DNR awards $7.14 million in
Parks and Trails Legacy Grants

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), through its Parks and Trails Legacy Grant Program, has awarded $7.14 million in grants to 28 local communities. These grants will help local governments acquire, develop, restore and maintain parks and trails of regional or statewide significance across Minnesota. Funding for this program comes from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment.

The DNR received 99 applications to the Parks and Trails Legacy Grant Program with requests for more than $33 million. Local units of government receiving grants are required to provide at least 10 percent in matching funds. Projects funded represent the diversity of park and trail recreation opportunities across Minnesota. Project summaries, locations and funding amounts are posted at www.mndnr.gov (click on the links to "Grants," then "Recreation," then "Parks and Trails Legacy grant program," and finally, under "funded Legacy grants" in the gray box on the left, click "2011").

The DNR also has awarded $1.8 million in Regional Park, Regional Trail, and Local Trail Connection grants. These grants will help fund 16 local and regional park and trail projects across Minnesota. Funding through these programs comes from "in-lieu of sales tax" on lottery proceeds and the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. Project summaries, locations and funding amounts are posted at www.mndnr.gov (click on the links to "Grants," then "Recreation," then "Regional park grant program" or "local trail connections program" or "regional trail grant program."

Questions related to the grant programs can be directed to the DNR's Division of Parks and Trails, 651-259-5549.
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No additional CWD positive deer
detected in southeastern Minnesota

Good news.

That's what the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has received following the testing of more than 2,300 deer this fall and winter for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).

CWD was discovered last fall in a hunter-harvested white-tailed deer near Pine Island. Since then the DNR has instituted several hunting regulation changes including mandatory submission of samples for disease testing of deer taken in the CWD zone.

"The 2011 deer hunting season is over and extensive sampling in southeastern Minnesota did not detect a single case of CWD," said Lou Cornicelli, DNR wildlife research manager. Cornicelli said test results lend confidence "that we caught the disease on the front end of the infection." Since the discovery of CWD in a wild white-tailed deer in fall 2010, DNR has sampled 1,850 adult deer without finding another positive.

Cornicelli said 1,125 adult deer were tested in CWD zone (deer permit area 602) during the hunting season and an additional 1,265 samples were obtained from deer areas surrounding the CWD zone. .

Cornicelli said there are no plans to conduct winter sharpshooting. However, hunter-harvested surveillance will be conducted again during the 2012 deer season. While the evidence suggests there is not a widespread CWD infection, surveillance in future years is needed to make that final determination. Also, a deer feeding ban remains in effect in Dodge, Goodhue, Olmsted, and Wabasha counties for the foreseeable future.

"Overall, hunter cooperation and public support has been tremendous," said Cornicelli. "While there are always challenges when you conduct this type of surveillance effort, it really couldn't have been successful without the cooperation of hunters, taxidermists, landowners, and the businesses that allowed us to operate check stations."

Cornicelli also thanked the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association for their support in the surveillance effort and for donating a muzzleloader as a raffle prize as an incentive for hunters to provide a CWD sample.

Maps of the surveillance area and where samples were taken can be found on the DNR CWD page, www.mndnr.gov/cwd.
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Essar SEIS determined adequate

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced on Jan. 9 in the EQB Monitor that the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) on the proposed Essar Steel Minnesota Modifications Project is adequate. Now that the SEIS process is complete, final permit decisions can made by local and state regulatory agencies.

This was the first EIS completed by the DNR since the Governor's 2011 Executive Order on environmental review, and related legislation, both of which essentially required permit evaluation to occur concurrently with environmental review. The timely completion of environmental review along with permitting evaluation is intended to enable faster permit decisions and to shorten the amount of time it takes to begin construction.

In keeping with the governor's goals to streamline environmental review and permitting, the DNR implemented several measures to ensure timely completion of the SEIS, resulting in an adequacy determination made before the end of the calendar year.

DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr said, "We worked very closely with Essar and other stakeholders to ensure we developed an SEIS that thoroughly evaluated environmental impacts. Plus, we are pleased that we were able to do so in a timely way that will allow permit decisions to be made more quickly on this important project."

The proposed project, located near the city of Nashwauk in Itasca County, would increase the production of taconite pellets from 3.8 million metric tons per year (mmtpy) of low flux taconite pellets to 6.5 mmtpy of high flux pellets or 7.0 mmtpy of low flux taconite pellets. Essar is also proposing to decrease the length of the mine plan time period from 20 years to 15. The project represents a $300 million investment by the company.

The Dec. 29 decision comes at the end of a review process that began in the spring of 2010.
A determination that the Final SEIS is adequate means the document describes potentially significant issues, provides responses to public comments, and was prepared in compliance with applicable rules. State permits may now be issued for the proposed project if it complies with state regulations. At full operation, the project is anticipated to provide 500 jobs.

DNR's Record of Decision and responses to comments received on the Final SEIS are posted at www.dnr.state.mn.us/input/environmentalreview/essar/index.html.
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DNR Division of Parks and Trails
solicits grant applications for 2012

Millions of dollars in state and federal funding will be available in 2012 for building trails, acquiring park land, installing fishing piers and otherwise expanding outdoor recreation opportunities in Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Division of Parks and Trails.

Applications are now being accepted for the following grant programs: outdoor recreation, natural and scenic areas, local trail connections, federal recreational trails, regional trails, public boat accesses, clean vessel, boating infrastructure, fishing pier and shore fishing areas.

These grants help local governments, organizations and individuals throughout the state create partnerships with the DNR to fund projects ranging from natural area acquisition to trail connections to water-based recreational facilities. Eligibility requirements, deadlines and other details are posted on the DNR Web site at mndnr.gov (click on "Grants," then click on the link in the green box at the top of the page).

Details about the Parks and Trails Legacy grants and Regional Parks grants will be announced later this year.

For more information, contact Audrey Mularie, 651-259-5549.
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DNR QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Q: Do I need a license to ice fish?

A: All residents and nonresidents who are 16 years of age and older, need an angling license to fish Minnesota waters. If you are fishing on designated trout waters, Lake Superior, or are in possession of trout on waters that are not designated trout waters, you need to be in possession of a trout stamp as well as a valid angling license.

- Capt. Greg Salo, DNR Region 3 Enforcement manager