When it comes to deer hunting, I have come 359 degrees. I grew up in a deer hunting family. Our extended family hunted the North Shore, along the narrow corridor between Highway 61 and Lake Superior. Kids, cousins and brothers and sisters would line up and drive the deer through the woods toward one or two uncles a mile or so through the woods. The crack of a rifle was, as often as not, the cue that the invisible deer had made it into range and was taken.

Then I was a vegetarian and a pacifist. By my mid-teens, shortly after acing riflery and passing my hunter safety test, I dropped out of hunting.

Hunting was cruel, and eating animals was gross. Guns were tools of war and aggression. I probably said some snarky things to my cousins.

Now I see deer hunting as a critical tool in the restoration of native habitat. Two hundred years ago, when the native North Shore forest of tall white pine and coastal cedar was still standing, there were few if any whitetail deer on the North Shore. Instead it was caribou, which happily munched caribou moss.

If the North Shore is ever going to return to its prehistoric glory of tall pines and scented cedar, the deer have to be controlled. These deer eat every white pine and white cedar seedling they can find.

Not too long ago, when state policy makers worked on “habitat,” the primary animals they were looking to help were deer and grouse. It’s great to see the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council choosing projects based on “greatest conservation need, Minnesota County Biological Survey data, and rare, threatened and endangered species inventories,” not just on what’s good for deer. We have more than enough deer on the North Shore now, thank you very much.

So if you’re headed out for the hunt, come to the North Shore; we need your steady aim and your taste for venison. And some year soon, I’ll be out there too…I just need my cousins to take me back.

Andrew Slade is Northeast Programs Coordinator for the Minnesota Environmental Partnership

Guest post: Michael Brune, Sierra Club Executive Director

President Obama deserves kudos for the plan he put forth last week to put Americans back to work and renew our nation’s role as a global leader in innovation.  I was glad to hear him renew his commitments to protecting Americans from toxic mercury pollution, ending subsidies for Big Oil, and building a clean energy economy that works for all Americans.

The president is right that it’s time to ‘stop the political circus’ and act. Whether it’s investment in wind and solar power, improving and repairing infrastructure, or building high-speed rail and electric cars, the federal government has an important role to play in putting Americans back to work and protecting the health and safety of families and children.

But Obama’s challenge now is to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and its supporters in Congress who are misleading the American public by insisting that regulation kills jobs, and that a clean energy future isn’t viable. That’s the “race to the bottom” the president mentioned in his speech.

For instance, the American Petroleum Institute recently claimed that the oil industry could create more than a million jobs over the next decade –  if only the government would open public lands, beaches, oceans — probably even our bathtubs, if we let them — to unlimited oil drilling.

This is preposterous. Dumping more money in Big Oil’s deep pockets would be great for oil executives but do nothing for the rest of us. A recent report by Democratic staff of the House Natural Resources Committee clarifies Big Oil’s role in our fragile economy:

• Despite generating $546 billion in profits between 2005 and 2010, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and BP combined reduced their U.S. workforce by 11,200 employees.
• Even with these job losses, the top five oil companies paid their senior executives a total of nearly $220 million in 2010.
• Meanwhile, taxpayers will hand out nearly $100 billion in tax breaks and loopholes to oil and gas companies in the coming decades.

Big Oil is taking shots at the green economy because it threatens their unrivaled political and economic power. A report by the Brookings Institute — which, unlike the API, doesn’t exist solely to lobby for the oil industry — is anything by pessimistic about the green economy’s potential for job creation. “Sizing the Clean Economy: A National and Regional Green Jobs Assessment” concludes that:

• Today the clean economy employs 2.7 million American workers across a diverse group of industries, which is greater than the number of people employed by the entire fossil fuel industry.
• Clean-tech has produced explosive job gains in the past year, outperforming the national rate of job creation during the recession.
• The clean economy offers more opportunities and better pay (13% higher) for low- and middle-skilled workers than the national economy as a whole.
• The green jobs revolution is at work around the nation — the South has the largest number of clean economy jobs in total, while the West has the largest share relative to its population.

Our nation is poised to enter an era where we can take it for granted that protecting public health and providing stable and sustainable jobs are one and the same.  The writing’s on the wall, which is exactly why Big Oil (seeing a threat to its domination of American economics and politics), has turned its attention (and devoted significant resources)  to trying to stop growth in the clean economy.

