It hasn’t been a good year for genetically modified crops. Or rather, it hasn’t been a good year for those who promote these crops as the best thing to happen to food production since Johann Gregor Mendel started messing with pea plants. (more…)

Last week, the Lessard Sams Outdoor Heritage Council made tentative selections of over $56 million in fish, game and wildlife habitat restoration and conservation projects from Legacy Amendment funding. Darby Nelson, a member of the Council, reports on the process of sifting through applications and begins a series of reports, by region of the state, of what work would be funded if the recommendations are accepted by the Legislature next year.

When the 2009 summary for the Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll popped up in my e-mail box yesterday, the first thing that struck me was this: a whole lot of farmers in the Hawkeye State think creating a local food production, processing and distribution system is a good idea. This is a significant indicator that the local foods movement is more than a hip, urban, food co-op-and-fancy restaurant thing. It’s gaining traction in the place where all that local food needs to be actually produced: Corn Country. (more…)

Darby Nelson, a member of the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council and board president of Conservation Minnesota, reports on the Council’s Tuesday meeting. The Council tentatively approved $56 million in funding recommendations for fishing, hunting and wildlife habitat projects. It wasn’t easy, though; Darby says the 22 recommended projects requested more than $100 million, so almost all were scaled back. The Council makes recommendations to the Legislature on Legacy Amendment funding for outdoor heritage projects.

The latest U.S. Census of Agriculture shows that pastured land took a horrific hit between 2002 and 2007 in terms of the amount of landscape it covers. That means a significant privately-owned  tool for protecting and improving soil and water quality and  sequestering greenhouse gases is slipping away at an alarming rate. Also disappearing is a low-cost, healthy source of forage for livestock. Here are the cold, hard facts: (more…)

Want to learn more about the climate talks happening in Copenhagen, December 7-18?

Watch videos, read tweets and blogs, and look at photos of the events, all from Midwesterners in Denmark this month.

Check out the Will Steger Foundation’s website and RE-AMP’s collection of information.

While reading the late Paul Gruchow’s contribution to Our Neck of the Woods, I was reminded that becoming “native” to a place goes beyond simply being born there. It’s how you live, work, play—even eat. (more…)

Conservation Minnesota’s Liz Hunt provides tips and insight on reducing her (and your) environmental impact this holiday season. Among her thoughts:

* Replace regular Christmas tree lights with LEDs;
* Safely get rid of old light strings;
* Make your own gift boxes from used boxes.

There are a million ideas — what are yours?