FMR Updates

Reconnecting with the river: MPR and North News share North Minneapolis' river stories

by sue rich

August 13, 2019

Recently, two local media projects from MPR and North News highlighted North Minneapolis residents' relationships with water and our Big River.

The MPR stories are a riveting listen, while the stunning North News issue is both a refreshing read and a graceful portrait of a community's multi-faceted relationship to the river. >>

Bold riverfront development plan rises in St. Paul

by Colleen O'Connor Toberman

August 12, 2019

In the past, development proposals for the former county jail site in downtown St. Paul have fallen through. It's a challenging area: a bluff, railroad tracks and Shepard Road separate the river's edge from the city. But AECOM's proposed Riversedge project thinks big about how to overcome these challenges — and might ultimately deliver. >>

Attack of the killer... algae?

by Peter LaFontaine

August 9, 2019

A destructive storm can have a silver lining; Hurricane Barry seems to have lessened the Gulf of Mexico's dead zone. But this year's algae blooms are still hurting Minnesota's waterways. >>

NPR: As climate changes, taxpayers will shoulder larger U.S. payouts to farmers

by Trevor Russell

August 9, 2019

A recent National Public Radio story highlighted the risks that climate change may pose to both farm operations and Americans' pocketbooks in the years to come. >>

Listen: Kernza's continuous cover

by Peter LaFontaine

August 8, 2019

What is Kernza and why do some experts think it's such a big part of Minnesota's farming future? In the Land Stewardship Project's Ear to the Ground podcast, learn more from the people working to advance this exciting new crop. >>

Landslides are on the rise in Minnesota

by Irene Jones

August 6, 2019

Wetter weather has increased landslides that slough slopes into our roads and rivers, sometimes with dangerous consequences for water and life. A mapping project aims to identify risk areas so we can safeguard our slopes. >>

Downstream damage in 2019: how the Midwest kills fish in the Gulf of Mexico

by Peter LaFontaine

July 19, 2019

Scientists predict the formation of an enormous dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico this summer, and some of the blame lies right here in Minnesota. Find out what links us to an ocean half a continent away, and how we can help. >>