On Friday, June 12, the nationwide populist movement to stop fast-track authority for secretive, pro-corporate trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) scored a major victory: a necessary component of fast-track was overwhelmingly defeated in the U.S. House of Representatives. Although derailing fast-track is a victory, it is not the final nail in the coffin… Read More →
With knowledge comes power—as well as responsibility. On an overcast Saturday in July 2014 several dozen people were gaining more of the former with each step they took through rolling grassland in west-central Minnesota. And as they referred to field guides and smart phone nature apps while tallying a growing list of plant and animal… Read More →
Governor Mark Dayton announced in January his proposal to require an additional 125,000 acres of perennial vegetation along lakes, rivers and streams. There is a long history of utilizing such living borders to filter out fertilizers and herbicides, while fortifying streambanks and reducing the amount of eroded soil that ends up in the water. While… Read More →
Walking down a sloping lane on a spring afternoon, Luke and Liana Tessum surprise an Angus beef cow wandering up from a bottomland paddock. The lone bovine, and 18 cow-calf pairs grazing on the pasture below, represent the reaching of what the 30-something couple calls yet one more “micro-goal.” In December, the Tessums paid off… Read More →
This massive, multi-county frac sand proposal, backed by investors hiding their identities, threatens to give the industry a major foothold throughout southeastern Minnesota. Minnesota Sands LLC is renewing its push to develop a large-scale frac sand operation in southeastern Minnesota. The proposers now say they want to establish a mining, processing and transportation network spanning… Read More →
The first decade of a farm is full of challenge, sweat, growth, difficult lessons, satisfaction and joy. In order to get more successful farmers on the land, new farmers need to establish their farms in a way that cultivates financial, ecological, personal and relationship sustainability. Land Stewardship Project’s Journeyperson Course wants to help you achieve… Read More →
Minnesota Sands Announces Intentions to Target Fillmore & Winona Counties for More Mining The Minnesota Environmental Quality Board (EQB) made the right decision May 21 by tabling the issue of taking a Houston County mine out of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) ordered on the multi-site Minnesota Sands, LLC, frac sand mining project. Thus, the… Read More →
In western Minnesota we live in what used to be a grassland habitat, where warm season perennials were king and the whole system depended on herds of buffalo and the occasional wildfire to break down the abundance of plant material. These days, it’s becoming clear leaving our remaining prairies untouched does not create a healthy… Read More →
Over 80 people came out to the Starbuck Community Center in western Minnesota on a balmy March evening to hear presentations from University of Minnesota meteorologist and climatologist Mark Seeley as well as staff and farmer-members of Land Stewardship Project’s Community Based Food Systems and Farm Beginnings programs. The focus of the event was climate… Read More →
Following the inability of the U.S. Senate and U.S House to agree on Fiscal Year 2014 spending yesterday, the public must now endure a federal government shutdown. The failure to pass a Continuing Resolution (spending at past fiscal year levels) forces a shutdown which cripples the delivery of programs and services that millions of Americans… Read More →
