BALMM
Currents
Basin Alliance for the Lower Mississippi in Minnesota
September 18, 2001
ROOT RIVER PROJECT TOPS BALMM AGENDA:
A Clean Water Partnership (CWP) project for the South Branch Root River, upstream of Mystery Cave in Fillmore County, has completed its Phase I assessment and preparing a Phase II implementation plan involving parts of Fillmore and Mower counties. MPCA project manager Lee Ganske will provide an overview of the draft proposal, which must be submitted for funding by no later than October 16. Monitoring results related to sediment, nutrients, bacteria and macroinvertebrates are being used to help clarify which subwatersheds are contributing disproportionately to which specific problems, and what kinds of strategies should be used to address specific problems within the sub-watersheds. Additional agenda items include:
* Discussion of Watermarks (State Water Plan) and a report being prepared on
how state agencies manage water issues - representatives of the Environmental
Quality Board and its Water Resources Committee will be present.
* Residential Wastewater Treatment 319 Project Proposal - A BALMM sub-team that
has been developing this proposal will outline its key features and how it will
help to address ISTS and unsewered community issues basinwide to help achieve
BALMM Scoping Document targets for fecal coliform bacteria.
* Review and Ranking of CWP/319 Projects - we'll discuss how to do this in late
October, after all projects have been submitted.
* Farm Bill - Hay in the Blufflands Pilot Project - Kevin Scheidecker will
update developments on this BALMM project;
* Other items include BALMM collaboration with The Wallace Center, Forestry in
the Basin, and Wetland Training.
SUPPORT GROWING FOR HAY PROPOSAL:
The BALMM-initiated proposal to include hay as a program
crop in the federal farm program within the Greater Blufflands Region has been
gaining support in all four states in recent weeks. As a result, the proposal
is starting to be discussed by Washington policy organizations and Congressional
staff involved in shaping the next farm bill, according to Loni Kemp, senior
policy analyst for the Minnesota Project. In Iowa, Lora Friest, who has helped
to line up support from several NE Iowa watershed and farm organizations,
recently reported a state-wide organization had joined the list of supporters:
"Just heard back from Deb Ryun, Executive Director of Conservation
Districts of Iowa, again. She didn't
think Conservation Districts of Iowa would support the Hay Proposal. She was
wrong! They approved it!" In NW Illinois, Dave Dornbusch of the Black Hawk
Hills RC&D is trying to line up support from his own and other Illinois
organizations. The Board of Supervisors of Jo Davis SWCD was the first to
formally vote to support the project; others are expected by week's end. In
Minnesota, the SE Minnesota Water Resources Board and Area 7 SWCDs voted to
support the proposal at their Sept. 10 meetings. The SE Minnesota Ag Alliance
also is a supporter. In Wisconsin,
support so far is limited to the Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation
Association, but other likely supporters are being contacted. Basinwide, the Audubon Campaign for the
Upper Mississippi River also has voiced support.
As support for the "hay proposal" grows in the heartland, broader
discussions on the need to address land-use changes in the Greater Blufflands
region more comprehensively are starting to take place. One idea: each state
sends regional representatives to attend the Working Landscape conference in
Delavan, Wisconsin, November 8-9, and use this as a springboard to ongoing
discussions leading toward opportunities for collaboration and regional
strategy development involving all four states.
AREA 7 SWCDs TAKE ACTION on BALMM STRATEGIES:
The 10 SWCDs actively participating in the Area 7
Association of SWCDs took action on at least three BALMM strategies at their
Sept. 10 meeting in Rochester. These include:
* Soil Loss Ordinances:
A discussion of county soil loss ordinances, part of the
row-crop soil conservation strategy. Greg Larson of BWSR was joined by staff
and elected representatives from Fillmore and Mower Counties in a panel
discussion of soil loss ordinance experience in Southeast Minnesota. Larson
noted that counties don't need legislative direction to regulate erosion.
"It's a public nuisance," and can be dealt with as such. Larson
further noted that federal farm program provisions alone do not appear adequate
for dealing with the kind of excessive erosion that has been apparent this
year. "If state and local government wants to do something about excessive
soil erosion, they'll have to go further than the farm bill," he said. A
model ordinance developed by BWSR is available for counties interested in this
approach. Kevin Scheidecker, Fillmore SWCD, emphasized that counties need to
work very closely with SWCDs to successfully use a soil loss ordinance. The
county's role is to deal with inspection and enforcement aspects of the
ordinance, while the SWCDs role is to write a conservation plan to fix the
problem. In most cases, landowners will implement the plan - but financial
assistance may be necessary, said Scheidecker. Daryll Franklin of Mower County
reported that most cases lead to voluntary compliance. "We've only been in
court once or twice," he said.
Duane Bakke, Fillmore County Commissioner, recalled how former Ag
Commissioner Elton Redalen was instrumental in getting the ordinance started in
the county in the early 1980s. At that time, large farmers were buying land,
trying to build corn base. Then, after 1985, farmers were told it was okay to
raise soybeans on steep land if a 30% residue cover was left on the ground.
Increased soybean acreage has increased the potential for soil erosion. Every
year, violators of the ordinance have been required to make corrective actions
to reduce erosion.
* Support for Hay Proposal:
Area 7 Supervisors voted in support of a BALMM-initiated
proposal to include hay as a program crop in the federal farm program in the
Greater Blufflands region (see related story above).
