St. Paul, MN - Yesterday, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed legislation on a vote of 90-39 authored by State Representative Lucy Rehm (DFL-Chanhassen) to support the expansion and protection of native prairies across the state.
“Native prairies contribute to Minnesota by reducing agricultural erosion that threatens future soil health as well as providing a critical habitat for a disproportionate number of rare and native species,” said Rep. Rehm. “We also know native prairies are better at storing carbon than forests with similar environmental characteristics and provide clean water by filtering agricultural run-off before it enters our water. This is a good bill for Minnesota and I’m grateful for the bipartisan support.”
Rep. Rehm’s bill will strengthen the Native Prairie Bank program and better protect vulnerable native prairie lands in Minnesota by increasing the Native Prairie Bank easement payment rates so that they are commensurate with the level of protection offered by the program.
The bill is traveling in the Minnesota Senate.
###