Protect County Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Aid

Sun, 09 Mar 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Gov. Walz has proposed cutting the County AIS Prevention Aid formula in his 2025 budget recommendations by 50%. In 2025, the Minnesota Legislature decided to continue full funding of the program until July 1, 2027.

If the County AIS Prevention Aid is cut:

Property taxes on your lake place will increase to fill the budget hole,
Local jobs doing lake work will be lost,
Support for lake association programs will be lost,
AIS will spread, impacting lake ecology and diminishing recreation and fisheries,
Local tourism economy will suffer.

The data is clear, the County AIS Prevention Aid formula, the MLR successfully lobbied to create in 2014, has had a huge impact. This program literally bent the New AIS Invasion Curve. In addition MN's County AIS Prevention Aid program:

AIS Prevention Aid funded grant programs award around $1.8M annually to 200 local partner’s projects leveraging over $1.2M in additional funding.
AIS Prevention Aid programs conducted AIS surveys on over 640 lakes and rivers in 2022 resulting in 45 new AIS infestations detected in 35 Counties and reported to MN DNR.
AIS Prevention Aid supported an average of 883 jobs and leveraged 7305 hours contributed by 538 volunteers.
Networks involved 285 lake associations, over 40 conservation groups, 250 businesses, 80 schools/youth organizations and 145 local governments
Local planning and implementation efforts have been guided by 35 county AIS task forces and committees which are largely supported by county AIS plans
Enforcement by training 112 local officers who enforced AIS laws in nearly 20 counties reaching over 5,600 boaters
Communications and outreach which educated nearly 39,000 residents and visitors during nearly 190 public events, over 30 counties that taught nearly 13, 400 children about AIS prevention and 25 counties posted prevention messages on social media.

Contact Gov. Walz and your legislators and urge him to protect the County Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Aid formula. It is saving the state money, protecting resources and our resource based economy, and it is working.

Current Actions

Protect County Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Aid