In the end, the whole “jobs versus environment/public health” argument is nothing but a rhetorical crutch for polluters.  The sooner we (and the media) call them on their B.S., the sooner we can win the “race to the top” for all Americans.

Concerned park-goers gather at the Rally for our State Parks hosted by the Sierra Club and environmental partner groups

We’re well into the second week of the Minnesota state government shutdown. Closing down many of the functions of state government for a few weeks might seem like a great way to save money, especially since budget negotiators still need to close a several-billion-dollar gap between state spending and revenues for the next biennium. In reality, the shutdown will cost the state tens of millions of dollars in additional expenses and lost revenues, like the $52 million a month that the laid-off tax auditors in the Department of Revenue would ordinarily bring in. And no one knows the total effect on private contractors that rely on the state government for work, or the long-term impact on Minnesota’s economy if businesses perceive that state government is incapable of getting anything done.

As a result of the shutdown, Minnesota’s state parks have been closed since July 1. Eventually (one hopes), the legislature and the governor will reach a deal to pass a state budget and reopen the Department of Natural Resources and other state agencies. But the DNR has been targeted for significant budget cuts that could result in the permanent closing of several state parks.

It’s worth asking: What does it cost us to close Minnesota’s state parks?

The Cost to the State Government

As long as Minnesota’s state parks remain closed, the state government will continue to lose money — in the form of property damage, lost fee revenue, and unemployment benefits for laid-off DNR employees — exacerbating the budget shortfall that Governor Dayton and Republican legislators need to close.

The empty parks are proving to be a tempting target for troublemakers. Last Monday, before dawn, a group of vandals attacked Afton State Park on the St. Croix River, defacing two newly constructed camper cabins and stealing several items from an administrative building, including a bullhorn and a digital video recorder. Once the state government reopens, it will cost thousands of dollars to repair the damage. Other state parks have also been targeted by vandals in the past two weeks.

“Would this have occurred if state government hadn’t shut down? Absolutely not,” said Washington County Sheriff Bill Hutton.

Virtually all Department of Natural Resources employees have been laid off, leaving Minnesota’s 186 conservation officers as the only line of defense to keep the state parks safe and secure. Normally, the salaries of DNR officers are funded mostly through the license fees paid by hunters, anglers, snowmobilers, and ATV owners. But because licensing operations have been suspended for the duration of the government shutdown, the conservation officers’ salaries will ultimately have to be paid out of the state’s general fund. That means an increased cost to taxpayers.

The state is also losing out on park visitor fees, which amounted to more than $4 million last July, about one third of the annual total. Around $550 thousand in fees were collected during the Fourth of July weekend alone last year.

The Cost to the State Economy

State parks are a significant source of economic activity throughout Minnesota. Many families that were hoping to spend their July weekends in Minnesota’s state parks have gone across the river to Wisconsin. The loss to Minnesota’s economy is estimated at $12 million per week.

Visitors to Minnesota’s state parks spend $178 million per year in the communities surrounding the parks, according to a 2002 study from the DNR Office of Management and Budget Services. As this revenue circulates in the local economy, it generates an additional $62 million in sales for local businesses, for a total annual economic impact of $240 million.

More than 2,500 Minnesotans owe their jobs to the tourism generated by state parks — and that doesn’t even include the hundreds more who are employed directly by the DNR to operate, maintain, and improve the parks.

Our state parks bring money into Minnesota by attracting visitors from neighboring states. Additionally, the state park system helps redistribute money within the state. Visitors from the Twin Cities metro area flood the parks of northern Minnesota every year, bringing their vacation dollars with them. The economy of the Arrowhead Region gains a net $42 million dollars a year from state park visitors, and northwest Minnesota gains an additional $9 million.

Some of Minnesota’s less heavily-trafficked state parks may be targeted for permanent closure by legislators who are looking for quick budget cuts. It is true that Minnesota’s parks vary greatly in their total annual attendance — in 1998, Fort Snelling attracted nearly a hundred times more visitors than Schoolcraft State Park. But even the smallest state parks are a critical part of their local economy. A Maryland study found that approximately 70% of the economic benefits associated with state parks occurs within 20 minutes of the park, in so-called “gateway” communities. Closing even the least popular state parks would have a huge impact on the communities that surround them.

