Environmental Contaminants (EC) Program staff from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) Twin Cities Ecological Services Field Office met with representatives from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) newly formed “Emerging Issues Team”, February 20, to share ideas for collaborating on emerging contaminant issues in Minnesota. 

This is an important first step in maintaining communication and coordination to help agencies in Minnesota work together to identify and address contaminant-related resource issues before they become “the next DDT”. 

The Service’s trust resource management responsibilities in Minnesota were explained along with an overview of the EC Program. 

MPCA presented the emerging issues they’ve identified to date.  Several partnering options to collect contaminant data and evaluate potential effects to fish and wildlife resources in Minnesota were discussed. 

Service staff noted how “focus areas” might be an effective approach to manage such large-scale issues, including the use of Minnesota’s Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy.