Audubon Upper Mississippi River Receives LCCMR Support for Funding from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund

(Roseville, MN, July 24, 2025) – The “Undertake a Flyway: Enhancing Minnesota’s Migratory Pitstops” mission proposal obtained help from the Legislative-Citizen Fee on Minnesota Assets (LCCMR) final week when it was chosen for inclusion of their annual suggestions to the Minnesota Legislature on find out how to allocate proceeds from the state’s Surroundings and Pure Assets Belief Fund.  

The mission goals to empower landowners and managers to acknowledge the worth of their land to help migratory and breeding birds as a part of the Mississippi Flyway and, if funded, would encourage and incentivize voluntary administration motion to enhance chicken habitat high quality all through the state. 

If authorized by the 2026 Legislature and signed into regulation by the Governor, the mission would start as early as July 2026. 

“With the Undertake-a-Flyway pilot, we hope to emphasise the significance of integrating a working lands strategy additional into chicken conservation as it’s a key technique to safe wholesome grasslands and forests for suites of birds experiencing main challenges throughout their flyways”, shares Sarah Hewitt, Senior Conservation Supervisor for Audubon Higher Mississippi River.  

325 chicken species, almost half of all North American chicken species, depend on the Mississippi Flyway throughout their migration and breeding seasons, making it North America’s largest flyway. But, the 2025 State of the Birds report confirmed that the USA’ birds are experiencing immense populations declines, indicating that their habitats are vanishing throughout grasslands, forests, and wetlands, together with throughout the Mississippi Flyway. This has guided Audubon’s focus to focus on migratory habitats and information bird-friendly land administration methods with non-public and public landowners. By means of the Undertake-a-Flyway pilot program, Audubon will present landowners direct technical and monetary help, along with public recognition for his or her bird-friendly efforts. To additional public training on the significance of chicken habitat conservation, Audubon has partnered with the City Chook Collective, Minnesota Grazing Lands Conservation Affiliation, and American Chook Conservancy to host workshops throughout the state. 

The proposal was one in every of 109 included within the Legislative-Citizen Fee on Minnesota Assets’ (LCCMR) advice following its 2026 Request for Proposals (RFP), which sought proposals to handle a number of precedence situation areas, together with resilience, water, fish and wildlife, training and out of doors recreation, vitality, and land. The LCCMR will meet this fall to finalize the suggestions.  

In response to the RFP, LCCMR obtained 400 proposals requesting a complete of roughly $359 million. A subset of proposals was invited to offer a presentation and obtain additional consideration by the Fee. In the long run, 109 proposals obtained a advice to the Legislature for some portion of the roughly $103 million out there. Further info on the LCCMR and its 2026 suggestions course of will be discovered on-line at www.lccmr.mn.gov. 

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The Surroundings and Pure Assets Belief Fund (ENRTF) is a everlasting devoted fund within the Minnesota state treasury that was established by 77% voter approval of a constitutional modification in 1988. The modification directs forty % of the online proceeds of the Minnesota State Lottery into the ENRTF by way of the yr 2050. Since 1991, roughly $1.2 billion from the ENRTF has been spent by way of the LCCMR course of on over 1,800 initiatives that defend and improve Minnesota’s surroundings and pure sources in each county of the state. 

Audubon Higher Mississippi River is the regional workplace of the Nationwide Audubon Society, working in Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri.  

The Nationwide Audubon Society is a number one nonprofit conservation group with 120 years of science-based, community-driven affect, devoted to defending birds and the locations they want, at present and tomorrow. Birds are highly effective indicators of our planet’s well being, performing as sentinels that warn us of environmental change and encourage motion. Audubon works throughout the Western Hemisphere, pushed by the understanding that what is nice for birds is nice for the planet. By means of a collaborative, bipartisan strategy throughout habitats, borders, and the political spectrum, Audubon drives significant and lasting conservation outcomes. With 800 employees and over 1.9 million supporters, Audubon is a dynamic and ever-growing pressure dedicated to making sure a greater planet for each birds and folks for generations to return. Study extra at http://www.audubon.org/umr.  

Contact: audubonumr@audubon.org