In addition to the economic benefits brought on by park visitors’ purchases, a strong state park system helps to attract new businesses to the state that have nothing to do with tourism or the outdoors. Parks are one of the most important factors in determining a region’s quality of life. Given the choice, many “knowledge sector” and “creativity sector” businesses will choose to locate their offices in regions with a high quality of life, because it is easier to attract and retain highly educated workers. In fact, businesses in regions with a low quality of life often have to pay higher salaries in order to hold onto talented employees.

Overall, public expenditures for park systems are a good investment. For every $1 spent on national parks in this country, $4 is brought into state and local economies. In Maryland, each dollar the state spent on parks generated an economic impact of $29.27. The state income tax and retail tax revenue created by this additional economic activity was more than enough to pay for the entire cost of maintaining the parks.

Closing our state parks, either for a few weeks or forever, is unwise and profoundly short-sighted. Our relatively small annual investment in Minnesota’s state parks is repaid many times over: in the fees collected by the DNR; in retail sales generated, hotel rooms occupied, and food purchased; in jobs created; and in tax revenue to the state government from all of this additional economic activity. The state parks should reopen as soon as possible — and stay open.

Cross-posted at the Sierra Club North Star Chapter blog

Last night, Steve Morse was interviewed on Fox 9 News about the Minnesota Legislature’s cuts to environmental funding. Here’s the video:

Sen., Advocate Discuss Environment Cuts: March 30, 2011

GOP lawmakers propose cuts to eliminate deficit

Published : Wednesday, 30 Mar 2011, 11:20 PM CDT

As GOP lawmakers work to find cost-saving cuts to eliminate the $5-billion budget deficit, environmental agencies hit the chopping block.

On Wednesday, proposals were debated that could affect a third of Minnesota’s state parks, from reducing hours to offering less services — even closing a couple parks.

The bill also cuts budgets for the DNR and Minnesota’s Pollution Control Agency.

FOX 9 News spoke with Steve Morse, of the Minnesota Environmental Partnership, and Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, chair of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee, about the proposed changes.

(Or watch the video on Fox’s website)

This week included the first day of spring, the latest snow storm, and the consideration and action on many, many budget bills from the Minnesota House and the Senate!

Late this week the House Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee and the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee passed out their versions of the omnibus budgets for the Department of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Board of Water and Soil Resources, and other parts of state agencies and divisions.

Environmental Budget Bills:

HF1010, authored by committee chair Rep. Denny McNamara (R-Hasting), is expected to be debated on the House floor next week. HF1010 contains deep general fund cuts (in the range of 10-64%) in the environmental and conservation areas in MPCA, DNR, and the BWSR. The bill also moves money from the LCCMR recommendations to “emerging issues like CWD and AIS programs.” Most organizations support the funding of these important timely issues, but also strongly support the citizen-driven process of LCCMR recommendations.

HF1010 also contains a number of policy issues that should not be included in a funding bill. They include a weakening change in the sulfide pollution discharge standard for waters capable of growing wild rice, a language change for DNR management of school trust fund lands to raise more money off those lands, and new language to require the DNR to log high-value tress on some of most valuable state parks. (Read MEP’s news release about the logging proposal.)

The Senate Environment Finance Budget bill, SF1029, does not cut the environmental conservation state agencies as deeply as the House bill. However, the general fund cuts at 30% to MPCA and 15% cuts to DNR waters.

SF1029 is loaded with environmental rollback policy changes! Provisions in the bill would suspend the current sulfide pollution discharge standard while a new standard or standards are researched and put in place through rule making. The bill also:

•    lowers the water quality standard for phosphorous discharges into Lake Pepin,
•    places a two-year moratorium on all water rule making,
•    repeals the protections provided under the Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area guidelines,
•    exempts from EAW’s ethanol facilities expansions,
•    lessens the permit standards of large feedlots,
•    and reduces the wetland replacement requirements for mining projects in the Great Lakes and Rainy River watershed basins.

Both HF1010 and SF1029 are expected to be considered on the House and Senate floors next week. After passage they will probably need a conference committee to work out the differences. MEP continues to oppose both bills for financial reasons and concerns, as well as the environmental protection rollbacks that are contained in both bills.

These budget bills, along with all the other budget bills, are expected to be vetoed by Governor Dayton. Then the real negotiations begin. May 17 is not too far away!

Nuclear Power Plant Moratorium Lifting:

The conference committee on SF4 / HF9 has met once and is on hold!  No doubt the emergency status surrounding the nuclear power plants in Japan is a factor in no further action or movement.

