Minnesota Legislature
FY 2026 LSOHC Funding Requests Received
The funding requests below will be considered by the council for recommendation to the 2025 legislature. The council received 53 requests totaling over $400 million.
| Proposal | Title | Project Manager | Organization | Requested Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie Acquisition |
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| PA 01 | Martin County WMA Acquisition Phase 9 | Doug Hartke | Fox Lake Conservation League, Inc. | $2,583,000 |
| PA 02 | Prairie Chicken Habitat Partnership of the Southern Red River Valley - Phase XI | Sabin Adams | Pheasants Forever. | $11,206,100 |
| PA 03 | RIM Grassland Reserve Phase VI | John Voz | MN BWSR | $8,000,000 |
| PA 04 | RIM Buffers for Wildlife and Water - Phase XI | Dusty Van Thuyne | MN BWSR | $10,000,000 |
| PA 05 | Accelerating the Wildlife Management Area Program - Phase XVII | Sabin Adams | Pheasants Forever | $13,111,300 |
| PA 06 | MN Prairie Recovery Program Phase 14 | Liz Beery | The Nature Conservancy | $10,106,200 |
| PA 07 | Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge, Phase XV | Chris McGrath | The Nature Conservancy | $8,982,300 |
| PA 08 | DNR WMA & SNA Acquisition, Phase XVII | Jeff Tillma | MN DNR | $3,000,000 |
| Prairie Restore / Enhance |
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| PRE 01 | Enhanced Public Land - Grasslands - Phase VIII | Sabin Adams | Pheasants Forever | $6,388,300 | PRE 02 | Accelerating the USFWS Habitat Conservation Easement Program - Phase V | Logan Shoup | Ducks Unlimited, Inc. | $13,800,000 |
| Forest Acquisition |
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| FA 01 | Minnesota Forest Recovery Project Phase III | Jim Manolis | The Nature Conservancy | $10,276,500 |
| FA 02 | Itasca County Memorial Forest Project | Kory Cease | Itasca County Land Department | $2,910,400 |
| FA 03 | Protecting Critical Habitat in Northeastern Minnesota while Balancing Sustainable Public Land Use and Permanent Public Access Through a Community Land Trust Model | Rumbidzai Faith Masawi | Land Access Alliance | $810,500 |
| FA 04 | Hardwood Hills Habitat Conservation Program - Phase 2 | Wayne Ostlie | Minnesota Land Trust | $5,145,000 |
| FA 05 | Camp Ripley Sentinel Landscape ACUB Protection Program Phase 13 | Shannon Wettstein | Morrison SWCD | $5,300,000 |
| FA 06 | Minnesota Forests for the Future Phase X | Christine Ostern | MN DNR | $13,988,700 |
| Forest Restore / Enhance |
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| FRE 01 | DNR Statewide Forest Enhancement and Restoration-Phase 5 | Ted Dick | MN DNR | $7,541,700 |
| FRE 02 | Carver County Lake Minnewashta Regional Park Management Unit 1 Old Field Restoration | Jacob Sandvig | Carver County | $863,300 |
| Wetland Acquisition |
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| WA 01 | Wetland Habitat Protection and Restoration Program - Phase 10 | Wayne Ostlie | Minnesota Land Trust | $9,738,000 |
| WA 02 | Shallow Lake & Wetland Protection & Restoration Program - Phase XIV | Jon Schneider | Ducks Unlimited, Inc. | $12,990,000 |
| WA 03 | RIM Wetlands - Restoring the most productive habitat in Minnesota | John Voz | MN BWSR | $12,000,000 |
| WA 04 | Accelerating the Waterfowl Production Area Program - Phase XVII | Sabin Adams | Pheasants Forever | $17,016,600 |
| Wetland Restore / Enhance |
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| WRE 01 | East Park WMA / Nelson Slough | Morteza Maher | Middle-Snake-Tamarac Rivers Watershed District | $2,128,500 |
| WRE 02 | Living Shallow Lakes & Wetlands Enhancement & Restoration Initiative - Phase XI | John Lindstrom | Ducks Unlimited, Inc. | $14,975,000 |
