on it. A preliminary report is due next month, with a final one due next year. The commission, which is planning next year's spending, received an outline last week.
The most pressing issues include: land-use changes, development and disturbances. Habitat fragmentation, loss and erosion, climate change, contaminants, invasive species, energy production, transportation, demographics and human health.
Among the recommendations:
Identify, protect and manage land areas that contribute relatively more to conservation. Establish statewide habitat corridors. Acquire important data on a regular basis. Manage development to decrease effects on resources. Increase understanding of the potential effects of climate change on resources, and the effects of contaminants on resources.
The LCCMR's final report will overlap some of the work done by the Conservation Legacy Council. Its report also touched on conservation problems. Among them: polluted waters; loss and degradation of wetlands, forests and agricultural lands; fragmentation of forests; contamination of air, land, water and fish; spread of invasive species and diseases, reduced public access; population growth; climate change and declining numbers of hunters and anglers.
But officials said they don't believe the two studies will be redundant.
"They [Conservation Legacy Council] were told to look at governance issues," said John Velin, director of the LCCMR. "Our plan doesn't talk about governance, it talks about what issues need to be dealt with. Our hope is that the plan will be good enough, broad enough and thoughtful enough that other people will look at it and say 'we don't have to do any more plans -- this is a good one.' "
Said McClung: "Our vision was the Conservation Legacy Council would put together bipartisan recommendations for the next year's legislative session. We think the vision they [LCCMR] are working on can be nicely merged with the plan that the Conservation Legacy Council put forward."
Doug Smith ? dsmith@startribune.com
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