About
Students Speak Out is a place for teens to be heard. Build solutions. Influence change.
For this SSO project, the Citizens League is working with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to engage Minnesotans in the Parks and Trails Legacy Project. The project will establish guidelines for how money from the 2008 constitutional "Legacy Amendment" (money from the sales tax increase MN voters approved) for parks and trails and other sources of DNR funding will be spent over the next 25 years. Importantly, these guidelines will be based on the vision and priorities of Minnesotans.
The activities here are for teens to weigh in and provide their ideas and guidance on how they think the money should be spent. Future generations of Minnesotans are a big part of the reason for the legacy funds, so it’s crucial that we hear what you think about how to spend the money.
What we (the Citizens League and DNR) learn here on CitiZing will be combined with feedback from the over 18 Parks and Trails project and a host of in-person meetings (both past and present) to guide the recommendations. Recommendations for how to spend the money will be outlined in a plan that will go to the legislature this winter. It will ultimately be up to the legislature to decide how to move forward and allocate the funds.
Please join us here, and know you’re welcome at the over 18 Parks and Trails project too! We’ll be inviting the 18+’s to join us here, and we welcome you to learn and participate over there as well.