Minnesota Spends $10M a Year on This!

MPR News reports that the Minnesota state Legislature has allocated $10M each year since 2014 towards fighting invasive species in lakes and waterways, such as zebra muscles and starry stonewort.

$10 MILLION! That's a ton!

Each year, counties have to submit a spending plan as their request for money from this fund to fight the invasive species in their waters.

WCCO reports that "the state allocates funds by using a formula based on the county’s number of public boat landings and boat trailer parking spaces."

I'm surprised that this amount of money is only for invasive species in the water when invasive plants and animals are still very much present and a problem.

Because of these funds, though, new initiatives to rid Minnesota's waterways of invasive species have come up, but it's hard to track the success rate. "It’s unclear if the money is protecting Minnesota’s lakes. Reporting is slim and invasive species are tough to track."

Sources:

MPR News

WCCO

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