Minnesota Driftless Hiking Trail receives LCCMR recommendation for funding from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund
(Fillmore and Houston Counties, Southeast Minnesota , July 20th, 2023) – The Minnesota Driftless Hiking Trail received support from the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) last week when it was selected for inclusion in their annual recommendations to the Minnesota Legislature on how to allocate proceeds from the state’s Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.
The project aims to bring a backpacking trail to Southeast Minnesota’s Driftless Area, increasing the ways Minnesotans can experience the unique landscape. The $411,000 in LCCMR funds will allow the group to hire a Director to conduct community engagement and planning, contract with a trail designer, and supply volunteer trail building and maintenance crews. If approved by the 2024 Legislature and signed into law by the Governor, the project would begin in July 2024.
“Southeast Minnesota is a unique landscape full of vibrant communities and natural settings you can’t find anywhere else in the world.” said project coordinator Marty Walsh, “In addition to diversifying the local outdoor recreation economy, this trail will bring people into the landscape at a pace that gives them a whole new familiarity. We know that the opportunity to experience an area in this way fosters a desire to protect and preserve it for future generations.
The Minnesota Driftless Hiking Trail is a planned long distance natural surface backpacking trail connecting local trails and public lands across Fillmore and Houston Counties from near Chatfield to near Brownsville. The organizers aim for the trail to be about 110 miles long, and have been working with local private landowners, recreation and civic groups, and the Department of Natural Resources to plan the route.
“An initiative such as this one requires partnerships and collaboration with private landowners to be successful," says Colleen Foehrenbacher, Executive Director of Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center. "We're thrilled to be supporting this project which will create another opportunity for people to connect with the outdoors and each other here in Southeast Minnesota."
The project was one of 101 included in the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources’ (LCCMR) recommendation following its 2024 Request for Proposals (RFP), which sought projects across several priority issue areas, including foundational data and information, water resources, environmental education, invasive species, renewable energy, methods to protect and restore habitat, and habitat protection and outdoor recreation. The LCCMR will meet on November 16, 2023, to finalize these recommendations.
In response to the RFP, LCCMR received 218 proposals requesting a total of approximately $174 million. Members selected 102 proposals to invite in for a presentation before the LCCMR. From this reduced pool, 101 proposals received a recommendation to the Legislature for some portion of the $79,644,000 available. Additional information on the LCCMR and its 2024 provisional recommendations process can be found online at www.lccmr.mn.gov.
The Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF) is a permanent dedicated fund in the Minnesota state treasury that was established by 77% voter approval of a constitutional amendment in 1988. The amendment directs forty percent of the net proceeds of the Minnesota State Lottery into the ENRTF until the year 2025. Since 1991, approximately $697 million from the ENRTF has been spent on over 1,700 projects that protect and enhance Minnesota's environment and natural resources in every county of the state.
Minnesota Driftless Hiking Trail - www.mndriftlesshikingtrail.org - mndriftlesshikingtrail@gmail.com - @HikeMNDriftless
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