For over 30 years, the Minnesota Lottery has played an important role in preserving our state’s natural resources. Conservation Minnesota continues to watch the portion of state lottery proceeds, as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR), move through the legislative process to ensure the money is used as voters intended.
One way a portion of the state lottery proceeds are spent is educating the next generation of Minnesotans. Funding in this year’s LCCMR recommendations, and passed in June by the state Legislature, includes several projects that will provide opportunities for kids to get involved in the Great Outdoors. Learn more at: lccmr.leg.mn
Here are a few projects:
- Minnesota Green Schoolyards, The Trust for Public Land
This pilot project will assess, promote, and demonstrate how schoolyards can improve water, air, and habitat quality. It will foster the next generation of stewards, while improving health, education, and community outcomes. - Minnesota Freshwater Quest: Environmental Education on State Waterways, Wilderness Inquiry
30,000 underserved Minnesota youth (grades 6–12) will explore and improve their local waterways using freshwater species as the hook for place-based, hands-on environmental education. - The Voyageurs Classroom Initiative, Voyageurs National Park Association
The Voyageurs Classroom will connect 6,000 Minnesota youth to Voyageurs National Park over three years to learn about its waters, wildlife, forests and skies, and engage in its preservation. - Increasing Outdoor Learning for Young Minnesotans, Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center
Wolf Ridge will give scholarships for equitable access to hands on learning experiences in the outdoors that support our Minnesota schools and achievement of state environmental goals. - Teach Science: Schools as STEM Living Laboratories, Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy
TeachScience will connect new science standards, renewable energy, and Science-Technology-Engineering-Math (STEM) opportunities through teacher training and support across the state to prepare students for the challenges and careers of the future.
Correction: Our print newsletter mistakenly connected the projects above to the Clean Water, Land, & Legacy Amendment rather than the state lottery proceeds. Conservation Minnesota also tracks Legacy funding approved by voters in 2008 and dedicates three-eighths of one percent of the state sales tax for conservation protections and the arts.