With your help, we can reach our goal of 5,000 signatures by Earth Day, April 22nd!

On Thursday, March 20, 2014 11:44 AM, Kaitlyn O'Connor <koconnor@landstewardshipproject.org> wrote:

Greetings!

 

As you may know, Land Stewardship Project is in our third month of petition drive calling on Governor Dayton to protect MN from the frac sand industry. We still need over 1,000 more signatures to reach our goal of 5,000 by Earth Day, and we need your help!

 

Attached to this e-mail is a copy of the petition. Would you be willing to commit to gathering 5, 10, 25, or 50 signatures? Take the petition to your local coffee shop, the daycare center, your classroom, church group, or weekly yoga class, and get your friends and family to sign. There is no age restriction and you do not need to be a registered voter to sign. The only requirement is that each signee is a Minnesota resident. We are in the home stretch of the petition drive now, and every signature counts. With your help, we can reach our goal of 5,000 signatures by Earth Day, April 22^nd!

 

If you would like to help with the frac sand petition drive, please email koconnor@landstewardshipproject.org

 

Thank you so much for your help. Together, we will protect our communities from the devastation of frac sand mining!

 

Warm Regards,

 

Kaitlyn O’Connor

Family Farm Breakfast and Frac Sand Petition Drive Coordinator

Land Stewardship Project

Minneapolis Office

koconnor@landstewardshipproject.org

work: (612)722-6377 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (612)722-6377 FREE  end_of_the_skype_highlighting ext. 215

cell: (507) 951-9166 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (507) 951-9166 FREE  end_of_the_skype_highlighting

 

* Learn About Fracking Impacts April 11 & 12 in Rochester

 Good opportunity to share rides and learn.....plus reminder to get signatures for petition to Governor Dayton (last paragraph).

On Friday, March 28, 2014 11:12 AM, Johanna Rupprecht (LSP) <jrupprecht@landstewardshipproject.org> wrote:

Dear Bonita,

The Environmental Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing

Presented by Wes Wilson, retired geological engineer, and Environmental Protection Agency whistleblower who was featured in the film Gasland.

Oil and gas corporations and their allies want to strip-mine our hills and bluffs for sand to enable hydraulic fracturing (commonly known as fracking) in other states. All stages of this extreme energy extraction practice — including the frac sand mining, processing and transportation threatening our region — harm rural communities. Two upcoming presentations April 11-12 in Rochester are a chance to learn more about the environmental and public health risks to communities at the other end of the process, as well as fracking’s role in worsening global climate change.

Attend the Wes Wilson presentation on

Friday, April 11, 7 p.m. or Saturday, April 12, 1 p.m.

at Assisi Heights, 1001 14^th Street NW, Rochester, MN 55901

This event is co-sponsored by the Land Stewardship Project; Sisters of Saint Francis, Rochester, Minn.; and Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, La Crosse, Wis.

The talks are free and open to the public, but registration is requested. Register online at http://tinyurl.com/frackingfriday or http://tinyurl.com/frackingsaturday, or by contacting Angie at Assisi Heights at 507-280-2195 or ahsc@rochesterfranciscan.org.

Please share this invitation with others who would be interested.

Thank you,

Johanna Rupprecht, Land Stewardship Project organizer

P.S. Sign LSP’s petition to Governor Mark Dayton calling for effective action to protect Minnesota from the frac sand industry. It's available on our website at https://landstewardshipproject.org/forms/fracsandpetition. Please share the petition to help us reach our goal of 5,000 signatures from Minnesotans by Earth Day, April 22!

