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September 4, 2015 (800) 657-4665 www.TheLandOnline.com theland@TheLandOnline.com P.O. Box 3169, Mankato, MN 56002
NORTHERN EDITION
pwards of 70 U percent of Minnesota landowners have no idea what the buffer law says and what they need to do about it, according to farm drainage attorney Kurt Deter, of RinkeNoonan in St. Cloud, Minn. Deter has been traveling the state talking buffers to offer some clarity. “It’s the law,” he said. “We need to deal with it and hopefully make it something of a positive.” While Deter expects litigation to better define the law and make minor changes, he said the law isn’t going away. The clock is ticking, however, with buffers required on public waters by November 2017 and public ditches by November 2018. On Aug. 13, nearly 200 landowners, county commissioners, watershed districts, farmers and environmentalists attended an agricultural drainage workshop in Mankato, Minn. The meeting was sponsored in part by the I+S Group, a Mankato-based engineering, architecture and environmental planning firm. Both landowners and representatives from watershed districts expressed concern over the implementation, which is a work in progress. “It’s all a good idea, but to get it to work is the problem,” said Lee Johnson of St. Peter, See BUFFERS, pg. 6 Minn., a field representative for Minnesota Farmers Union.
By MARIE WOOD The Land Associate Editor