FERGUS FALLS — As Minnesota moves toward tougher enforcement of buffer strips intended to keep farm runoff from fouling streams and lakes, Otter Tail and other counties are showing how a less confrontational approach can work.

When Gov. Mark Dayton recently pushed for tougher state enforcement, Minnesota Public Radio

reports that farm groups pushed back, calling his plan unworkable. But in Otter Tail County, officials are taking an analytical approach and reaching out to landowners with customized guidance on how to meet the local ordinance, which also calls for the buffer strips.

So far, 40 percent of landowners have responded to the county’s letters telling them their shoreland needs buffers.