Environmental News

MPR News is your source for environment news from Minnesota and across the country.

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Minnesota given more than 700 acres near the St. Croix River
Hundreds of acres of woods and wetlands, including three miles of St. Croix riverfront, join preserved public land in an east-central state forest, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Trust for Public Land announced Tuesday.
Did the historic flooding on Rainy Lake this summer have to be so bad? 
The historic flooding on Rainy Lake this summer has been driven by record-setting spring rains that fell on top of a late-melting winter snowpack. But many residents believe that more could have been done to prevent the worst impacts of the flooding. 
North Dakota farmland purchase tied to Gates stirs emotion
The sale of a couple thousand acres of prime North Dakota farmland to a group tied to Bill Gates has stirred emotions over a Depression-era law meant to protect family farms and raised questions about whether the billionaire shares the state’s values.
DNR releases draft wolf management plan
The Minnesota DNR released a draft wolf management plan that calls for maintaining a statewide population of between 2,200 and 3,000 wolves. It does not take a position on a wolf hunting season.
Federal review says copper-nickel mining poses an environmental risk to BWCA
The Superior National Forest has released a draft environmental study on a proposed 20-year moratorium on new copper mines over a 350-square mile area in the watershed of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.