The Confluence is a monthly electronic
newsletter for members of Minnesota Waters providing up-to-date
information and resources to help citizens protect
In this
issue:
Leaders Gather at
North Central Regional
Stream Health Evaluation Program
(SHEP) Training a Success
RiverNight 2007 A Sellout
Minnesota Waters Conservation
Effort Gets A Boost From LakePlace.com
~ DNR Hosts Open Houses About Docks
in August, Comment Period Still Open
~ Landowner Says Construction Rules
are Unreasonable
~ IRS Announces New Filing
Requirement for Small Tax-Exempt Organizations
~ Late Summer Hearings Set for
Proposed Water Quality Rule Amendments
~ Join the
Resources for
Conferences, Confabs
and Conglomerations
The Bucks Start
Here-Funding Resources
~
Leaders Gather at
North Central Regional Summit for Citizen-led
Collaboration
At the Mississippi headwaters on
August 2nd, 34 citizen leaders representing Coalitions of Lake Associations
(COLAs), Lake and River Alliances (LARAs) and watershed groups from
Aitkin, Beltrami, Cass, Crow Wing, Hubbard and Itasca counties convened at
Itasca State Park for Minnesota Waters’ North Central Regional Summit. The
gathering highlighted the remarkable locally-led conservation happening across
the region and the opportunities to enhance these initiatives through greater
citizen collaboration. Reflecting on the
Stream Health
Evaluation Program (SHEP) Training a Success
On August 25, twenty-six citizens
jumped in the river to play with bugs through the Stream Health Evaluation
Program (SHEP). A joint partnership between Minnesota Waters,
Friends of the
Rivernight 2007 A
Sellout
RiverNight 2007 on August
15th was a great success! The Anson Northrup was filled to capacity
and guests enjoyed a delicious meal and complimentary beer from Michelob Golden
Light Draft to celebrate its renewed support in the Conservation Partnership
with Minnesota Waters and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Special thanks to Whole Foods, Minneapolis, for providing excellent desserts to
top off the evening! Thanks, also to Stearns, Inc. who donated an
inflatable kayak valued at $400 that raised $525 for Minnesota Waters!
Following are highlights of the event. Check out Minnesota Waters’
September newsletter for more highlights and photos.
Special Guest, Ron Schara:
Sponsored by EOR
It was a pleasure to have Ron
Schara as our special guest speaker for RiverNight 2007. Ron applauded
Minnesota Waters mission and reinforced its good work in water protection and
improvement. He reflected on his favorite river in
2007 Annual Awards
Minnesota Waters’ Annual Awards
recognize outstanding citizen-led lake and stream protection across the
state. These awards would not be possible without the generous support of
the award sponsors. Thank you to all the award sponsors for your ongoing
partnership and dedication to citizen-led water resource
protection!
Crystal Pierz Marine –
Whitefish Area Property Owners
Association (WAPOA), in the Brainerd Lakes Area was awarded Lake Association of
the Year for 2007. John Forney, President, and members of the WAPOA board were
on hand to receive the award. The award is given to a lake association for their
plans, actions and accomplishments to protect and improve the quality of their
lake.
Wenck
Associates, Inc. – River Friendly Community of the Year
Award
The Kettle River Advocates Group
(KRAG) was named the River Friendly Community of the Year for 2007. Allan Amis
and members of KRAG accepted the award. The award was introduced to honor
communities that recognize rivers for their beauty, economic, historic, cultural
and ecological value and that are taking creative and progressive steps to
restore and preserve rivers.
