Policy Timeline

Year President Governor Movies Culture Minnesota Environmental Law and Conservation National Environmental Law and Conservation
1953 Eisenhower C. Anderson Hillary climbs Mt. Everest Majority of MN citizens now live in cities Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act
1954 On the Waterfront Site selected for Met Stadium
1955 Freeman Reserve Mining begins operation near Silver Bay Watershed Act, Water Resources Board created Commission created to deal with sea lamprey infestation in Great Lakes
1956 The King and I 1st game in Met Stadium (Mpls Millers) Southdale opens Soil Bank Program created
1957 12 Angry Men Sputnik launched 1st Watershed District created
1958 1st Russian in space
1959 Some Like it Hot 1st Metro Interstate miles laid Corn yield: 39 bu/ac  Soybeans: 19 bu/ac
1960 FDA approves birth control pill
1961 Kennedy E. Anderson Twins and Vikings both arrive        Berlin Wall goes up Gov. Freeman appointed U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and tries to cut production
1962 Lawrence of Arabia Chinatown Skyways built in Minneapolis          John Glenn orbits earth Silent Spring is published
1963 Rolvaag Guthrie Theater opens Land and Water Conservation Fund created
1964 Johnson My Fair Lady
1965 Sound of Music Gatorade invented St. Paul sees highest flood peak on Mississippi River (others in 52, 69, 97, and 01)
1966
1967 LeVander The Graduate Nicollet Avenue Mall State Soil Conservation Committee (1937) becomes Soil & Water Conservation Commission; Met. Council forms; MPCA replaces the Water Pollution Control Commission.
1968 2001
1969 Nixon Butch Cassidy         Easy Rider      Vikings lose Super Bowl;            Apollo Mission lands on moon Shoreland Management Act; Metropolitan Waste Control Commission takes control of wastewater system Cuyahoga River burns in Cleveland
1970 M*A*S*H                     Patton Control Data Building built            Windsurfer patented Norman Borlaug wins Nobel Peace Prize; Mankato floodwall construction begins Clean Air Act Amendments, Water Quality Improvement Act, first Earth Day
1971 W. Anderson The French Connection IDS Tower tops out; deer hunting season canceled Water pollution Control Fund, Environmental Rights Act (MERA), Air & Sold Waste Permits, Southern Minnesota Rivers Basin Council
1972 The Godfather Federal Water Pollution Control Act, Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act, Coastal Zone Management Act, Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act, Noise Control
1973 American Graffiti Civic Center opens for hockey; Vikings lose second Super Bowl; Wendell Anderson on cover of Time Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), Environmental Quality Board (EQB) Established, Public Waters Protection, Wild & Scenic Rivers Act Endangered Species Act, phaseout of leaded gasoline starts
1974 Ford Reserve Mining ordered to cease discharge; Vikings lose third Super Bowl Hazardous Waste Control, Metropolitan Land Use, County Planning Authority Safe Drinking Water Act
1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Jaws First home computer marketed SWCC (1967) becomes Soil & Water Conservation Board; first Minnesota River Fish Consumption Advisory due to elevated PCBs Voyageurs National Park created
1976 Rocky Vikings lose fourth Super Bowl Public Waters and Wetlands Protection Federal Land Policy and Management Act, National Forest Management Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Toxic Substances Control Act
1977 Carter Perpich Star Wars Apple II computer marketed SWCD Cost-Share Program established Clean Air Act Amendments, Clean Water Act, Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
1978 Deer Hunter Science Museum opens;                first GPS satellites launched Creation of Lake Improvement Districts, Area II MN River Basin Projects Inc. forms,  BWCAW established Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Amendments
1979 Quie Apocalypse Now 3-Mile Island nuclear incident Local Floodplain Management
1980 Miracle on Ice EIS Categories; Waste Management Board created Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“Superfund”)
1981 Reagan Raiders of the Lost Ark IBM PC marketed
1982 E.T. Memorial Stadium demolished; Pheasants Forever founded Metropolitan Surface Water Management Act
1983 Perpich City Center opens Superfund Act
1984 Ghostbusters Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments
1985 Ordway Theatre opens; Decade-long sewer separation starts in metro County Water Management Act; Solid Waste Management Act mandates recycling Farm Bill creates Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
1986 Platoon Zebra mussels found in the U.S.  Mounds View pipeline rupture  Chernobyl nuclear explosion Re-Invest in Minnesota Reserve (RIM) Safe Drinking Water Amendments, Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act
1987 Eurasian Water Milfoil found in MN Twins win World Series Board of Water and Soil Resources created from organizations founded in 1937, ’55, and ’71 Water Quality Act
1988 Hazardous Waste Cleanup Liens, Environmental Trust Fund Endangered Species Act Reauthorization, Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act Amendments
1989 Bush Exxon Valdez spill Groundwater Protection Act; Mankato floodwall construction completed.
1990 Dances With Wolves World population at 5 billion; Hubble space telescope Nitrogen Fertilizer Management Plan second Farm Bill
1991 Carlson Silence of the Lambs MOA opens Wetland Conservation Act (WCA)
1992 Unforgiven Pilot Wetland Reserve Program (WRP)
1993 Clinton Schindler’s List First Minnesota Envirothon held WCA amended to require less mitigation in counties with >80% of pre-settlement wetlands; Minnesota River flood of record
1994 Forrest Gump BWSR Coastal engineer established, Amendments to the WCA WRP goes national, Soil Conservation Service becomes NRCS
1995 Toy Story Farm Bill
1996 Amendments to the WCA
1997 Titanic First cloned mammal Major Red River flood Kyoto treaty
1998 Saving Private Ryan Hunting and fishing amendent RIM matched with WRP and CREP, Red River Basin Flood Damage Reduction Work Group Minnesota River is 2nd Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program created
1999   Ventura   (Janos) New Science Museum built
2000 Gladiator, Chocolat Great Lakes Aquarium opens BWSR State Soils Office established w/ U of M Amendments to the WCA
2001 Bush September 11 attack, Afganistan War begins Amendments to the WCA
2002 Spider-Man Large Red River flood in June, BWSR coastal engineering program terminated Farm Bill
2003 Pawlenty Finding Nemo SWCD statute modernization
2004 Ray
2005 CREP II established Energy Bill pushes ethanol
2006 Red Lake re-opens for walleye Clean Water Legacy Act, Clean Water Council created, PCA approves statewide mercury TMDL
2007 Juno Wind energy tops 1,000 MW corn yield: 146 bu/ac  soybeans: 41 bu/ac Energy Independence and Food Security Act pushes ethanol,  CRP enrollment peaks in Midwest
2008 Iron Man 35W bridge collapse 3/8 of 1 % sales tax amendment passes; Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council created Farm Bill
2009 Obama The Hurt Locker BWSR expands to 20-members, Technical Service Areas consolidate from 11 to 8 Hydraulic fracturing technology radically alters energy sources, trade, and environmental impact.
2010 Avatar Lake Vermillion State Park, Conservation Apprentice Academy funded by LCCMR
2011 Dayton Moneyball 2nd Gulf War ends AIS controls and enforcement expanded
2012 Argo, Zero Dark Thirty Comprehensive changes to water planning statutes Major farm bill discussion fails
2013 Captain Phillips One World Trade Center tops out
2014 DNR moves to est. Groundwater Mgmt. area Farm bill passes linking conservation to subsidized crop insurance and ‘sodsaver’ provision