NEWS TRIBUNE
The 12 members appointed this week to the Lessard Outdoor Heritage Council will meet at 1 p.m. Monday in St. Paul, according to a news release from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
The council will recommend to the Minnesota Legislature where to appropriate money from the Outdoor Heritage Fund, created when Minnesota voters on Nov. 4 approved the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. That amendment increased the state sales tax by three-eighths of 1 percent, approximately one-third of which is dedicated to the Outdoor Heritage Fund.
The Lessard Outdoor Heritage Council, named after longtime State Sen. Bob Lessard of International Falls, is charged with recommending appropriations to restore, protect and enhance wetlands, prairies, forests and habitat for game, fish and wildlife. It has been predicted that the fund will reach approximately $80 million in fiscal year 2010 and $91 million in 2011.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty appointed James Cox of Cologne, Minn.; Wayne Enger of Perham, Minn.; Scott Rall of Worthington, Minn.; and Bob Schroeder of Minneapolis to the council.
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House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher named David Hartwell of Minneapolis; Darby Nelson of Champlin, Minn.; Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul; and Rep. Bob Gunther, R-Fairmont.
The Minnesota Senate Subcommittee on Committees appointed Lester Bensch of Ashby, Minn.; Michael Kilgore of Lino Lakes, Minn.; Sen. Ellen Anderson, DFL-St. Paul; and Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria.