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Take action to ensure public investment in developing cover crops

 Take action to ensure public investment in developing cover crops and perennial crops needed to protect our water and for stewardship of the land

Forever Green Initiative at the University of Minnesota needs ongoing funding

A recent Minnesota Pollution Control Agency report found high amounts of nitrates in much of Minnesota’s waters and that 73% of nitrates were from cropland. The report concludes: “Cover crops and strategic establishment of perennial energy crops can greatly reduce N losses to waters, but need further development in Minnesota to make these practices more successful and adopted on more lands.” The University of Minnesota has been doing this research and outreach as part of the Forever Green Initiative.  Forever Green focuses developing cover crops and perennial crops that will work in Minnesota's climate and also creating markets for these crops. However, this work does not have a source of ongoing funding which is critical to its success. (More details below.)

Rep. David Bly and Sen. Kevin Dahle have introduced legislation to do just that. In the House the issue is at a critical juncture.  Appropriations are often rolled into larger omnibus bills. The House is finishing up its Environment and Agriculture Omnibus Finance Bill by Wednesday night.  However, right now funding for Forever Green is not a part of the bill. We need it included.

Take Action!

1. Contact these legislative leaders in the House by Wednesday at 5:00 p.m.

• Rep. Jean Wagenius, Chair of the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Finance Committee 651-296-4200 or rep.jean.wagenius@house.mn
• Rep. Paul Thissen, Speaker of the House at 651-296-5375 or rep.paul.thissen@house.mn

Suggested message: “We must have more crop diversity on the landscape to clean up our water and for better stewardship of the land.  This means research into cover crops and perennial crops that will work in Minnesota’s climate and are profitable for farmers to grow. The University of Minnesota has made a good start with its Forever Green Initiative.  However, this program needs ongoing funding to be successful. Please, ensure that the Forever Green initiative receives $800,000 a year in ongoing funding as part of the House Omnibus Environment and Agriculture Funding bill. This would be a good start in making the critical public investment necessary for better stewardship of the land and to clean up our water.”

2.  Contact your Representative. Let them know that you would like them to weigh in with support of this effort with Rep. Thissen and Rep. Wagenius. Use the message above. You can find your Representatives name and contact information HERE.

It's not too late to RSVP for  the Land Stewardship Project’s Family Farm Breakfast & Day at the Capitol on Tuesday, April 8. The event is at Christ Lutheran Church across from the Capitol in St. Paul. Breakfast from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., with lobbying at the Capitol afterwards Cost  is $10 (pay at the door).Get full details and RSVP online HERE.

More details on  legislation to fund the Forever Green Initiative at the University of Minnesota. 

The legislation provides $1.395 million to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to be granted to the University of Minnesota for the Forever Green Initiative.

• House File 2619 authored by Reps. Bly; Hansen; Johnson, C; Ward, J.A; Fisher; Falk; Faust; McNamar
• Senate File 2304 authored by Sens. Dahle; Tomassoni; Hoffman; Scalze

The Forever Green initiative at the University of Minnesota is about the critical research and outreach needed to dramatically increase the use of cover crops and perennial systems, including pasture, that is profitable to farmers, creates economic opportunity in rural Minnesota and improves water quality and natural habitat for wildlife.

Minnesota has 27 million acres of farmland, occupying nearly half the 55.6 million acres in the state. Most of our current crops are ‘summer-annuals’ that are grown during the summer. By selectively adding winter-annual, perennial crops and managed pastures to our agricultural landscapes, we can enhance the prosperity of Minnesota agriculture, support rural communities, and provide major benefits to all Minnesotans. These production systems will enhance yields of our summer-annual crops, enable production of new commodities, enhance our soils and wildlife, and improve our water resources. All of these benefits are possible because perennial and winter-annual crops are active during a large portion of each year, including many periods in fall, winter and spring when summer crops are absent.

These production systems, combining summer-annual, winter-annual and perennial crops, use our precious resources of land, water and nutrients more efficiently than our current systems. To realize the great potential of these systems, two kinds of research and development are critically needed: genetic improvement of plant materials, and development of new economic opportunities based on these systems. The University of Minnesota has significant strengths and ongoing efforts in both areas, providing the foundation for this initiative. 

