11/29/2006 Env Bd Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Friends of the Mississippi River 2005 Proposal to the Minnesota Community Foundation Friends of the Mississippi River (FMR) is the leading citizen -based organization working to protect and enhance the Mississippi River and its watershed in the Twin Cities area. We strive to create positive changes that improve water quality, provide habitat for wildlife, create education and recreation opportunities, and inspire widespread commitment to this natural wonder that flows through our community. We act as a "voice for the river" in the area's most important decision - making forums and work to build bridges between the many citizens, municipalities, and other constituents who have a stake in the river. FMR also vigilantly assesses current and emerging river issues, initiating and leading partners in programs where our work is needed most. Throughout our activities, we emphasize active community engagement as the key to protecting the river and its watershed. FMR has a strong record of providing excellent educational programming as well as working with volunteers on river and watershed protection activities. In the past year, over 1,200 people participated in FMR's educational offerings and volunteers provided over 10,000 hours of service for the river. Effectively engaging citizens through local monitoring efforts is one way FMR is creating positive change for the Mississippi River. As our state struggles to assess, protect and improve our valuable water resources within the context of limited government resources, citizen volunteer monitoring is a cost - effective method of citizen engagement and data acquisition. Indeed, citizen volunteer monitoring of streams, rivers, wetlands and lakes provides meaningful data, generates individual and community awareness and can informs local and state decision makers on the health of local water resources. We as Minnesotans are blessed with magnificent and abundant water resources. Passing on these resources to our children means protecting the health of these waters. This is done through knowledge and commitment. Citizen volunteer monitoring provides important knowledge as well as engage local individuals as committed stewards of water resources. While there are many excellent monitoring programs throughout the state, we have yet to fully live up to this great potential. Volunteer data often lacks the required scientific rigor, limiting its usefulness and credibility. Policy makers and resource managers, whether due to lack of data reporting or lack of data credibility, rarely use the information collected by volunteers. As a result, citizen volunteers may disengage, feeling their efforts are wasted. We envision a new model. One in which volunteers provide meaningful data, shepherd this data to decision makers and actively engage in improving and protecting the resources they monitor. Over the past 15 years the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has been developing new protocols and indices for the biological assessment of streams and wetlands. Due to the fact that aquatic organisms express a range of tolerances to environmental conditions, biological assessment can be a powerful quantitative tool in understanding the health of water resources. While chemical water quality sampling is important, it can only show the quality of the water for a given set of parameters at a given period of time. Biological monitoring, which surveys aquatic organisms that grow, develop and reproduce over time, provides a more complete picture of the ecological health of our waters and is a better predictor of long -term trends. Friends of the Mississippi River Proposal to the Minnesota Community Foundation Page 1 of 3 • • •