Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources visiting northeast MN natural resources sites

SAINT PAUL, MN (08/11/2009)(readMedia)-- The Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) – the group that makes project funding recommendations to the state legislature on expenditures from Minnesota's Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund – will be visiting sites throughout northeast Minnesota on Monday, August 17 through Wednesday, August 19. The LCCMR is coming to the sites to experience them firsthand while meeting with resource professionals to learn more about important natural resources issues in the northeastern part of the state.

Information gathering activities such as these visits play a critical role in guiding the LCCMR's process for deciding which projects are the best public investments for the hundreds of millions of dollars generated to-date by the Minnesota State Lottery for environment and natural resources projects around the state.

The LCCMR will visit eleven sites over the course of the three days. At each site, the LCCMR will tour the area and hear presentations from scientists, government agency officials, and private natural resources professionals about the sites themselves and the various natural resources issues that pertain to them.

When: Monday, August 17; Tuesday, August 18; and Wednesday, August 19, 2009

What: Site visits and presentations on various natural resources issues in northeast Minnesota, including wind and hydro power, surface and underground mining, state parks and trails, forestry, invasive species, ballast water, and various water quality issues such as endocrine disrupting compounds.

Who: The LCCMR will hear presentations from representatives of land conservation organizations, the forest industry, the mining industry, Minnesota Power, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources (BWSR), and the Minnesota Geological Survey.

Where: Various natural resources sites in northeast Minnesota. August 17 includes visits to Jay Cooke State Park and Hemlock Ravine Scientific and Natural Area. August 18 includes visits to the Taconite Ridge Wind Farm, Eveleth Mine, Soudan Underground Mine State Park, and the Polymet and Mesabi Nugget ore processing facilities near Hoyt Lakes, MN. August 19 includes visits to Split Rock Light House State Park; Encampment Forest near Two Harbors, MN; the Duluth waterfront; and the Western Lake Superior Sanitation District water treatment facility.

All site visit locations and presentations are open to the public. LCCMR members are available for interviews.

Additional details, including a site visit agenda, are available at http://www.lccmr.leg.mn/Meetings/LCCMRMeetings.html or by contacting Susan Thornton at the LCCMR.

Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR)

The LCCMR is made up of 17 members (5 Senators, 5 Representatives, 5 citizens appointed by the governor, and one citizen each appointed by the Senate and the House). The function of the LCCMR is to make funding recommendations to the Minnesota State Legislature for special environment and natural resource projects, primarily from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. These projects help maintain and enhance Minnesota's environment and natural resources. The LCCMR developed from a program initiated in 1963. Since then over $600 million has been appropriated to over 1,250 projects working to benefit Minnesota's environment and natural resources.