For almost a decade, researchers from the University of Minnesota have been studying wolves in north central Minnesota in and around Voyageurs National Park.
Their research, which has come to be known as the Voyageurs Wolf Project, involves studying the role of wolves in that ecosystem - their reproduction and direct impact on prey populations, as well as indirect impacts on the area's forests and wetlands.
That study requires supplies like radio collars, remote cameras, tracking equipment and trapping equipment. Thanks to the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF), researchers can effectively gather data while handling the animals safely and navigating the area off-trail, said Joseph Bump, a University of Minnesota professor and researcher with the project.
"Funds from the Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund make the project possible," Bump said. "It really is a comprehensive funding source that is essential to our work, and the broader program is an asset to the state of Minnesota."
The Voyageurs Wolf Project is one of many projects funded since the ENRTF was first established in 1988 when 77% of Minnesota voters agreed to a constitutional amendment creating the fund. The dedicated dollars pay for activities and projects that protect, conserve and preserve the state's natural resources - air, water, fish and wildlife - for the benefit of current and future Minnesotans.
The trust fund, which is partly funded by proceeds from the Minnesota State Lottery system, has provided more than $1 billion for more than 1,600 projects statewide since 1991. Voters across the state will have the opportunity in November to extend the arrangement, which allocates 40% of state lottery proceeds to the fund that is set to expire in 2025.
A blank selection on the ballot question would count as a "no" vote, meaning that in order for the amendment to pass, 50% of all voters statewide must vote yes.
The fund is overseen by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR), a commission of five lawmakers each from the House and Senate, two citizen members appointed by each chamber and five additional citizens appointed by the governor. The LCCMR makes recommendations for projects that would be funded by the trust fund to the Legislature each year, including a package this year of 101 projects totaling nearly $80 million.
In addition to the Voyageurs Wolf Project, other projects funded by the Trust Fund over the past decade include:
The new amendment was altered to explicitly ban the funds from being used on the construction, repair, improvement or operation of wastewater treatment plants, which have received dollars from the fund in the past. The change comes after outrage from environmental groups in 2018, sparked by lawmakers using the fund to pay for such projects.
The ENRTF differs from the Legacy Amendment, which was another constitutional amendment voted on by Minnesota voters in 2008. The Legacy Amendment, which is set to expire in 2034, uses sales tax to pour money into four separate funds dedicated to outdoor heritage, clean water, parks and trails and arts and cultural heritage.
DFL Rep. Rick Hansen of South St. Paul, who chairs the House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee and co-chairs the LCCMR, said the ENRTF has funded more research over the years than the Legacy funds, but the main difference between the two sources is the trust fund is ongoing while the Legacy funds are not.
"(The Legacy Amendment) is using the sales tax with appropriations ... generally, that is money that is appropriated and that is not a trust," Hansen said. "The importance right now with the trust fund is to continue the constitutional protection of money going into that trust."
Due to Minnesotans in urban, suburban and rural areas across the political spectrum all valuing the outdoors, clean water and clean air, Hansen said there has been very little opposition to projects supported by the fund.
"Minnesotans enjoy the great outdoors, they value clean water and clean air, and they put their trust in us as their elected officials to implement good projects," Hansen said. "By establishing this fund constitutionally, and the question in front of us to continue that constitutional dedication, it provides protection to that trust that we will invest in the right things to help our state be better."