Happening

Today, the Governor Walz will sign the bipartisan lead drinking water replacement bill. The bill dedicates $240 million to the inventory and replacement of dangerous lead service lines and creates a goal to replace all lead pipes in the next ten years. It’s a momentous step toward protecting Minnesota kids from toxic lead exposure.

Students from our youth program, Conservation Crew, are organizing for change through garbage cleanups, compost fundraisers, pollinator gardens, and much more. This year for Earth Day, we are highlighting the inspiring work of some local students.

News from the Crew is the newsletter for our youth program, Conservation Crew. Learn what the Crews are up to, in the spring of the program's second year.

Last week, Policy Director Nels Paulsen presented the House Ways and Means Committee with the following letter of support for the passing of HF 1656. This bill would help secure federal funding for energy projects across the state. 

We are dedicating this issue of our newsletter to highlighting all that lottery funding has done for Minnesotans and what legislators and voters need to do to ensure this critical funding doesn’t disappear after 2024.

In January, the US Department of the Interior announced a 20-year moratorium of sulfide-ore copper mining on 225,000 acres of land near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA), but this moratorium can be overturned by future presidential administrations. We need to continue to push for permanent protections for the BWCA and the surrounding area, both locally and nationally. 

Together with Minnesota’s conservation community, Policy Director Nels Paulsen presented the Senate Environment, Climate and Legacy committee with the following letter of support a bill that supports essential projects around the state that restore, protect, and enhance wetlands, prairies, forests, and habitat for fish, game, and wildlife through the Outdoor Heritage Fund. 

We are proud to support elk reintroduction alongside the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in northeast Minnesota. Elk have historically played a significant role in the diet and culture of the region’s Native people and would revitalize essential ecosystems. Read our letter of support, presented to Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee.

This legislative session, Minnesota has an opportunity to establish an office of outdoor recreation, which would inspire interest in the environment and bolster our sizeable outdoor recreation economy. Eighteen other states have already established outdoor recreation offices. Here's why we should join them.

Today Governor Walz signed the 100% Clean Energy Bill after swift passage in the House and Senate. The historic legislation will once again make Minnesota a clean energy and climate leader in the Midwest.