Although legislative leaders appear to be hastening to finish the 2012 session early, environment chairs in both chambers still have a number of policy issues to wrestle with before their work is done.

The fourth round of constitutionally dedicated funding for outdoors projects is under way at the state Capitol.

Republicans in the state Legislature are advancing a new set of initiatives to overhaul environmental regulation. The measures come after they reached accord last year with Gov. Mark Dayton on a sweeping bill that streamlined the environmental permitting process.

News that Susan Thornton, the chief staffer for the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR), had been fired came as a shock last week to many state legislators and people who lobby on environmental funding issues.

The Minnesota Legislative Auditor has written the latest chapter in the murky saga of what’s constitutionally permissible when it comes to spending state Legacy Amendment dollars. And in a 37-page report released Wednesday, Legislative Auditor Jim Nobles dealt an apparent blow to a key article of faith held by many environment and conservation groups.

Nobody knows what the legislative maps will look like in 2012. The politically charged redistricting process will almost certainly be decided by the courts, most likely in February. But that uncertainty over legislative district boundaries hasn’t stopped numerous challengers on both sides of the aisle from declaring their candidacies.

In 1954, when Tom Anzelc was 8 years old, his family was kicked off their plot of land near Keewatin on the Iron Range. The parcel, along with 40 to 60 others, was confiscated for mineral exploration.

On its face, the vote taken recently by the state’s top constitutional officers to delay the granting of mineral rights leases on the Iron Range for six months was democracy in action: government bending to a public outcry and pledging to explore the issues raised.

The news of GOP Rep. Tom Hackbarth’s appointment to head a new House energy subcommittee signals the beginning of his return from nearly a year in political purgatory.

Environmental and conservation groups harbor growing doubts about the constitutional soundness of state lawmakers’ use of so-called Legacy dedicated funds for outdoors and cultural projects.