Outdoors Bill - Picking Up Steam?
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
A plan pending in the state legislature is drawing support from a broad coalition of environmental and conservation groups. Steve Morse with the Minnesota Environmental Partnership says it will protect state waterways, prairie land and forests.
"'Clean Water Legacy' is a comprehensive effort to test our lakes, rivers and streams, determine which of them are polluted, develop long-term scientifically-based clean up plans and then, most importantly, implement those plans."
He estimates 40 percent of Minnesota waterways don't meet minimum state water quality standards. The proposal includes $100 million yearly investment to clean up polluted lakes and rivers and establish a water-quality testing program. The plan would also protect Minnesota's forests and wildlands.
"Some of our purest waters are in the areas such as the Voyageurs, the BWCA, and they would be tested. And if we found there to be a problem from something coming into those waters, this legislation would help with the cleanup."
Morse notes that over 2,200 Minnesota rivers and lakes currently don't meet minimum state water quality standards, and 86 percent of state waters haven't even been tested.
Darrel Knuffke with Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness says the proposal would also protect Minnesota's wilderness areas, and head off problems.
"It's a whole lot easier to prevent pollution than to clean it up once it's occurred. We need to hand our children waters which are cleaner than those we inherited."
The plan involves monitoring, detecting and preventing contaminants in state waterways, and will insure Minnesota doesn't become the "Land of 10,000 Polluted Lakes."
Morse adds the plan will likely be included in an omnibus funding bill. More information is available online at www.mepartnership.org.
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