Protecting and Preserving Minnesota Values
Our Minnesota, Our Values
Minnesota is an exceptional state in our Union with an abundance of lakes, rivers, and natural resources. Our state's ecosystems, history, and values deserve to be protected and preserved for future generations. Our residents have long cherished and protected these crucial features of Minnesota's heritage. Our state's great values, culture, and opportunities for success are the reasons that so many people have decided to make Minnesota their home. Since its admission to the Union in 1858, Minnesota has continued to be a model of the American Dream.
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Many of Minnesota's fundamental values are being challenged in government, schools, and the public. These include replacing our state's flag and seal, transforming our state into a sanctuary state, and giving illegal immigrants driver's license. These changes will diminish Minnesota's ability to serve its citizens and preserve their values.
Conserving Minnesota's Natural Beauty
Minnesota is home to 11,842 lakes, Voyageurs National Park, 65 state parks, and 9 recreation areas. Our state has 69,000 miles of rivers and the North Shore of Lake Superior. Minnesota contains more shoreline than California, Hawaii, and Florida combined. Minnesota is rich in wildlife, natural resources, wetlands, grasslands, and water systems. All of these crucial ecosystems need to be protected through conservation policies that improve habitats, allow the use of natural resources without wildlife disruption, and prevent rezoning that leads to deforestation.
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Minnesota laws should focus on conservation as a key element in preserving our state's natural beauty. Green spaces should be used to make rural, suburban, and urban areas safe, attractive, and usable. All neighborhoods should have natural areas with recreational zones for residents to use. State policies also need to reduce and prevent dumping byproducts or chemical waste into the environment. Our residents deserve a North Star State that always points to environmental conservation for our future generations.
Returning Our State Flag
In May 2024, the new Minnesota state flag was raised on the State Capitol. Opponents of the original state flag argued it embodied racist stereotypes against Native Americans and promoted insensitive historical material. The original state flag represents key events, peoples, and places of Minnesota history that should not be erased, ignored, or forgotten.
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Native erasure, settler erasure, and historical revisionism is a visible threat when considering the new state flag. Replacing the state flag will lead to further considerations of what else could be changed, including streets, cities, and parks. We need to confront this trend of replacing historical items accused of insensitivity, when in reality such changes are further delegitimizing the existence of Minnesota. Decisions of changing or updating state imagery should be left to the voters.
