Audubon Minnesota’s Membership Issue Ballot - Issue Ranking is Due November 10, 2009

Complete Streets is a street design and engineering process—not a mandated type of street type. It is a process that encourages pedestrian and bicycle travel. In Minnesota, our transportation system contributes twenty-five percent of greenhouse gas emissions, accounts for two-thirds of petroleum consumption, and is the largest contributor of air toxics and particulate matter that can cause increased cancer rates and childhood asthma. Audubon would support legislation requiring local government to incorporate these concepts in street design.

A law was established several years ago that requires a county give its approval for any land that would be purchased for conservation purposes. This gives counties veto authority over lands that should be acquired to fulfill statewide conservation goals. While local government involvement is important to successful projects, total veto authority has been overly burdensome on conservation plans. Audubon would work to eliminate total veto authority.

Minnesota’s 58 state forests covering 3.7 million acres provide some of the most important bird habitat in the state. And yet, there is no coordinated citizen-based effort to monitor the forests’ health and advocate for forest stewardship. This effort would provide a process to monitor and an interactive website for each state forest. Citizens who use and cherish our state forests would be invited to provide updates to one another through the website. Information could range from dates for the first sighting of a golden winged warbler to encourage fellow forest monitors to attend a DNR hearing on timber plans. Audubon would work to get legislative support and funding for this initiative.

Global Warming is the number one threat to North American birds. The legislature will consider policies that reduce greenhouse gases and invest in clean, renewable energy. Among the proposals being considering are a cap and trade system on utilities, a 100% Renewable Energy Standard, a low carbon fuel standard for vehicles and incentives for community based renewable energy development. Audubon would support these initiatives on behalf of birds and bird habitats.

When the state acquires land and establishes easements on natural areas, a series of financial and legal arrangements are established. Being proactive in these arrangements can have big implications on conservation outcomes. Legislators are asking for our help in considering how to ensure conservation easements protect the broadest array of conservation values, that monitoring funds are established for perpetuity and that local governments are adequately compensated when these actions reduce the tax base.

A growing body of research is showing lead from bullets is the major contributor to birds with lead poisoning. Lead is extremely toxic and has been eliminated from nearly all consumer uses. Lead shot is also not permitted when hunting for waterfowl or on federal Waterfowl Protection Areas. But it remains dominant in all other types of hunting and shooting sports. While many sportsmen and women have already ceased using lead, many others remain unconvinced. An initiative to find the most effective ways to reduce lead ammunition, working with hunting interests could be put forth in 2010 and Audubon would be asked to play a leading role.

In the past two decades, off-highway vehicles (OHVs) have become a major hazard to our forest lands, especially Minnesota’s State Forest where policies do little to stop the reckless trashing of sensitive areas, especially wetlands. Minnesota now has 270,000 off-road motorcycles, off-road trucks and all-terrain vehicles. Many OHVs are used state forests for thrill riding. Audubon’s efforts would be to eliminate trails that are to close to wetlands, to require that OHV riders stay on designated trails only, and to eliminate loopholes that make it legal for OHV riders to trespass on private property and to drink while driving.

The agency has proposed merging these two divisions to purportedly move to a new paradigm of watershed based management. Audubon and others are concerned that change could mean Ecological Services would have a lesser role in agency decisions. This is the Division that focuses on science, ecosystems and nongame wildlife. Our 2010 effort would be to oppose the changes.

Current law forbids any new nuclear power from being licensed in the state of Minnesota. Nuclear power interests have put together a well-funded campaign to remove that moratorium and will be asking the legislature to take action in 2010. This effort distracts from true renewable energy initiatives, it’s extremely expensive and technology still offers no permanent safeguards against radioactive waste. Audubon would support keeping the moratorium in place.

Over 100 known deposits of copper and nickel dot Minnesota northeastern landscape. Efforts are currently underway to begin mining these deposits in a process that virtually guarantees sulfide contamination of the regions lakes and rivers. Legislation will be introduced on non-ferrous mining that would protect taxpayers from paying for expensive clean-up, provide public transparency and input into the determination and adjustment of financial assurance, and ensure only those mines that demonstrate they will not do long-term harm to Minnesota’s lakes, streams and groundwater be permitted. Audubon would work to educate the public and achieve passage of this legislation.

Wildlife and people benefit from wise solid waste strategies that focus on reducing, reusing and recycling. Currently, the state is reconsidering its solid waste policies and many are pushing for increased reliance on landfilling and burning. While others are pushing for better regulations that would include a ban on garbage incineration and a “bottle bill” (requiring a refundable deposit on each bottle) to reduce waste. In addition, the MPCA is preparing a report based on a stakeholder process, recommending strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from waste management. Among the likely findings are recommendations to implement increased source reduction, recycling and composting across Minnesota. Audubon would support the best possible strategies to reduce the waste stream and treat existing waste in the most environmentally benign way possible.

In 2010, the legislature will focus on the “Bonding Bill.” This is the bill that funds anything of lasting value, such as buildings, land acquisition and conservation easements. In addition, conservation projects will be funded by the newly created Outdoor Heritage Fund and the Legislative-Citizens Commission on Minnesota Resources. Audubon would take advantage of these opportunities to support Important Bird Areas, Scientific and Natural Areas, prairie/grassland/wetland restoration and forest habitat projects.