Internships

MRR Intern Programs and Contributions:
Four Year Retrospective

2008 Global Warming Effects of Motorized Recreation, Gas Tax Facts, Legislative Candidate Survey

MRR's 2008 intern from the University of Minnesota Duluth Masters in Advocacy and Political Leadership Program conducted a literature review on the global warming effects of motorized recreation. Intern also gathered data for a 2008 Minnesota House of Representatives Candidate Survey regarding gas tax funding of motorized recreation.

Literature review finds that off-road vehicles emit significant amounts of toxic greenhouse gases - ~33% of carbon monoxide output in Maine. Regulation of on-road vehicle emissions has been offset by increase in off-road vehicles. 

Despite a 2007 Minnesota law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions the state lacks data regarding snowmobiles, ATVs, dirt-bike motorcycles, four-wheel drive trucks and motorboats.  Recommended study should also investigate how Minnesota’s gas tax promotion of motorized recreation contributes to global warming.  Reducing the number of off-road vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is indicated.

MRR Global Warming Study finds ORVs generate significant disproportion of green house gasses, 9/23/08
Minnesota House of Representatives Candidates Receive MRR Gas Tax Fact Sheet and Survey, 9/23/08

2007 ORV Effects in the Cloquet Valley State Forest

A 2007 Student Intern Study in the Cloquet Valley State Forest which sought to replicate MRR's 2006 Duluth Off-road Vehcle Effects and Cost of Restoration study. 2007 study data will soon be posted in a new GoogleEarth Cloquet Valley State Forest webpage which may be unique in the nation. Viewers will be able to click on study locations and see photos and video and data over time as MRR works for better enforcement of ATV rules, restoration of damaged areas and accountability in the use of gas-tax revenue for off-road vehicles.

Slideshow and Video: 2007 Off-Road Vehicle Effects and Cost of Restoration Study, DNR Proposed Taft ATV/Snowmobile Trail; Cloquet Valley State Forest, St. Louis County, Minnesota, 4/2/08

2006 ORV Effects and Cost of Restoration Analysis in Two Study Areas, Duluth

In Summer 2006, a trio of UMD Environmental Studies interns applied the damage checklists and assessments developed in 2005 to the Kingsbury Creek trail system behind the Lake Superior Zoo. Interns mapped all trails in a four square mile area with a GPS unit, photographed each damage site with a digital camera, and completed damage records and assessments for all motorized vehicle damage encountered. The interns compiled the data gathered in 2005 and 2006 and prepared a presentation for Mayor Herb Bergson and city and county officials and stakeholders on the importance of continuing to enforce Duluth's 2004 ATV ban. The presentation was a success, with representatives from Duluth's police and parks/recreation departments pledging to work with the mayor and members of the press to enforce illegal ATV use in the city.
Off-Road Vehicle Damage in Duluth

2005 Developing an ORV Effects Checklist & Cost of Restoration Analysis

In 2005 students from the University of Minnesota Duluth Geography Department worked with scientists at the Natural Resources Research Institute developing a protocol for documenting the effects of off-road vehicles on vegetation, soils and streams. To assist with the Weber Stream Initiative to restore North Shore streams, the students then documented ATV impacts in the Amity Creek and Lester River watersheds in Duluth. The "Off-road Vehicle Effects" protocol first developed by the students will be distributed statewide in 2006 as part of MRR's "Toolkit for the Quiet Majority".

2008 Opportunities to the left above.