Perennial and winter-annual crops—working in tandem with summer annuals—can capture solar energy, water and nutrients with very high efficiency. Specifically, these production systems can:

• Diversify economic opportunities for Minnesota’s farmers, through the production of new sources of food, feed, and high-value biomaterials, without interfering with current annual production systems;
• Improve the condition of vital resources including water, land and biodiversity
• Enable abundant production despite climate variability and new pest and disease pressures
• Enhance rural committees by creating new industries based on renewable agriculture resources- and employment opportunities; and
• Attract high quality talent to the University of Minnesota to meet the future workforce needs of the agriculture, food, energy and natural resource based industries in Minnesota.

water-resource challenges

The U. S. Geological Survey reported this year that “the Nation faces an increasingly large set of water-resource challenges ..."

Coming soon to Public Television: Film: "Mysteries of the Driftless Zone"

Hello Friends:

This Saturday at 7:00 pm at the La Crescent Fine Arts Center (at the High School), you have another chance to see the award-winning and popular "Mysteries of the Driftless Zone" film.  Please help me spread the word on this event and take advantage of the reduced cost by preregistering with the La Crescent-Hokah School District Community Education (see attached flyer for preregistration instructions- it's easy!).  You're also welcome to just arrive at show-time- no need to pre-register.

I will introduce the film by telling the story of how and why it was produced, and I'll lead a question and answer session afterwards.  Information on the many benefits of private land protection and area land trusts will also be presented and discussed.

Come early to hear the very talented Ryan Howe warm us up with live piano music, and then enjoy live original inspirational music by Ryan again as we wrap-up the event.

I hope to see many of you and your friends and family this Saturday!

George Howe
MLT Root River Watershed Project Manager
32628 County Road 1
La Crescent, MN  55947
Cell: (608) 397-7423
Office: (507) 895-8074

UNTAMED SCIENCE and MISSISSIPPI VALLEY CONSERVANCY PRESENT a film by ROB NELSON, DAN BERTALAN, TIMOTHY S. JACOBSON AND GEORGE HOWE
staring LORAN NORDGREN, JIM THELER, TIM YAGER, JIM KNOX, ROBERT BOSZHARDT, GEORGE HOWE, MARK BISHOP, RYAN BISHOP, ABBIE CHURCH, ARMUND BARTZ, RYAN PERROY and DARCY KIND
cameras SAM FULBRIGHT, ROB NELSON, DAN BERTALAN and JON NEE | EXECUTIVE
PRODUCERS TIMOTHY S. JACOBSON and GEORGE HOWE | produced
by ROB NELSON and DAN BERTALAN | directed by ROB NELSON and DAN BERTALAN | poster by NEWGROUND

C o m i n g  S o o n o n P u b l i c T e l e v i s i o n
Mississippi Valley Conservancy | Untamed Science | Riverland Conservancy | Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation | The Prairie Enthusiasts | Wenonah Canoe | La Crosse Community Foundation | Vernon County Tourism Council
Radisson Hotel La Crosse | Paul E. Stry Foundation | Coulee Region Trout Unlimited | Franciscan Sist ers of Perpetual Adoration | D. B. Reinhart Inst itute for Ethics in Leadership | NewGround, Inc.
A Film of Science Exploration and Adventure by Mississippi Va lley Conservancy and Untamed Science
mysteries of the driftless
Photo By Robert J. Hurt

Letters in Post-Bulletin Strongly Favor Moratorium. How to spread the word

  How to submit your letter as a comment if it was unpublished:

     

We did it!  We let the Rochester Post-Bulletin know that citizens want Gov. Dayton to enact a two year moratorium on frac sand mining in southeast Minnesota. Now let’s spread the message wider. 

The letters poured into the Rochester Post-Bulletin calling for a two year moratorium on frac sand mining.  Of the twenty-one printed all but one were in favor of a moratorium or ban! Read them here:  Your Turn: Should Dayton impose moratorium on frac sand mines? 

How to  spread the message wider.

1.       If they did not print your letter. Go online and enter it as a comment on the page. We know that many, many letters did not get printed.