HDR – Citizen Monitoring Program of
the Year Award
The Wadena Soil and Water
Conservation District was named Citizen Monitoring Program of the Year. Kari
Tomperi and members of WSWCD accepted the award. The award recognizes an
outstanding water quality monitoring program that directly involves citizens in
the gathering, analysis and/or dissemination of information on the health of
Barr Engineering – Volunteer of the
Year Award
Dick Duerre, of
Thank You
RiverNight Host Committee
Ray
Don Brauer, The Brauer Group
Brian Davis, Environmental Advantage Law
Connie Fortin, Fortin Consulting
Doug & Peggy Franchot, Franchot & Associates
Mike
Ron Harnack
John Helland
Don Hickman, Initiative Foundation of
Craig Pagel
Elizabeth Ryan, Kestrel Design Group
John Shepard
Thank You RiverNight Sponsors
3M, Blandin Foundation, Bolton
& Menk, Inc., Bonestroo, Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Hubbard Broadcasting
Foundation, Cities Management, Fortin Consulting, Michelob Golden Draft,
Smith-Partners, RMB, Watermark Initiative, Whole Foods, Xcel
Energy
Thank You RiverNight Planning Team
Thanks to all the hard work and
support of our sponsors, host committee, MN Waters Board and staff, we raised
almost $45,000 for lake and stream conservation in
We Minnesotans love our time at the
lake and want to help conserve and protect our precious water resources.
With more than 120,000 seasonal cabin owners in MN and thousands of others who
live in lake homes year-round,
After six years with Minnesota
Waters (and Rivers Council of MN before the merger), Angie Becker Kudelka,
Program Director will be leaving Minnesota Waters as of September 20,
2007. “We’re excited for Angie as she moves on to new horizons and
opportunities,” said MN Waters’ Executive Director Bruce Johnson. “Her
passion, dedication and talent will be sorely missed at Minnesota Waters.”
Angie’s work focused on directing the citizen monitoring program, facilitation
and community organizing, administration, and communications. She will be
finishing her Masters Degree at
DNR Hosts Open Houses
About Docks in August, Comment Period Still Open
The Minnesota
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) hosted five open houses in late August to
discuss the rules governing docks. The meetings were an opportunity to share
information and concerns on dock-related topics, including current statewide
dock regulations, reasonable public access, water resources and habitat
protection, and private occupation of public waters. The DNR has regulated
docks and other structures in public waters for several decades. In recent
years, the DNR has witnessed an increased number of "dock platforms," which are
structures over public waters that exceed longstanding statewide rules that
limit docks to a maximum of eight feet in width. In addition to providing
information about current dock regulations, the DNR intends to use these public
meetings to gather input about issues and concerns with the current dock rules
and the temporary general permit for dock platforms issued this spring. The
general permit, available on the DNR Web site, was issued to temporarily
authorize a majority of existing dock platforms and allow time to obtain public
input. As
The DNR will use the issues and concerns raised at public
open houses in discussions among various interest groups before drafting the
next general permit for dock platforms. The DNR invites the public to
provide comments about dock issues of concern to them. Comment forms will be
available on the DNR Web site by mid August at www.mndnr.gov/input/issues.
Written comments will be accepted until Oct. 1 by e-mail to docks@dnr.state.mn.us or by mail to Dock
Comments,
Landowner Says
Construction Rules are Unreasonable
By Kirsti Marohn kmarohn@stcloudtimes.com; Published: August 06.
2007 12:30AM
AVON — A Collegeville
Township landowner is facing possible fines or criminal charges for apparently
extending the shoreline of his property by several feet into
IRS Announces New
Filing Requirement for Small Tax-Exempt Organizations
Source:
Philanthropy News Digest, July 17, 2007
The IRS has announced that,
beginning next year, small tax-exempt organizations that were not previously
required to file returns may be required to file an annual electronic notice,
Form 990-N, also known as the e-Postcard. Organizations that do not file
the notice risk the loss of their tax-exempt status. The new filing
requirement applies to tax periods beginning after December 31, 2006.
