By Marya Hart
Stewards advocate for policies related to water, forests, and wildlife.
Waters and Wetlands
The Waters and Wetlands Stewards are making great headway as they draft their action plan for the coming year. The team is currently brainstorming issues they care about and deciding how best to tackle them. Some of the items on the list include stormwater runoff, the effects of PolyMet and Twin Metals on wetlands, a number of agricultural pollution issues, microplastic awareness in Lake Superior, road salt legislation, and the impact of wake boats on lakes and waterways.
Forests and Wildlife
The Forests and Wildlife Stewards have been actively exploring the potential of planting trees along Minnesota highways as a method of increasing carbon sequestration in the fight against climate change. Carbon sequestration is the process by which atmospheric carbon dioxide is taken up by trees, grasses, and other plants through photosynthesis and stored as carbon in biomass. The USDA estimates that a mature tree absorbs carbon dioxide at a rate of 48 pounds per year.
The Stewards recently reached out to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to inquire about the possibility of planting trees along our highways to achieve this goal. MnDOT has a program dedicated to Roadside Vegetation Management, and recognizes the benefit of planting trees along the highway and roadways. However, many sections of the highway are under control of individual communities, so the Stewards are brainstorming how to build relationships with these communities to plant more trees.