The Minneapolis-based McKnight Foundation has announced 139 fourth-quarter grants totaling $24.4 million.

Grants totaling $1.35 million were approved to conserve and protect lands that affect water quality in the Mississippi River basin, including $250,000 to the Parks and Trails Council of Minnesota in St. Paul, for a land acquisition program; $130,000 over two years to the Land Stewardship Project, in White Bear Lake, to engage farmers in increased conservation efforts; and $750,000 to the Conservation Fund of Arlington, Virginia, for outreach to increase land protection along the entire Mississippi River and to expand the Mississippi River Revolving Fund.

"Healthy, sustainable farming practices and pollution controls along the river are crucial to improving water quality, but they're only part of the picture," said McKnight board chair Erika L. Binger. "We also must conserve and restore lands along the Mississippi River and its key tributaries."

Grants were awarded in each of the foundation's five program areas: the arts (twenty-seven grants totaling $1,635,000), children and families (fifty-seven grants totaling $12,626,100), environment (nineteen grants totaling $2,579,000), region and communities (twenty-three grants totaling $6,390,000), and international (thirteen grants totaling $1,128,000).

For a complete list of fourth-quarter grants and recipients, see: http://mcknight.org/grantee_results.aspx?
date_approved=11%2F20%2F2004.