Small tax-exempt organizations whose gross receipts are normally $25,000 or less
were not required to file the Form 990 or Form 990-EZ. With the enactment
of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, these organizations are now required to
file the Form 990-N with the IRS annually. Exceptions to this requirement
include organizations that are included in a group return, private foundations
required to file Form 990-PF, and section 509(a)(3) supporting organizations
required to file Form 990 or Form 990-EZ. The requirement does not apply
to churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of
churches. The IRS is develop an electronic filing system for the
e-Postcard and will publicize filing procedures when the system is completed and
ready for use. For additional information about the requirement, see the
charities page at the IRS web site at http://www.ires.gov/
Late Summer Hearings
Set for Proposed Water Quality Rule Amendments
The Minnesota Pollution Control
Agency (MPCA) is revising Minnesota Rules chapter 7050. These rules contain
water quality standards and other provisions that help protect surface and
ground waters from pollution. Major changes being proposed include the addition
of eutrophication standards for lakes, extension of the 1 mg/L phosphorus
effluent limit to new or expanding discharges above a certain size, addition of
a fish tissue standard for mercury, and the addition of new standards for two
herbicides, acetochlor and metolachlor. Full details and documents can be
accessed via the MPCA Public Notice
Web page or at http://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/standards/rulechange.html#hearingnotice.
The MPCA held hearings in
MPCA-Brainerd,
Wednesday, September 5, 2007,
beginning at 1:30 p.m. and continuing until all parties are heard. The
hearing will resume at 6:30 p.m..
Thursday, September 6, 2007,
beginning at 1:00 p.m. and continuing until all parties are heard.
MPCA-Marshall,
Tuesday, September 11, 2007,
beginning at 6:30 p.m. and continuing until all parties are heard.
MPCA-Rochester,
Wednesday, September 12, 2007,
beginning at 2:00 p.m. and continuing until all parties are heard.
During the official comment and
throughout the public hearings and post-hearing comment period, the public is
urged to follow the guidelines for submitting comments contained in the Notice of
Hearing. All e-mails and written comments received while the rulemaking
record is open will become part of the record. Contact David Maschwitz (david.maschwitz@pca.state.mn.us)
or Mark Tomasek (mark.tomasek@pca.state.mn.us) for
more information, or call 800-657-3864.
Join the
This is a quick and easy way for
you to contact your legislators and other decision makers about the important
environmental issues facing our state. Your participation in the email action
alert network will help influence elected officials, administrative decision
makers, and leaders in business and industry to protect
~
Resources for
Stormwater Calculator
The Chicago-based Center for
Neighborhood Technology has created a simple web-based tool that quantifies the
reduced runoff and cost of using alternatives to curbing and piping stormwater
offsite. While larger cities have engineering staff who use more
sophisticated tools, this one is useful for towns, homeowners and citizen
volunteers on municipal committees. Go to http://greenvalues.cnt.org/calculator. Choose from six
"green interventions" such as using porous pavement on driveways and sidewalks.
Then choose a development scenario such as suburban new development. Finally
fill in 12 factors such as size and slopes. The calculator then produces
extensive financial and hydrologic details such as: Total peak discharge
reduction, first year and 100 year comparative costs and benefits, present
value and per-lot financial detail, maintenance detail, C02, air
pollution and groundwater benefits.