This legislation would repeal the 17-year-old moratorium on building new nuclear power plants in the state. The Governor is actively involved in this legislation and has established three concerns that would need to be addressed if he is going to sign the bill.

SF4 is authored by Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch (R-Buffalo).

HF9 is authored by Rep. Joyce Peppin(R-Rogers).

MEP and MEP member organizations oppose the legislation and encouraging the Governor to veto the bill.

New Coal Plants Air Emissions Standards for Minnesota or Electricity from North  Dakota:

Both the house and senate versions of legislation that would remove restrictions on building new coal-fired power plants in Minnesota are on the House and Senate floors, but were not discussed in floor action this week.

HF72, authored by Rep. Mike Beard (R-Shakopee), would repeal the current standards for building new coal fired power plants without a plan for offsetting the emissions. This legislation would undo a critical part of the 2007 Next Generation Energy Act that was passed with bipartisan support and signed in law by then Governor Pawlenty.

The companion to this bill, SF86, is authored by Senator Julie Rosen (R-Fairmont).

In was just back to the year 2007 when the “Next Generation Energy Act” was passed 125-7 in the House and signed into law by Governor Pawlenty. Now the goals of a 15% reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions by 2015 and 80% by 2050 are being re-debated in the coal bills debate. What a difference an election or two makes!

MEP and MEP members continue to oppose these bills.

Clean Water Dedicated Dollars:

The Clean Water Legacy money is contained in HF656 sponsored by Rep. Paul Torkelson (D-Nelson Township). This bill appropriates the clean water dollars raised the dedicated sales tax funds for two years. There is money for local governments and nonprofit organizations to continue to clean up our lakes and streams. The bill also calls for some changes in the makeup of the current Clean Water Council and its duties.

The House Legacy Division was all set to work on the Legacy Amendment bills this week but the meetings have been canceled due to heavy floor action expended instead.

SF657 — the companion to HF656 — is authored by Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen and is awaiting action in his committee.

MEP’s Water Cluster is actively working with key legislators, lobbyists from local government, business, agriculture, and the current Clean Water Council on plans and directions for this year’s clean water dollars.

Water Rules Two-Year Moratorium:

SF196, authored by Senator John Pederson (R-St. Cloud), would place a two-year freeze on all water rule-making currently taking place and calls for a study due back next session regarding consolidation of the water agencies and functions. This bill is now included in the Senate Environment Finance bill.

HF182 is the House companion in is authored by Rep. Mike Beard (R-Shakopee).

Phosphorous Standards in Lake Pepin:

SF161, also authored by Pederson, would require the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin to establish a phosphorous standard for Lake Pepin and implement that new standard only in certain months of the year. This bill is now included in the Senate Environment Finance bill.

HF368 is the House companion and is authored by Rep. King Banaian (R-St. Cloud).

Waters with Wild Rice, Sulfate Standards:

The battle over sulfate standards for water growing wild rice continues! Changes to the current sulfate standard are changed in both the House and Senate Environment Finance bills. An MPCA-led study to determine the appropriate level or standard based on good science is also included and funded in both bills. The current sulfate level in wastewater discharges of 10 milligrams has been in place since 1973. Mining operations and certain legislators believe this standard is not based on any good science and is too strict for them to meet.

Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area Repeal:

SF39, authored by Senator Benjamin Kruse (R-Brooklyn Park), would repeal the Mississippi River corridor critical area designation that covers the river front planning and development along the 72-mile Mississippi river from Dayton through Hastings. SF39 passed the full Senate this past Friday on a 35-27 vote!
The bill has also been amended into the Senate Environmental Finance bill.

The House companion is HF95 authored by Rep. Melissa Hortman (D-Brooklyn Park). Her bill is pending in the House Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee.

These bills would repeal state rule-making for the Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area. This 2009 law directs the DNR to work with local units of government and other stakeholders to update minimum standards and guidelines for the river corridor. That work is nearly complete. If allowed to become law this legislation would prevent new standards and guideline designed to update protections for the Mississippi River from being enacted.

MEP and many MEP members oppose these bills.

Aquatic Invasive Species Controls:

The House Environment held its first hearing this week on a new funding option aquatic invasive species (AIS) control programs. HF1162, authored Rep. John Ward (D-Brainerd), is the Governor’s plan for a stronger AIS control program.  The fight against AIS includes zebra mussels, Eurasian water milfoil, and Asian carp. HF1162 increases fines for violations for boaters not properly draining their boats and bait buckets. The Governor has proposed to pay for the increased effort with an increase in the current $5 surcharge every three years tied to boat licenses. These license surcharges would vary depending on the watercraft size and type and are projected to raise $4 million per year for the educational, enforcement, and public awareness AIS campaign.

