NORTHWEST MINNESOTA FOUNDATION AWARDS $20K GRANT TO WHITE EARTH LAND RECOVERY PROJECT

By -

The White Earth Land Recovery Project (WELRP) was awarded a $20,000 grant by the Northwest Minnesota Foundation (NMF) to study the market and potential building needs for a fish-based fertilizer product. The fertilizer would use fish waste produced at the Red Lake Fisheries facility in Redby.

Each year about 200,000 to 300,000 pounds of organic waste is created from the fisheries. Nitrogen and other nutrients from the decaying fish are, in fact, traditional fertilizers used by native peoples. The grant will help determine how this fish waste can be processed, assess the nutrient makeup of the product, what type of facility is needed and what type of market exists for the product.

“The hope is to get a plant fertilizer product ready for market in the next year or so,” said Winona LaDuke, project coordinator. “We have been hauling fish waste from Red Lake for our own use as we plant different varieties of heritage corn. With this funding, we can now test this on a larger scale.”

Red Lake Nation Fisheries and WELRP have met to discuss what existing equipment can be repurposed at the fishery. Containing the smell of the fish waste is a concern that will be addressed when determining possible facility design and location. The overall size of the facility will be determined by this feasibility study, but is not expected require much space or high tech equipment.

“This project aligns with the value-added agriculture component of our Natural Resources Grant Program,” said Nate Dorr, NMF program officer for grants. “WELRP is a good steward of the land and connecting people to Native practices. There is great potential for partnership and support from other entities as well.”

The Agricultural Utilization Research Institute and Headwaters Regional Development Commission are contributing time and expertise to the feasibility study.

The Northwest Minnesota Foundation is a public, charitable foundation serving 12 counties of Northwest Minnesota by investing resources, creating opportunities and promoting philanthropy.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Frank and Marg Marvin

By -
Image
In honor of NMF's upcoming 30th anniversary and National Philanthropy Month, we want to celebrate the contributions of our donors! We will be highlighting a donor a day for the month of November. Please be sure to check the blog often to read about the wonderful stories of giving back to the northwest region.  If you are interested in making a difference through the services of our community foundation, our development officers would be happy to assist you. Please contact Caryl Turnow or Lisa Peterson at 218-759-2057 to learn more. Frank and Marg Marvin, Warroad The year is 1931 and a frustrated Dorrance Johnston has a degree in Engineering with no jobs to be found. Persistent and not willing to give up, he offered to work for a year without pay just to get a foot in the door. This is a mere glimpse at who Margaret “Marg” (Johnston) Marvin’s father was. Marg was born and raised in Warroad, and then met her husband Frank Marvin in their shared hometown. Both of their f
Read more

NMF Working to Address the Region's Child Care Needs

By -
Image
Ensuring families have access to quality child care is a high priority task for NMF. Our region has the third largest deficit for child care needs in the state. We are faced with 41% of families not having access to child care spots for their children. This means 41% of families are struggling to find safe and affordable child care for their children so they can go to work. The Center for Rural Policy and Development recently published a fact sheet that provides insight on this issue. The main barriers that they pointed out were the following: Until more can be done to increase wages and/or profits for both center and family providers, the child care shortage will continue Low pay for workforce makes recruitment and retention a major hurdle. Providers feel they can't raise rates because parents can't afford to pay more. Under this scenario, providers can't make a profit or be sustainable. The high startup costs make for very high barriers to entry for the av
Read more

Peacemaker Resources Paves the Way for Lifelong Learning in the Classroom

By -
Image
(Left to right) Caige Jambor, Sharleen Zeman-Sperle, and Stacy Bender-Fayette, SEL Specialists at Peacemaker Resources, work together to plan the upcoming school year. The mission of  Peacemaker Resources  is to "foster communication, compassion and connection leading to respectful relationships and healthier individuals and communities" and they achieve this by bringing their  social emotional learning  curriculum to elementary and middle schools around the state. They were also a recipient of the  NMF Quality of Place award in 2016 .  What makes their curriculum distinctive?   Barb   Houg, Executive Director, says,  " Its preventative approach, its relevance for children of all ages, and its lifelong impact." The curriculum that Peacemaker Resources is bringing into schools includes a number of programs -  STAR (Students Teaching Attitudes of Respect) ,  Girls Lead ,  Cultural Responsiveness ,  SEL (Social Emotional Learning) ,  Mindfulness , and  Tr
Read more