2.       Email the link to the Governor and your state legislators with a short note along these lines: “It’s clear that southeast Minnesotans know that frac sand mining is bad for our community and want a moratorium.. Southeast Minnesota needs protections NOW but state regulations are over a year away from being implemented. Please, take the time to read the letters printed in the Rochester Post-Bulletin on the issue here: http://www.postbulletin.com/opinion/your-turn-should-dayton-impose-moratorium-on-frac-sand-mines/article_255aadfa-ef5f-596f-a297-18e33ba2e0dc.html. ”  

You can email the Governor HERE.  You can get the email for your state legislators HERE.

3.       Share the Rochester Post-Bulletin page on social media.

Bobby King

Land Stewardship Project

612-722-6377

WHERE'S THE DRAFT RULE?

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

  Although most of you have requested only action alerts, this info reminds us to not let up in our efforts.

Wishing you well,

Bonita

The question/demand participants in the Advisory Committee should have for the MPCA is simple:
        WHERE'S THE DRAFT RULE?

The work of an Advisory Committee is to review and comment on the draft, which moves through various iterations before going to the agency board & Commissioner for release as a draft rule for comment.  Can't do the work if the draft isn't there.
It's that simple...
Carol

The people expect regulation!

A year later, there's been lots of talk, but little action.  Enforceable regulation?  HA!  ... yet it's anything but funny...

Last year's legislation has proven to be lots of wishful thinking and little enforceable regulation of silica sand mining.  The state did not enact a moratorium, there's no Generic Environmental Impact Statement, nor a requirement for an Environmental Impact Statement for individual sand mine permit applications, and we're waiting for the nominal narrow rules and the optional model Standards and Criteria.  Now another legislative session is upon us, legislators are touring their districts and preparing for elections, so now's the time to let the legislators know that last year's placating "compromise" doesn't cut it, that it's compromised the public interest, and we deserve and expect better.  The people expect reasonable regulation of silica sand mining.

Find links to primary documents and statutes here on Legalectric:

Someone explain rulemaking to the MPCA

The Minnesota legislature has begun, a short session this year, and a budget session, not policy.  Where are the laws and regulations we expected to regulate silica sand mining?  Stalled out.  We've been to meeting after meeting, and there are no Standards and Criteria, and these were only models anyway, optional examples for local governments to adopt.  It's been taken off the EQB agenda, and I'm reminded of the way the EQB didn't want to address nuclear waste in Florence Township and took it off the agenda, and then just stopped holding meetings!  Deja vu all over again?  Will this really be on the next EQB Agenda and will action be taken?

And then there's rulemaking!  Oh my...  There were only three narrow areas to enact rules, it's not like they have to reinvent the wheel, but the effort, lead by the MPCA, has been one of resistance and failure to produce.  First they objected to expectations to form an Advisory Committee for input into the draft.  Then, once ordered to form Advisory Committee, rather than be prepared to talk turkey and produce a draft to discuss, they lead the group on a wild goose chase with literally TONS of "background information" that's enough to gag a policy wonk (background info and links here:Someone explain rulemaking to the MPCA)

I've participated in more than a few rulemakings over the last 20 years, including very intense ones reworking two chapters of utility regs, a decade ago and another now ongoing, and this silica sand rulemaking does not cut it.  We need draft language to discuss now, at the beginning, with fresh iterations after input at Committee meetings.

The MPCA has produced two process flow charts in their "background information," neither of which even show "Advisory Committee" as part of the process.  What??  Although that perspective is not really surprising, given the MPCA staff argued in comments to the EQB that they couldn't imagine what benefit an Advisory Committee could provide.  Get a clue -- Advisory Committees are authorized by statute and the purpose is to get the public involved at the front end and have a purpose -- to gather input on a draft and work towards consensus so the agency can then release for comment a workable rule (rulemaking law says that an agency can't adopt something that's substantially different from what's been released for comment, hence the need to do the work up front, before the draft is released).  The Advisory Committee has met once, and is soon meeting again.  I've checked with staff and they have no intention of bringing draft language to this SECOND meeting for discussion.  WHAT?  Draft language should be distributed before the first meeting to give folks time to chew on it and be productive right out the gate.  Revised draft language should be presented at every Committee meeting for  review and comment.

