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News & Insights
Lebanon Hills
Middle school students gardening
Conservation Crew members choose projects that help their school or community

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.

Two workers walk near wind turbine

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. 

group of kids hikes in forest
Kids explore Voyageurs National Park, our state's only national park

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.

Hiker walks on path near BWCA Wilderness Superior Hiking Trail sign
Superior Hiking Trail to Eagle Mountain—the highest point in Minnesota—in the BWCA
by
Avery Hildebrand

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. 

Blooming prairie in Lake Shetek State Park
Prairie at Lake Shetek State Park in southwestern Minnesota
by
Nels Paulsen
David Pelikan

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

Bull and baby elk at the edge of a forest
by
Nels Paulsen
David Pelikan

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.

Visitors walk along the edge of Lake Superior
Visitors flock to Artists Point in Grand Marais on Lake Superior
by
Avery Hildebrand

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.

Go
Governor Walz signed the 100% Clean Energy Bill on February 7, 2023

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. 

Worker in hard hat works on solar panel
by
Paul Austin

Now that the Minnesota Senate has passed the 100% Clean Energy bill, it’s time to celebrate the biggest action ever to address the climate crisis.

Grandparent gardens with child
by
Nels Paulsen
David Pelikan

Toxic PFAS contamination jeopardizes the health of Minnesotans throughout the state. This "forever chemical" is found in a wide variety of products in our homes and workplaces, and in our water and soil. Today, Policy Director Nels Paulsen presented the Minnesota House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee with the following letter of support for bills that would help protect our communities from chemical exposure by creating safeguards to mitigate the effects of PFAS.