Dam Safety & Public Water Work Permit

To construct, operate, and maintain the dam; to excavate and fill in Public Waters; to realign a portion of the Red River; and to construct the Red River Control Structure and the Wolverton Creek Structure; all associated with the Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Area Flood Risk Management Project, as described in the permit application and support references and according to the Permit Conditions. The first phase of the dam is shown on plans titled ?FMM Diversion Inlet Structure? by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and signed by Michael Bart, P.E. in May of 2016. The maximum authorized height of the dam is elevation 928.5 feet (NAVD88)

Minnesota State Water Trails History

This report is a brief four-page history of the state water trails and public access program, centering mainly on the 1960s and 1970s. The main focus is on the Minnesota and Saint Croix rivers. No specific mention is made of Minnesota's coastal region

All-Terrain Vehicle Use on the North Shore State Trail: A Feasibility Study

This study assesses the physical capacity of the North Shore State Trail (NSST) on a 6.4 mile segment to accommodate summer season ATV use. The principal environmental concern noted is potential impact on surface waters and wetlands, especially where the trail crosses protected waters. Of special concern are trout streams and their tributaries and wetlands. Summer season ATV use poses greater risk than all other trail users because of unfrozen conditions and mechanical disturbance to soils. The study finds that the NSST could be capable of supporting summer season ATV use but that modifications would be required throughout the entire length of the trail. Costs of such modifications are estimated at $577,000. The trail in its current condition is not capable of supporting summer season ATV use except where ATV use is already permitted

Minnesota’s Water Supply: Natural Conditions and Human Impacts

Saint Paul: MNDNR.This report provides information on the State of Minnesota's water budget, human impacts, concerns in water use and protection, and strategies for water supply management. It is not specific to the Lake Superior region. From the report's conclusion: "Industry, agriculture, housing, manufacturing, power generation, and well managed public water supply are all necessary elements to nurture and sustain communities. To maintain all the natural resource features that contribute to Minnesota’s attractive quality of life, including fish and wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities, each growth and development decision needs to include consideration of its effect on the water supply and associated water resources. Careful consideration of the effect each use may have on the available water supply is essential for the sustainability of the water supply and the water supply’s ability to be recharged for future growth, development, and enjoyment.

Evaluating the Relationship Between Meander-Bend Curvature, Sediment Supply, and Migration Rates

River meander migration plays a key role in the unsteady “conveyor belt” of sediment redistribution from source to sink areas. The ubiquity of river meandering is evident from remotely sensed imagery, which has allowed for long-term, high-resolution studies of river channel change and form-process relationships. Empirical, experimental, and theoretical research approaches have described two distinct relationships between channel curvature and river channel migration rates. In this study, we employ a novel application of time-series algorithms to calculate migration rates and channel curvature at sub-meander bend length scales using 6 decades of aerial imagery spanning 205 km of the Minnesota River and Root River, Minnesota, USA. Results from the Minnesota River provide the first empirical evidence demonstrating how migration-curvature relations break down for rivers with low sediment supply, which is supported by the Root River data set. This not only highlights the importance of sediment supply as a driver of river migration, but also supports a simple means to detect river reaches lacking sediment supply. Furthermore, results from both rivers demonstrate that sub-meander bend measurement scales are most appropriate for studying channel migration rates and further indicate that a quasi-linear relationship—rather than the more commonly inferred peaked relationship—exists between channel curvature and migration rates. The highest migration rates are associated with the highest measured channel curvatures in our data set, after accounting for a spatial lag of channel widths. These findings are consistent with flume experiments and empirical data across diverse geologic and climatic environments

Climatic controls on peatland black spruce growth in relation to water table variation and precipitation

Prior research has demonstrated the importance of water limitations and increasing temperatures on upland black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] B.S.P.) tree growth, which is a dominant component of the North American boreal forest. However, little work has been done to investigate the connectivity between growth and hydro‐climate in peatland black spruce systems. The boreal forest is the largest global terrestrial biome and is highly threatened due to current and projected increases in temperatures for the northern latitudes. Here we explore the dynamics among annual black spruce growth, climate, and water table elevations using 45 years of in situ precipitation, temperature, and water table elevation coupled with dendrochronological analysis from six research peatlands at the Marcell Experimental Forest, MN, USA. From 1963 to 2010, we found weak relationships between water table elevation and black spruce growth at the six study sites. Instead, annual black spruce growth was most favourable during three climatic periods: (a) cool, moist conditions in mid‐summer; (b) warm mid‐spring temperatures; and (c) cool temperatures in the fall prior to the current growing season. The disconnect between black spruce growth and water table dynamics was surprising and suggests that either annual black spruce growth is minimally responsive to hydrological fluctuations at the timescale we analysed or there is great elasticity of black spruce growth to peatland water table and evapotranspiration dynamics under the range of hydrological fluctuations contained in our record

Interactions between white-tailed deer density and the composition of forest understories in the northern United States

Forest understories across the northern United States (US) are a complex of tree seedlings, endemic forbs, herbs, shrubs, and introduced plant species within a forest structure defined by tree and forest floor attributes. The substantial increase in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmerman) populations over the past decades has resulted in heavy browse pressure in many of these forests. To gain an objective assessment of the role of deer in forested ecosystems, a region-wide forest inventory across the northern US was examined in concert with white-tailed deer density information compiled at broad scales. Results indicate that deer density may be an additional driver of tree seedling abundance when analyzed along with stand attributes such as above ground biomass, relative density, and stand age. Tree seedling abundance generally decreased as deer density increased above 5.8 deer km2 for all forest type groups with the exception of oak-dominated forests. Findings indicate that introduced plant species, of which 393 were recorded in this study, increased in areas with higher deer density. The abundance of white-tailed deer is just as important as forest stand and site attributes in the development of forest understories. Given the complexity of forest and land use dynamics across the northern US, this study provides directions for future research as more data linking forest-dependent wildlife and forest dynamics at regional and national scales become available

Surveillance Optimization Project for Chronic Wasting Disease dataset for Minnesota, US, 2016-2020

This dataset contains two files containing data from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources shared with the Cornell Wildlife Health Lab (CWHL) at Cornell University for the purpose of the Surveillance Optimization Project for Chronic Wasting Disease (SOP4CWD). Professionals at the source facility have provided written permission for professionals at the CWHL to post this open data to this persistent eCommons repository. MNDNR_WTD_surveillance_2020.csv: This data constitutes records in standardized form depicting the results of chronic wasting disease (CWD) testing of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Minnesota, US for hunting seasons from 2016-17 to 2019-20, as completed by wildlife health diagnosticians at (or in partnership with) the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. MNDNR_processors_2020.csv: This data constitutes the total number wild cervid meat processors and taxidermists by county in Minnesota, US from 2016-2020, as recorded by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.Data collection was funded in part by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The SOP4CWD project was funded by Multistate Conservation Grant Program # F21AP00722-01; Michigan Disease Initiative # RC109358; Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency; New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; and Virginia Department of Natural Resources