Water Quality

The walk on July 25, 2026, spanned 13 miles from Big Sandy Lake in McGregor to Tamarack, with women taking turns carrying a bucket of water.

As wildfires burn, they release a mixture of toxic compounds like heavy metals, mercury and carcinogenic chemicals that form from burning organic matter.

Forty-six lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands were added, including Big Stony Lake near Park Rapids, Emily Lake in Crow Wing County and Birch Lake in Hackensack.

The plan will guide the implementation of voluntary conservation projects and programs in the northeastern Minnesota watershed over the next decade.

A bipartisan appropriations bill included $10 million in federal funding toward Northland infrastructure projects, $1 million of which will fund Hib-WATER.

The Hibbing Gas Manufacturing Plant was torn down in 1980, but the industrial processes of the past left contamination in the soil, groundwater and nearby surface water.

A conservation easement will protect the property spanning forests, wetlands, cliffs and streams. Half of the protected acreage is considered to be "high biodiversity."

As the U.S. Senate prepares to vote on reversing a 2023 mining ban in the Superior National Forest, Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith spoke on the Senate floor April 14, 2026.

The bill seeks to integrate wild rice waters into the ag department's pesticide management plan, developing better practices to monitor pesticide distribution, use and disposal.

The Republican from Hermantown authored the American Water Stewardship Act, and it passed March 24, 2026, with bipartisan support.