~ Conferences, Confabs
and Conglomerations ~
Conservation
September 6; U of M
Continuing Education and
Sponsored by the Minnesota Land
Trust, the conference will focus on emerging issues in land protection and will
highlight current topics and trends in land and water conservation in
Friends of the
Saturday, Sept. 8;
Kost Dam County Park, 3:00 pm-dark
Enjoy an ongoing acoustic music jam
with room for folks who have a song to sing or kids with a piece to play, a
Nitrate Clinic ( bring your tap water in a baggie for testing), a fishing
contest, canoe contest, kids activities, food (bring a dish to compliment the
corn, brats/dogs and lemonade provided), door Prizes and a closer look at female
mussels. For more information, call: 651.257.9626 or e-mail: drdoering@fieldnotes.biz
Second Annual Friends
of the Rum - River Cleanup
Saturday, September
22nd;
Whether it rains or shines,
everyone living within the Rum River Watershed (or beyond!) is invited to join
the Friends of the
Sixth National
Monitoring Conference, May 18-22, 2008
The National Water Quality
Monitoring Council (NWQMC) presents its 6th conference, Monitoring: Key to
Understanding Our Waters, in
2008 Lakes and Rivers
Conference, Sept. 11-13, 2008,
If you enjoyed the 2006 Lakes and
Rivers Conference in
~ The Bucks Start Here
-- Funding Resources ~
Shoreline Vegetation
Grants
The Minnesota Department of Natural
Resources (DNR) is making more than $300,000 available for grant proposals for
restoring native shoreline vegetation across the state. Individual grant
requests can range from $10,000 - $75,000. This program provides cost
share grants to counties, cities, watershed districts, other local units of
government, conservation groups and lake associations to conduct shoreline
restoration projects with native plants to improve fish and wildlife
habitat. "This is an opportunity for lake associations, local communities
and conservation organizations to help enhance native shoreline vegetation and
fish habitat in their local lakes, streams and rivers," said John Hiebert, DNR
shoreland habitat coordinator. Applications are available by clicking on grants
on the DNR Web site at www.dnr.state.mn.us or by calling the DNR
at (651) 296-6157 or toll free 1-888-MINNDNR (646-6367). Completed
applications are due Sept. 17.
Heritage Enhancement
Grants to Local Outdoors Clubs Program
The Minnesota DNR is making
$476,000 available to local conservation organizations interested in working on
wildlife habitat improvement projects on wildlife management areas throughout
the state. The funds, available through the Heritage Enhancements Grants
Program, will allow outdoors clubs to work on projects such as grassland
plantings, brushland shearing, wetland restoration and hunter walking
trails. Grants are administered through the DNR Division of Fish and
Wildlife with input from local DNR wildlife managers. Grant applications
and information packages are available now on the DNR Web site at http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/grants/habitat/heritage.html
or by contacting Leslie Tannahill at leslie.tannahill@dnr.state.mn.us or (651)
259-5242. Completed grant applications are due Sept. 25.
Joint Watershed
Research Grant Program
The Joint Watershed Research Grant
Program is offering up to $200,000 in grant funding to qualified academic or
research institutions and nonprofit or for-profit organizations for projects
that could be used within the seven-county, Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan
area. The goal is to provide watershed managers and
municipalities with research, information and products to be used within the
metro area. Research areas include water management financing options, green
roofs, green parking lots, performance of stormwater best management practices.
This grant is organized by the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, in
partnership with the Mississippi Water Management Organization. Pre-proposal
deadline is September 28, 2007 (www.minnehahacreek.org).
FishAmerica
Foundation Offers Funding for Conservation and Research
Projects
The FishAmerica Foundation ( http://www.fishamerica.org/ ),
the American Sportfishing Association's conservation and research
arm, provides funding to nonprofit organizations such as sporting clubs,
civic associations, conservation groups, and state agencies in the United States
and Canada for projects designed to enhance fish populations, restore fish
habitat, improve water quality, and advance fisheries research, thereby
increasing the opportunity for sportfishing success. The
Foundation's Conservation Projects Committee funds hands-on,
action-oriented projects that have clear and identifiable benefits to sport fish
populations and the sport of fishing and/or directly enhance water
quality, habitat, and/or sport fish populations. The average conservation grant
is $7,500. Conservation project applications may be submitted at
any time. The Foundation's Research Projects Committee funds
research projects that have regional or national implications. The
committee prefers to fund national model projects. The average research
grant is $15,000. Research projects are funded once a year, with
proposals due on July 31, annually. Visit the FishAmerica Foundation Web
site for complete grant guidelines: http://fconline.foundationcenter.org/pnd/10008103/fishamerica
Minnesota Waters
promotes responsible
stewardship of our water resources by engaging citizens, state and local policy
makers and other like-minded partners in the protection and restoration of our
lakes and rivers. We achieve our mission through watershed education,
citizen monitoring, supporting conservation stewardship, influencing public
policy and empowering citizen groups to manage their local water
resources.
****JOIN
MINNESOTA WATERS TODAY! ****