At the Minnesota State Fair yesterday, Governor Mark Dayton made it clear that he supports a ban on frac sand mining and processing in southeast Minnesota. During an appearance at Minnesota Public Radio’s fair booth, the Governor brought the issue up in response to a question about fracking and energy policy. During his State Fair… Read More →
Public comments submitted as part of the environmental review process for two proposed frac sand mines in Winona County overwhelmingly call for officials there to follow the law and order an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Land Stewardship Project members, other local citizens, state agencies and scientific experts submitted a total of about 75 comments on… Read More →
Below is a picture from the close of a thought-provoking, challenging and energizing two-day meeting the Land Stewardship Project hosted this week at our Minneapolis office. Leaders and staff from state-based rural membership organizations representing 10 Midwest and Western states came together in Minnesota and shared our experiences and our analyses related to organizing for… Read More →
As last week’s Congressional Research Service report on bee health makes clear, the crisis plaguing pollinators is not a single, big bad bogey man. It’s likely a combination of factors such as habitat loss, pesticide poisoning, introduced diseases and the stress of making domesticated honey bees the insect equivalent of migrant workers. That’s the bad… Read More →
On a blustery late summer day, Jan Libbey and Tim Landgraf hike through a waist-high prairie to the top of a dramatic knob on their farm in north-central Iowa. As they stand amongst big bluestem, Indian grass and switchgrass, corn and soybean fields flow in every direction, the monocultural landscape broken up only by a… Read More →
Citizens, community members, landowners — do you have local natural resource concerns? Do you want to share your ideas, voice your opinions, or ask questions about how your local conservation programs are addressing these issues? Your local offices of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) want to… Read More →
When Alan Perish passed away May 14, we lost a stalwart advocate for family farming and local democracy. Alan, a fourth-generation farmer, milked cows in central Minnesota’s Todd County for many years and he was a longtime Land Stewardship Project and Minnesota Farmers Union member. Over the years, I had several opportunities to talk with… Read More →
Building healthy soil across Minnesota is key to creating resiliency in the face of a changing climate and is also incredibly important in supporting clean water. We all want clean drinking water for our families and communities. Right now, bills are being heard in the Minnesota Legislature that could affect drinking water throughout the state… Read More →
Near the beautiful southern Minnesota town of Austin, three farmers are going against the grain with an unlikely crop: sunflowers. While most Midwestern farmers stick to corn and soybeans, backed by reliable federal subsidies and a marketing and transportation infrastructure centered around such commodities, these pioneers saw an opportunity where others saw risk. Their story… Read More →
Building healthy soil across Minnesota is key to creating resiliency in the face of a changing climate and is also incredibly important in supporting clean water. We all want clean drinking water for our families and communities. Right now, bills are being heard in the Minnesota Legislature that could affect drinking water throughout the state… Read More →
