Northwest Blog

The McKnight Foundation visits each of the Minnesota Initiative Foundations once every five years. We had the pleasure of hosting and touring around the Northwest region last week! Our first stop was Itasca State Park. McKnight board members and staff were able to see the headwaters of the Mississippi. Some even braved the slippery rock, to walk across the headwaters. Ken Grob, Dan Kittelson and Jim Steenerson spoke on behalf of the  Hubbard County Coalition Lake Association. Discussing the importance of their work to preserve the natural resources in the region.    From Itasca State Park we visited the town of Fertile. Community members banded together to show how a rural area can thrive! The Ferile area provides a good sampling of NMF's programs, including a planning grant, three component funds, including one taking part in our Sustaining Community Success program, an Early Childhood Initiative, a high-tunnel

NORTHWEST MINNESOTA FOUNDATION AWARDS $25,000 GRANT TO NW Regional Sustainable Development Partnership NMF Board Member, Jon Quistgaard & Linda Kingery, executive director of NRSDP The Northwest Minnesota Foundation (NMF) recently awarded the Northwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership (NRSDP) a $25,000 grant to assess land owners’ attitudes toward water management and conservation practices in the Red River Valley. “The goals are to determine why land owners are not readily adopting best practices, and how local agencies can help farmers overcome those barriers,” said Linda Kingery, executive director of NRSDP. The primary concern is related to water resource management.   Along the Red River Valley, seasonal flooding is a major issue year after year. Recent dike improvements and water storage projects remain part of the solution, but water management on privately held lands is the real issue, according to NRSDP. A sizeable portion of land will be