Board approves Lower St. Croix Watershed Partnership amendments to expand forest-management eligibility and extend grant term

The Pine County Board of Commissioners approved policy-committee recommendations to amend the Lower St. Croix Watershed Partnership comprehensive plan and work plan to expand priority areas for forest management and to add woodland stewardship plans as an eligible activity.

County staff said the changes are minor wording edits to allow forest-management and woodland stewardship plans on additional parcels that drain to regionally significant rivers, streams or lakes. The policy-committee recommendation also updates the list of regionally significant streams and reallocated existing budget line items without changing the overall grant total. Finally, the partnership requested a one-year extension of the related grant agreement so work can continue.

Kelly, a county staff member, told the board the work-plan change “just moves it, you know, reallocates the funds between the budget lines that already existed,” and stressed the changes do not use county general-fund dollars. Steve, who sits on the partnership policy committee, said the partnership’s current structure (not a joint powers agreement) requires multiple boards to approve plan modifications and that the review process can slow minor technical changes.

The county moved and seconded the policy-committee recommendation and approved the amendments and the one-year extension by voice vote.

Board action: the board voted to approve the policy-committee’s minor amendments to the watershed comprehensive plan and work plan, budget reallocations within the existing grant, and a one-year extension of the grant agreement.

Staff noted these amendments are funded through watershed partnership funds and not by county local dollars and described ongoing discussion among partner jurisdictions about whether a joint powers structure would simplify future amendments.