The MPCA apparently doesn't do rulemaking the way other state agencies do (for example, in the Greenhouse Gas rule, they didn't even give proper notice and admitted it on the record!).  The agency should encourage input, understand the concern, and seriously consider whether and how to address it in the proposed rules.  It's to their advantage to do so to come up with an acceptable rule.  MPCA, get with it and open this process up to MEANINGFUL public participation.

Unfortunately, it looks to me as if they're going to manipulate the process -- take their sweet time, as invited to by the legislative exception to Minn. Stat. 14.125, and then, if the law isn't changed this session to eliminate the rulemaking and they then do have to move rules forward, that they'll continue to hold these nonproductive kaffee-klatsches, and yammer a bit, and then having dodged public input, MPCA will bring the draft directly to the MPCA Board for release for comment, without getting any substantive on-point feedback from the Advisory Group beforehand regarding the draft.  Then the "rule" will be released for comment, it will be horrible, there will be lots of public push-back, and everyone throws up their hands and says, "See, we couldn't and shouldn't try to regulate silica sand!"  That's the trajectory I see, and I don't like it one bit.

Hey, MPCA, prove me wrong!  I hope that you'll decide to do it differently and utilize the Advisory Committee as you should.  Enough of the "make work" meetings -- bring draft language on the three narrow issues for rulemaking to the Committee for review.  Disclose your draft rules!  Get substantive feedback on what rules you're proposing!

And for those of you in Minnesota and Wisconsin -- don't forget -- now is the time to tell your legislators that you expect regulation of silica sand mining operations.  Hold their feet to the fire.  Enough of this dodging and weaving!

-----

-"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent
about the things that matter."  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 


Carol A. Overland
Attorney at Law
Legalectric - Overland Law Office
1110 West Avenue
Red Wing, MN  55066

612-227-8638

overland@legalectric.org

http://www.legalectric.org/
http://www.nocapx2020.info/
http://www.not-so-great-northern-transmission-line.org/

At last evening's excellent "Let's Talk About Sand" Castoria performance in Chatfield

At last evening's excellent "Let's Talk About Sand" Castoria performance in Chatfield, a representative of the mining industry assured us that frac sand mining is being done responsibly along the Minnesota River Valley by family businesses, and that the industry wants to work with communities to hear their concerns and avoid problems.

  He stated that along the Mississippi, those bluffs should not be mined. He calmly stated that northern Minnesota has a thriving tourism industry along with a long culture of mining.  He omitted the reality of different geology and amount of area to compare Northern and Southeastern Minn.  Neither did he mention how the Poly-Met project is will damage tourism in Northern Minn. He smoothly repeated the usual assurances which he and other industry lobbyists gave throughout the last legislative session.

  The current world market means a temporary lull in the need for our frac sand, but that non-renewable resource will still be under our whole region when the world market wants it. We need to move past complacency and put protections in place to not be caught off-guard when that time inevitably comes.

  In case we have forgotten, there is a map on Land Stewardship Project's website which shows "Locations of 11 Frac Sand Mines (in SE Minn) Proposed by Minnesota Sands, with Proposed Size in Acres" at  http://landstewardshipproject.org/repository/1/968/frac_mine_map.pdf

Wishing you well,

Bonita

Big thanks to all who submitted letters to Post-Bulletin

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

  Big thanks to all who submitted letters to Post-Bulletin re:2-year moratorium on frac sand mining in SE Minn.

  On today's Opinion page, we learned that they received more than 90 responses and printed only 19 (18 in favor of moratorium), representing geographical distribution of comments received.

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