The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources has awarded new grant funding to five soil and water conservation districts as part of its Keep it Clean Program, an initiative designed to reduce waste left on frozen lakes during winter recreation.

Two of the selected districts sit in the far north: Beltrami County and Lake of the Woods County, where ice fishing draws thousands of anglers each year. Local officials say the funding will help tackle a growing concern: trash, debris, and wastewater left behind on the ice that can end up polluting lakes once the thaw arrives.

Under the program, districts will use the grants to boost education and outreach, expand cleanup events, and promote proper disposal practices at access points and ice roads. Awards range from twenty-four-and-a-half thousand to forty thousand dollars.

BWSR Executive Director John Jaschke says the goal is to work with winter sports communities to reduce waste and protect the water quality Minnesotans depend on.The Keep it Clean Program is funded through a one-time, two-hundred-thousand-dollar state appropriation approved earlier this year.