Funding

 

Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fundunder the

recommendation and oversight of the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR), supplemented with opportunities for public promotion through a USDA Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG).

The LCCMR makes funding recommendations to the Minnesota House and Senate for projects that are selected to maintain and enhance Minnesota's environment and natural resources. Projects are selected in a competitive review process. The Commission is composed of 17 members: 5 Senators, 5 Representatives, 5 citizens appointed by the governor, 1 citizen appointed by the Senate, and 1 citizen appointed by the House. The function of the LCCMR is to make funding recommendations to the 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's review process is structured in a way that promotes both innovation and reliability. The commission meets and interviews potential project managers to decide which projects should be funded for the benefit of the state, and at what level they should be funded. Those projects that are selected and have a large research component are then further reviewed by an appointed scientific panel to help assure that they are properly designed and analysed.

In an important sense, the commission determines "how to do the right thing," and the review panel determines "how to do the thing right." Most funding agencies attempt to combine these two rather different functions. The separation in the LCCMR gives a special flavor that can recognize innovative ideas, yet also make them workable.

The participants on this project are grateful to the LCCMR and its staff, for support on the present project and on other projects that are related to it.