We have passed the Dedicated Funding bill to help the environment, the arts and to clean up our lakes and streams. Now the fun is beginning. It seems that as soon as decision making is left to people outside of the DNR, who as far as I can tell are the ones that are supposed to know which areas need help, we have in-fighting.

The proposed spending for the Lessard Heritage Fund has already hit a snag. It seems like most of the spending that the Heritage council has recommended for this year is projected to go to outstate Minnesota and some are saying the metro area isn’t getting its fair share. It’s kind of like kids saying, “Little Jimmy got a bigger piece of cake than I did and I’m telling!” The fighting over who gets what piece of the action will probably be ongoing.

I guess some of that it is to be expected. I mean we can’t even put a senator in office without making the Florida election process look like a well-oiled machine. Somehow, I had a gut feeling about how this money would be used. It has already been proposed by one legislator that some of this money should be used to replace state money that has already been earmarked for habitat and clean water. If this is allowed to happen then the tax we voted on is only going to replace funding that was there and not be used for what it was intended for which is to increase our habitat land, better preserve our Minnesota heritage and fund more cleanup of our waters.

After this bill was voted on and passed a 12-member council was set up and voted on by our legislators. This council is to take recommendations and decide on and approve all projects for the Lessard Outdoor Heritage Fund before they are sent to the legislature and the governor for final approval. This was actually part of the bill that we taxpayers voted on in December.

There seem to be certain legislators that are offering up their own bills that would tap into this fund without going through the council. If this were allowed to happen it seems like it would surely have a negative effect on the Heritage Council’s ability to designate the money for projects like it was created to do. Although the council will listen to ideas from other sources it sounds to me like some legislators have their own agenda and are afraid that this council won’t accept their ideas. Some of these ideas may be very good but they should be presented to the council for approval in order for the system to work.

Hopefully the funding will be used in the way that it was intended and we will see our great Minnesota outdoors benefit from it.

We once again have been reminded that “it’s not over ‘til it’s over” when it comes to winter. We’ve had a little bit of everything this past week, but fear not because we’ll soon be blurting out the famous Minnesota phrase for summer “hot enough for you?”

My brother-in-law Lynn who lives in Nome, Alaska has called me off and on for the past two weeks with weather updates. He said he’s never seen as many blizzards come through one after another. He sent me a picture from the inside of his house the other day. His front door was open and the snow was banked up about 10-inches from the top of the door, you could actually see the imprint of the door in it. He said the winds were a steady 36-mph with gusts close to 60-mph. After seeing those pictures and looking on the web cam of the Nome Nugget I have come to the conclusion that I don’t have anything to whine about when it comes to our weather.

He does, at every opportunity, call me when our temperatures are in the minus mode and he is basking in a balmy 36 degrees. When it comes to the weather I don’t try to retaliate or “get even” which is my first thought when falling victim to one of his pranks or witty remarks. I just figure that there is no way that I could live where he does in the winter months without losing at least a little bit of my sanity. Having to endure all those blizzards would surely give me the ultimate case of cabin fever.

When I first moved into my present home in 1973 I discovered that my next door neighbor was an avid fisherman. I remember that in March of ‘74 we still had a lot of snow on the ground and there he was in his driveway hooking his boat up to the car. I asked him where he was going and he said it was time to head to the river for some walleye fishing. At the time I thought “now there’s a guy that has taken his love of fishing a little too far.” I soon discovered that he wasn’t alone in his desire to cure cabin fever and hit some open water. A few days later I read a column by Ron Schara in the Star Tribune and he talked about fishing the Mississippi River in the Red Wing area and there were pictures of quite a few other boats fishing the river that day as well. These folks were not only fishing but were indeed catching fish.

I guess you could classify this as an adventure and years ago I would probably have been there if the opportunity had presented itself. Today I’m quite happy waiting for warmer weather and am willing to settle for a bit more comfort and a little less adventure.

Until next time stay warm, think spring and get out and enjoy the great Minnesota outdoors.

Remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers throughout the year.