Both the House and Senate Environment Finance bills fund an increased AIS effort by the DNR with LCMMR dollars for two years.

The reaction to license fee increases, including boat license fees for AIS, has not been well received at the State Capitol. The majority party considers fees to be taxes and does support raising either at this point in the legislative session.  Currently in both budget bills lottery dollars are being redirected to increase the efforts surrounding the fighting of AIS through education and enforcement.

A Bonding Bill:

The House Bonding Committee continues to work on a cancellation of existing bonds bill. These cancellations would save the state debt payments.  The Governor’s $500 million bonding bill, HF607, received a hearing earlier in the month but it not expected to be in play. The Senate Capitol Investments Committee is working on a flood bonding proposal to be ready if needed.

Legislative Approval of Agency Rules:

Legislation is moving that would require legislative approval of any state agency rule making process that would cost of $10,000.  Similar legislation has been introduced relating to elections, education, and health and human services. The philosophy is one of legislative control of rule making so that the rules to do not move too far from the original intent of the legislation.

HF203 is authored by Rep. Torrey Westrom(R-Elbow Lake) and has passed the House.

SF261 is authored by Senator David Senjem (R-Rochester) and has passed two committees and is awaiting a hearing in its third committee stop.

Local Control:

Legislation of concern has been introduced that could potentially weaken local control for townships, cities, and counties. SF270, authored by Senator Warren Limmer (R-Maple Grove), and HF389, authored by Rep. Mike Beard, have raised concerns to some MEP members. To date no hearings have taken place, but MEP and its members are watching these bills.

School Trust Fund Laws:

Also included in the House Environment Finance bill is policy language coming from HF206, HF207, and HF435 authored by Rep. Dittrich (D-Champlin). These bills call for change in the law regarding how the state manages its permanent school trust lands. There are 2.5 million acres of school trust fund lands, mostly in northern Minnesota, that are managed by the DNR for timber and mining with the revenue raising going to the school districts of the state. The language added in the House Environment Finance bill requires the DNR to more aggressively manage these lands in terms of revenue raised for school districts across the state

Legacy Dedicated Dollars:

HF471, authored by Rep. Denny McNamara (R-Hastings), appropriated the Lessard-Sams legacy dollars for the third year since the constitutional amendment passed in 2008, to dedicate a portion of the sales tax to habit, water, parks, trails, arts, and history. At an earlier hearing that bill was amended to recommit 20% of the Lessard-Sams money for rehab and maintenance of lands purchased under the bill and dollars for payments to local government for taking the land off the tax rolls. The entire Legacy bill that will include habitat, water, parks and trails, and arts and culture is being formulated in the House Legacy Division, chaired by Rep. Dean Urdahl (R-Grove City).

SF158 is the Senate companion and is authored by Senator Bill Ingebrigtsen. These two bills are where the debate over state land purchases, PILT payments to local governments for property taxes, and where the money might come from to improve and maintain the new public lands for public uses has and will continue to take place.

LCCMR Dollars:

Both the House and Senate Environment Finance Committees decided to make major changes in the recommendations of the citizen involved LCCMR. The changes include dropping funding for over 20 recommended projects in order to free up money for other emerging issues/priorities like chronic wasting disease control, a sulfide standard study, and an AIS control program. Projects cuts were generally research-oriented projects.

Citizen Participation in LCCMR and Lessard-Sams Decisions:

This has been a tough year for citizen participation in the two councils that “make recommendations” regarding lottery dollars and dedicated sales tax dollars. Both the recommendation from the LCCMR and the Lessard-Sams Council has been changed in the legislative process. Changes have been made in the past regarding the old LCMR process and recommendations, but the newer LCCMR version and even newer Lessard-Sams model are not used by the legislature holding and playing the bigger cards strategy. The jury is still out over the fallout of this year’s actions, but a bill, HF1073 has been introduced that would do away with both councils and all the citizens involved and move the decisions back to the legislature. HF1073 is authored by Rep. Rick Hanson (D-South St. Paul).