| WRE 03 | Big Swamp North - Peatland Restoration Project | Tracy Halstensgard | Roseau River Watershed District | $3,036,000 |
| WRE 04 | Accelerated Shallow Lakes and Wetland Enhancements Phase 17 | Ricky Lien | MN DNR | $10,326,000 |
| Habitat Acquisition |
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| HA 01 | Cannon River Watershed Habitat Protection and Restoration Program - Phase 14 | Jennifer Tonko | Clean River Partners | $10,954,200 |
| HA 02 | Spring Road Conservation Project | Terry Jeffery | Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District | $3,012,500 |
| HA 03 | Anoka Sand Plain Habitat Conservation - Phase 10 | Wiley Buck | Great River Greening | $13,941,900 |
| HA 04 | Integrating Habitat and Clean Water Phase III | Kevin Roth | MN BWSR | $10,000,000 |
| HA 05 | 2025 St. Croix Watershed Habitat Protection and Restoration Phase 6 | Marc White | Wild Rivers Conservancy of the St. Croix & Namekagon | $9,351,000 |
| HA 06 | Mississippi Headwaters Habitat Corridor Project Phase 9 | Tim Terrill | Mississippi Headwaters Board | $9,170,000 |
| HA 07 | Southeast Minnesota Protection and Restoration Phase 13 | Wayne Ostlie | Minnesota Land Trust | $6,267,000 |
| HA 08 | Protecting Coldwater Fisheries on Minnesota's North Shore - Phase 3 | Wayne Ostlie | Minnesota Land Trust | $4,518,000 |
| HA 09 | Metro Big Rivers Phase 15 | Deborah Loon | MN Valley Trust | $21,763,900 |
| HA 10 | Minnesota River Watershed Habitat Conservation Program | Brad Gordon | Great River Greening | $10,955,000 |
| HA 11 | Shell Rock River Watershed Habitat Restoration Program - Phase XIV | Courtney Phillips | Shell Rock River Watershed District | $4,326,500 |
| HA 12 | Protecting Minnesota's Lakes of Outstanding Biological Significance - Phase 4 | Wayne Ostlie | Minnesota Land Trust | $10,161,000 |
| HA 13 | Shakopee Creek: Headwaters Restored; Species and Land Protected | Margaret Johnson | Kandiyohi Soil and Water Conservation | $4,044,400 |
| HA 14 | DNR Trout Stream Conservation Easements - Phase 4 | Rick Walsh | MN DNR | $2,048,000 |
| HA 15 | Fisheries Habitat Protection on Strategic North Central Minnesota Lakes - Phase XI | Annie Knight | Northern Waters Land Trust | $8,578,000 | Habitat Restore / Enhance |
| HRE 01 | Minnesota Statewide Trout Habitat Enhancement - Phase 2 | John Lenczewski | Minnesota Trout Unlimited | $4,710,000 |
| HRE 02 | Restoring and Enhancing Minnesota's Important Bird Areas IV | Alexandra Wardwell | Audubon Upper Mississippi River | $3,592,700 |
| HRE 03 | Fall River Restoration | Robert Kimmel-Hass | Cook County | $1,680,000 |
| HRE 04 | DNR Aquatic Habitat Restoration and Enhancement - Phase 8 | Dean Paron | MN DNR | $13,411,800 |
| HRE 05 | Lake Nokomis Shoreline Enhancements for Turtles and Pollinators, Phase 3 | Adam Arvidson | Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board | $950,000 |
| HRE 06 | Moose Habitat Collaborative, Phase V- NE MN Forest Habitat Enhancement | Scott Johnson | The Ruffed Grouse Society/ American Woodcock Society | $3,851,300 |
| HRE 07 | Rum River Corridor Fish and Wildlife Habitat Enhancement - Phase 3 | Chris Lord | Anoka Conservation District | $1,974,100 |
| Other |
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| O1 | Contract Management | Katherine Sherman-Hoehn | MN DNR | $410,000 |
| O2 | Restoration Evaluations - ML 2025 | Wade Johnson | MN DNR | $200,000 |
| O3 | DNR Core Functions in Partner-led OHF Land Acquisitions | Jennifer Olson | MN DNR | $847,300 |
| O4 | DNR Roving Crew 3 | Greg Hoch | MN DNR | $12,642,700 |
| CPL | Conservation Partners Legacy Grant Program Ph. 17 Statewide and Metro Habitat | David Stein | MN DNR | $15,000,000 |
| Total: $404,584,700 |