Happening

Micah Rivera, a local technical student from Apple Valley, is excited about his clean energy career path. “Solar is one of the fastest-growing fields to be in right now.”

Working with local governments is one way we make progress on our most important conservation issues. That’s why we helped organize a meeting of city environment commissions dedicated to how their work can help protect the land, air, and water that is so important to us.

As a pediatrician in St. Cloud, Minnesota for over 25 years, Dr. Kathleen Kulus has seen the state’s changing climate impact her patients and she’s speaking up about it. “I need to be advocating for these children and the impact it's having on them because they don't always have a voice.”

Dusty Thune from House of Thune is an award-winning Minnesota artist specializing in snow- and sand-sculpting and climate activism. Thune creates large-scale design projects with messages about conservation and the environment. “It’s important to get people drawn in, to at least start the conversation...”

This fall, Conservation Minnesota is proud to launch Conservation Crew, a student leadership program for Minnesota middle schoolers designed to empower youth through conservation projects.

Metro area landfills have seen a 30% increase in garbage in the last year alone, and landfills are quickly running out of space. Dealing with more waste and fewer places to put it remains a major challenge for cities like Burnsville. 

In the land of 10,000 lakes, it’s easy to forget that much of southeastern Minnesota has very few. So, in Rochester the pools are where it’s at to beat the heat! Which is why it's important that as Rochester looks to invest in their amenities, the city consider not just how many people use the current park facilities like the pool, but who uses them.

Our field staff worked with select cities to secure their support for Clean Cars Minnesota, a set of vehicle emission standards designed to help clean up our air and bring more electric vehicles to Minnesota.

The story of one community's path to landmark legislation. Conservation Minnesota hosted a conversation with several board members from the White Bear Area Neighborhood Concerned Citizens Group (NCCG) about how a community can unite around a public health issue to impact state-wide legislation. With Conservation Minnesota, the NCCG played a crucial role in advocating for and pushing this policy across the finish line, and they brought together many stakeholders to find answers and make significant change beyond their own community. 

Local community action matters. This year’s legislative ban on Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a perfect example. Early in 2019, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) discovered that for many years a manufacturer in White Bear Township released TCE into the air at unsafe levels. Community members were outraged and began to organize, working to ban the chemical through legislative action.