Innovative Energy Projects:

MEP members are monitoring a new energy bill. SF417, authored by Senator Dave Tomassoni (D-Chisholm) and HF618 http://bit.ly/housefile618, authored by Rep. Mike Beard (R-Shakopee), would modify the innovative energy project standards in current law. The bill calls for the use of a combustion turbine generation technology using synthesis gas derived from coal and other hydrocarbon resources as a primary fuel. No hearings have been held to date.

Streamlining of Environmental Review:

HF1 is now Chapter 4.

With the Governor’s signature a major roll back of environmental review and permitting has taken place.

HF1 establishes a goal of petition decision making within 150 days of application by the DNR and the MPCA in order to provide faster environmental review and permitting.  The Governor had already addressed this concern and legislative priority with a January executive order. The legislature chose to go further then the provisions in the executive order.

The new law eliminates the district courts as the first line of defense for individuals or groups to appeal EIS decisions– leaving only the appeals court to be the court of pubic input.

The bill also allows the proponent of a project to prepare the draft EIS and then have the Responsible Government Agency (RGU) review and approve the document. MEP and others believe that this two-step approach to environmental review could actually slow down the entire process.

The biggest environmental roll back in the bill is language that exempts the IRRRB from MEPA’s requirement that environmental impacts be taken into consideration before making financial decisions relating to proposals in front of the IRRRB. MEP believes strongly that before the IRRRB decides to loan public money to a project such as PolyMet, it should first understand the environmental impacts of what it is funding. This provision was not in the bill as introduced but was added by amendment on the house and senate floors with Republicans and Iron Rangers voting in support of the provision.

This type of environmental review and permitting covered by this new legislation usually occurs in the MPCA on permits for big agriculture feedlots, large construction sites, power plants sitting and building, and the DNR for mining and forestry projects.

MEP and MEP members opposed this bill all the way along the legislative process and asked the Governor for a veto. It did not happen!

MEP Message & Mission:

MEP’s position of protecting our environment, preserving of habitat, improving the quality of our lakes and streams, and using clean energy are strongly supported by the majority of Minnesotans. Our message remains clear. Minnesotans want clean water. They want clean energy jobs.  And they want our Great Outdoors to be protected and preserved for future generations.

If you have any questions or concerns about the issues mentioned above, or any other, feel free to contact me at gary@capitolconnections.

We urge you to contact your local representative and senator and talk to them about good clean energy jobs and the need to continue to enhance and protect the environment. They need to hear from you; grassroots is the key to success!

Senate DFLers offered five amendments — including provisions on ratepayer protections, waste storage issues, and reprocessing restrictions — all of which failed.

Here’s the breakdown of the votes:
(Don’t know your Senator? Find out here)

Republicans in red, Democrats in blue

Those who voted to pass the bill:

Xxxx

Those who voted against the bill:

xxx

Three senators were absent from the vote: Tomassoni, Sieben and Goodwin.

Xxxx

See the minutes from yesterday’s session. Discussion on the nuclear bill starts on page 27.

Watch video from the Feb. 2, 2011 Senate Floor Hearing.

“There is Governor Ames himself.” 

These were the words whispered in a low husky voice from one of four horse riders wearing long white cattle dusters as they rode across the bridge into Northfield, Minnesota, on what would become a fateful day in September of 1876.  Unfortunately for the would-be bank robbers, the words were overheard by Adelbert Ames as he walked past the riders on well-bred horses as he was leaving town from a meeting at the First National Bank. 

Ames had recently returned from the south to help manage the family mill in Northfield.   While in the South, he served as governor of Mississippi during Reconstruction.  Only a year earlier he was run out of Mississippi by the flames of racial prejudice and hatred for Northern carpetbaggers like Ames.  It was the beginning of an ugly era of Southern politics which was dominated by the KKK and their like.

When Ames heard these words whispered between the riders, he immediately knew something dreadful was in the wind that crisp fall day.  He said to the companions walking with him, “those men are from the south and are here for no good purpose, no one here calls me governor.”  When the riders had sufficiently passed Ames he turned to quickly head back into town; he soon heard cries explode from downtown that the bank was being robbed.  The Civil War veteran Ames sprang into action, helping lead the townspeople in their successful effort to repel the raiders.

Cole Younger later reported while a prisoner in Stillwater that one of the reasons they chose the bank in Northfield was their belief that there were ill-gotten gains from carpetbaggers like Ames who helped in the Reconstruction in the South.  Ames was astonished that the Southern anger at the Reconstruction would visit him so far north from his days in Mississippi.  Some 134 years later, those Minnesota environmental and conservation leaders who have worked hard to establish funding for environment and conservation purposes are a little worried there could be raids on their resources this legislative session.

