LCCMR strategic-planning survey: 1,641 responses; land and wildlife habitat top priorities

Staff presented preliminary results from the commission’s strategic-planning public engagement campaign, reporting 1,641 public survey responses and three engagement components: a public survey, a subject-matter-expert survey, and listening sessions in several Minnesota communities.

Why it matters: The strategic-planning work will guide LCCMR priorities for future Environment & Natural Resources Trust Fund funding cycles and can influence which proposal types receive higher consideration. Public input helps the commission align priorities with community concerns.

Key findings presented by Mike Campana: the public survey responses were skewed older (overrepresentation of ages 65–74) and predominantly white (about 85% of respondents); regional responses slightly overrepresented Northeast Minnesota. Respondents could select up to three focus areas; nearly 50% chose land, wildlife and habitat as a top focus. Lakes, rivers and aquatic habitat, climate change and water quality followed in importance. When asked which types of activities should receive funding, respondents ranked restoring and enhancing land and water first, planning and design second, and land acquisition third. Education, research, equitable funding distribution, and infrastructure had lower relative rankings.

Staff also noted outreach efforts (translations into Spanish, Hmong, Somali and Karen; dissemination to nearly 400 organizations; press release and social posts) and the listening sessions held in Saint Paul, Brainerd, Detroit Lakes and St. Cloud. Campana said staff will continue to analyze the more than 1,200 open-ended responses to identify common themes and to present a more targeted summary to the strategic-planning subcommittee.

Quote: “There were 1,641 responses to the survey,” Campana told the commission, describing demographic and regional patterns in responses and the top-ranked focus areas.

What happens next: Staff will refine and present survey analysis and listening-session synthesis to the strategic-planning subcommittee over the coming weeks; materials and raw responses are posted on the commission meeting page for members and the public to review.

Public comment: Rick Keller spoke during public testimony urging that third parties who receive trust-fund dollars be held to the same digital-accessibility standards LCCMR will adopt beginning October 2024, and recommended that contract terms require third-party compliance.