North Dakota officials broke ground near the town of Horace last week for a flood-control structure that will eventually channel floodwater on a 36-mile detour around the city of Fargo.

The structure is part of a $2 billion flood control project that has drawn criticism and opposition from the state of Minnesota. Local media reported about a dozen protesters attended the ceremony — many of them residents whose properties would likely be flooded as a result of water backing up onto land in North Dakota and Minnesota in an effort to keep Fargo dry.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has refused to issue a permit for a high-hazard dam across the Red River that is a key component of the overall project.

Nevertheless, officials who tossed ceremonial shovels of dirt at the site of the inlet and control structure that will mark the southern point of the ditch around Fargo expressed confidence that Minnesota's objections will be overcome in the next few years, when work is scheduled to begin on the Minnesota side of the Red River.

"The idea here is comprehensive flood protection for the region that recognizes that everybody is important. The thing that is so important is that we have to work together," Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said. "And for those folks who are impacted, we can work hard to make sure they are treated fairly and well, and we are committed to doing that."

Jennifer Brooks

AUSTIN

Nature center opens new gateway on Earth Day

The Jay C. Hormel Nature Center marked Earth Day on Saturday with the opening of a new interpretive center that will offer expanded exhibits and enhance its educational mission.

The center broke ground on the project on Earth Day last year, "so we basically completed it in one full revolution of the Earth around the sun," said Luke Reese, the nature center's director.

The 15,000-square-foot structure cost $5.8 million, including a $5 million gift from the Jay C. Hormel Foundation. The Friends of the Hormel Nature Center raised an additional $1 million to build the exhibits, which were created by Split Rock Studio of Arden Hills.

Reese said the interpretive center isn't intended to be a museum, but rather is designed to function as a gateway to the 508 acres of the nature center itself.

"What we want it to do is tie into what people are going to see out on the land," Reese said. "We have forest, prairie and wetland habitats. For me, the building is a connection to what they're going to see outside."

The new center is about three times the size of the existing facility and includes two dedicated classrooms. It provides nature education to nearly all the students in the Austin school district as well as students in neighboring districts.

Jay C. Hormel, the son of Hormel Foods founder George Hormel, headed the company for 25 years until his death in 1954. The city of Austin purchased part of his estate in 1971 to create the nature center.

JOHN REINAN