Their concerns were not alleviated when Governor Pawlenty released his budget this Monday.  It is important to note that the Governor did not disproportionately cut the overall budgets in the major agencies responsible for protecting our lakes, rivers and wild places.  Therefore, it is probably not fair to compare it to the great Northfield bank raid by the James and Younger Gang.  Nonetheless, there are concerns of coming problems in light of the Governor’s treatment of several of our special environmental funds.

The Governor and Legislature face a daunting task this session, needing to close a $1.2 billion gap between our present revenue collections and the anticipated expenditures for the rest of this legislative biennium.  We are almost halfway through the budget that was established last legislative session with no reserves, minimal possible budget shifts and no real promise for increased revenue in the near future.  Therefore, the only place this no new tax governor has to go is deep budget cuts in state programs.  One budget balancing gimmick left is to take dedicated funding sources and redirect them to the general fund to be cut to cover the deficit.  Unfortunately, there are several of those opportunities in our major agencies like the PCA and DNR.

The Governor strove to have 3% cuts in operation budgets with 6% cuts in grant programs across all state agencies except for public safety, education and veteran services.  It appears that our agencies received cuts which are proportional to other agencies, but this was accomplished by shifting several dollars from areas such as the Environment Fund and the Game and Fish Fund.  These funds were created using revenue from permit fees and license fees and these fees were meant to be specifically dedicated to activities directly related to the items for which they were levied.  For example, fishing license fees should go towards fishing programs and improved fishing habitat, not to balance the state’s budget.  It would be hard to justify running through the streets screaming that the bank is being robbed like the citizens of Northfield back in 1876 given the fact that we have been treated proportionately when you look at the overall budgets of our agencies.  In the past, that has not been true as our main agencies had suffered disproportionate cuts.

Nonetheless, there are a couple of small things that make many in the conservation community concerned about deeper raids in the future.  The Governor proposed a $2 million appropriation from the new constitutional Clean Water Legacy Fund to sewer infiltration in the metropolitan area.  Though this is an important clean water activity, it is not supported by any regional plan and is an item that has been supported by other funds in the past.  Also, a couple of positions supported in the past by the general fund were “cut” by the DNR, but then reconstituted with creative accounting by simply designating their new funding source out of dedicated accounts. These efforts look like a clandestine way to backfill in general fund budget cuts with the constitutional Legacy Funds and our other designated accounts.  This clearly is not keeping faith with the voters’ intention to have new ongoing investments protecting our great outdoors.

Fortunately the Legislature will get to weigh in on the budget and hopefully they will react as successfully as the Northfield townsfolk did in turning back any raid.  The MEP team will continue to assess the concerns with the budget and communicate those to the policymakers.  What is obvious is the dynamic has changed since the voters sent a clear message in the last election.  In the past, when we’ve faced similar daunting budget deficits, we have experienced deeply disproportional cuts in our agencies.  I guess it’s true, elections do matter.

Other MEP priorities are also starting to see action.  We will be keeping our eyes on the final bonding bill due to come out early next week.  Hopefully we will see passage of the Complete Streets legislation out of the House committee next week.  In two weeks expect a hearing in the Senate for an immediate repeal of the state’s moratorium on nuclear power plants which is opposed by the state’s environmental groups.  Also promised – a hearing soon on financial assurance for sulfide mining in the Senate.  The legislative session is picking up momentum.

The conference begins on Monday, February 15 at Southwest State University in Marshall with a local food and wine reception with music, short films and clips about community-based food systems.  On Tuesday the conference will be broadcast at a number of college campuses in the 7th congressional district, including the University of Minnesota-Crookston, the University of Minnesota-Morris, Bemidji State University and Minnesota State Community and Technical College in Fergus Falls and will feature a keynote speech by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack who will be attending in Marshall.

More here.

We all hear daily speculations about the state of the economy. Some pundits believe we are on the cusp of seeing a turn around in the housing market while others are very skeptical of any success in the near future.  People talk about the jobs lost, the homes lost, the disillusionment nation-wide.  A few young people put a positive spin on things by saying that houses are finally affordable again for those who have just graduated college.  However, I have heard no one on the radio or TV talk about the other big positive of the Great Recession: the Great Respite it has given the environment.