* River-Friendly Farmer Program:
The River-Friendly Farmer program offers public recognition
to farmers who meet program criteria related to nutrient and manure management,
soil erosion control, conservation buffers, weed and pest control and
environmental regulations. Promoting the program was included in the BALMM
strategy for row-crop soil conservation. So far, about 500 farmers have been
recognized in more than 30 counties in Minnesota. Participation in Southeastern
Minnesota got a boost when Area 7 Supervisors agreed to take a lead role in
getting the program going throughout the region. John Jaeger, Goodhue SWCD,
agreed to be the Area 7 Coordinator for the program. Jaeger will contact
individual SWCDs, encouraging each one to designate a supervisor to coordinate
the program within each county. He also will work with the BALMM coordinator to
organize a regional recognition event and explore additional aspects of the
program. For example, a recently completed school curriculum based on the 13
River-Friendly Farmer criteria is available to highschools with vo-ag
programs. This could be a springboard
for FFA involvement in soliciting nominees for the recognition program.
BALMM PLAN, HAY PROPOSAL, AVAILABLE ONLINE:
The Upper Mississippi River Basin Stakeholder Network web
site is making available BALMM documents among other offerings. Information
sources on the agricultural economy were used to develop our Hay Proposal, for
example. The following is an update on new information available through the
Upper Mississippi Basin Stakeholder
Network ( www.umbsn.org).
1. UMBSN founding principles as defined in the Upper Mississippi Basin
Stewardship Initiative embodied in H.R. 1800, the Upper Mississippi River Basin
Conservation Act, and HR 2646, the Farm Security Act (Farm Bill), passed by the
House Agriculture Committee on July 27.
2. H.R. 2375 "Working Lands Stewardship Act", . H.R. 2480
"Conservation Investment Act", H.R. 2542 "American Farmland
Stewardship Act", are agricultural legislative efforts you can link to
through the UMBSN website.
3. Find information about the upcoming Working Landscapes in the Midwest
conference and the Waters of Wisconsin public forum.
4. Read about a proposal to Include hay as a program crop eligible for benefits
under the Federal Farm Program.
5. New in the coming weeks, a new section on Successes In Agriculture,
featuring Technical Assistance as the tool to make farm programs work. Watch for the announcement.
MINNESOTA-WISCONSIN BOUNDARY AREA COMMISSION TERMINATES:
Despite his recommendation for continuation and full funding in his proposed
Executive Budget for 2001-2003, Wisconsin Governor Scott McCallum let stand a
provision of the final Wisconsin Budget Bill that ends the 36-year interstate
compact between Wisconsin and Minnesota on the states' common boundary,
primarily the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers. It also disbands the ten-member
Minnesota-Wisconsin Boundary Area Commission, made up of citizen appointees of
both state governors, and its five-member staff.
The Commission was a BALMM member. Executive Director Robin Grawe was a regular
participant in monthly meetings, and several times invited BALMM to present its
basin plan and position on the farm program and related legislation before the
Commission.
The State of Minnesota had approved full funding and continuation of the
bi-state relationship and commission in its 2001 legislative session. However the compact allows either state to
withdraw and notify the other state of its action. The Wisconsin action, which
was developed in a legislative conference committee at the end of the budget
process, requests "that the Governor of Wisconsin inform the Governor of
Minnesota of this withdrawal no later than 10 days after the effective date of
the bill." Governor McCallum
signed the all-encompassing state budget bill Thursday, August 30, 2001. He
could have preserved the interstate compact and commission structure by vetoing
the provision, as he did on 315 other items. Future Wisconsin funding would
have required another legislative action later. There are no precedents or
instructions for how to shut down the operations of the Minnesota-Wisconsin Boundary
Area Commission and its Hudson, Wisconsin office. The termination of the compact and commission also leaves a gap
in coordination of several current studies and future management activities on the
265 miles of the major boundary rivers - the St. Croix and Mississippi. This is especially true on the 52-mile Lower
St. Croix National Scenic Riverway where the two states and the National Park
Service have a cooperative agreement and management commission that has been
staffed and administered by the MWBAC for 29 years. "We will work with the sponsoring states to see how they
want to handle the valuable records and interstate coordination on the two
great rivers without the compact and commission," said C. W. "Buck"
Malick, commission executive director. "They will obviously be needed in
some workable format to ensure the wise use, protection and development of the
valleys as far as we can see into the future."
Working Landscapes in the Midwest:
Creating Sustainable Futures for Agriculture, Forestry and Communities
November 8-9, 2001
Delavan, Wisconsin
Join us for active dialogue, creative work and networking at beautiful Lake Lawn
Resort in Delavan, WI on November 8-9, 2001. This unique conference will explore
practices and policies that promote land-based economic activities that sustain
families, communities and ecosystems and provide multiple benefits to society.
Limited scholarships are available.
For more information or to register for the conference, please contact Marin at
612-870-3436, send a message to wlinfo@iatp.org, or visit
the website http://www.workinglandscapes.org.
WANTED: RIVER WATCH DIRECTOR:
The Rivers Council of Minnesota seeks a River Watch
(monitoring) Director for statewide nonprofit rivers organization. Description
at www.riversmn.org or call 320-259-6800.
BEARS REPEATING:
"We need to get more land out of row crops and into hay and pasture."
– Congressman Gil Gutknecht, R-Minn.