MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Carp, wolves, moose, copper and sand will be high on the agenda as the Minnesota Legislature tackles environmental and outdoor issues this session.

Key players agree the Legislature may finally take concrete action against the advance of Asian carp up the Mississippi River. The Department of Natural Resources wants to draw the line by building an expensive barrier. And the discussion won’t stop there.

The landscape for environmental and natural resource issues has shifted since the last session, when the GOP controlled the Legislature. Democrats now control both chambers and the governor’s office for the first time since 1990, and they lead all the key committees. But prospects for the shift in power leading to policy changes are tempered by the need to close an estimated $1.1 billion budget deficit.

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