Newsletter - 2011 Year in Review
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New Maps for the Blue Earth and the South Fork of the Crow Rivers
Award-winning website gets even better
Youth Outreach and Outdoor Education on a Grand Scale
Minnesota Trails Receive Top National Honors
Community Partnership Improves Water Trail Facilities
Minnesota's Newest State Water Trail - the Cedar River
U.S. Dept. of Interior recognizes Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers
Conditions Reporting
Did you get a chance to enjoy a trip this year on any of Minnesota's State Water Trails? If so, please give us your input about Water Trail conditions, map accuracy, river level gauge interpretation, etc. Your feedback will help the DNR to continually improve these areas and to ensure that your experiences continue to be scenic and enjoyable!
New Maps for the Blue Earth and the South Fork of the Crow Rivers
Once a water body is legislatively designated as a State Water Trail, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) needs to survey and map it, often with the help of local officials and paddling clubs. If there are woody obstructions (i.e. snags and logjams) that present public safety hazards, an attempt is made to remove them, while keeping as much valuable aquatic habitat in place as possible. Water Trail designations typically include very little funding for public water access and campsite development, so the DNR strives to work with local units of government and even private landowners that grant permission for the use of their land for these facilities. 
Two new State Water Trails were mapped this year – the South Fork of the Crow River west of the Twin Cities and the Blue Earth River, which feeds the Minnesota River at Mankato. The Amboy Area Community Club, the Mankato Paddling and Outings Club, and the South Fork Crow River Association each had a hand in adding about 200 miles to the first and largest water trails system in the nation. The State Water Trails system started back in 1963 and now has over 4,400 miles on 33 Water Trails that are managed for canoeing, kayaking, boating and, camping. There is a State Water Trail within an hour of almost anywhere in the state.
Award-winning website gets even better
In 2009, the DNR Water Trails website was awarded the "Winning Website" award by American Trails, recognizing it as the best state agency trail website in the nation. This year, DNR made two major improvements to the website:
River Level Reporting
This summer, the DNR launched a major upgrade in its river-level reporting system to make it easier for boaters, canoeists and kayakers to check real-time water levels on State Water Trails. Now, paddlers and boaters can get a statewide view of water levels, and can find specific information in a much more user-friendly format. Currently, about half of the 120 river level gauges on State Water Trails are interpreted for recreation, and the DNR will be seeking help from the public in interpreting the remaining half.
Interactive Mapping
The new interactive Water Trail map is now online so boaters and paddlers can customize their own maps. It's easy to zoom, search, pan and print a customized digital map of your planned route. If you want to paddle just ten miles for the day, you can print off just the area you plan to travel. "These new interactive maps make it easier for paddlers and boaters to plan outings and find new adventures," said Mel Baughman, president of the Minnesota Canoe Association. The DNR will also continue to offer free, printed Water Trail maps to the public.
Youth Outreach and Outdoor Education on a Grand Scale
Urban Wilderness Canoe Adventures (UWCA) is a unique partnership which aims to engage 10,000 urban youth annually on day-long and overnight canoe trips on the Mississippi River through the heart of the Twin Cities. Spearheaded by Wilderness Inquiry, the National Park Service and supported by many other organizations, the UWCA is working with Minneapolis and St. Paul Public Schools, as well as other youth organizations.
The DNR Water Trails program is working with UWCA to provide increased public water access along the metro Mississippi River. The goal is to introduce youth to the river, the National Park Service's Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, Fort Snelling State Park, and to multiple municipal and county parklands in the 72 mile Recreation Area corridor.
The program is curriculum-based for 5-8 graders, and focuses on connections to natural resources, the role of time in natural systems, cultural perspectives, and how rivers connect us to global systems. Most of the kids in the program have never been on a river, or in a canoe. Most have had very little or no experience in the natural environment. Volunteer paddlers can help build a stronger connection between urban youth and the environment in 24 foot long cedar strip Voyageur canoes.
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Click to watch a Minnesota Bound video |
Minnesota Trails Receive Top National Honors
It's official! Minnesota is the "Best Trails State" in the entire country, and has been awarded the official title by the American Trails group. Active partnerships with trail support groups are the cornerstone of this successful trails system, along with legislative support, proactive trail providers, and recognition for tourism potential. The Best Trails State award is presented every two years by American Trails, the only national nonprofit organization working on behalf of all trail types, including bicycling, hiking, cross-country skiing, equestrian, snowmobile, off-highway vehicle, and water trails.
Community Partnership Improves Water Trail Facilities
In July, a Conservation Corps Minnesota (CCM) summer youth crew worked to beautify and improve public access to Renville County's Skalbekken Park on the Minnesota River (river mile 237.6). The pioneering project was designed by the University of Minnesota's Center for Changing Landscapes, and is part of a larger plan to connect trails and other natural resources into a regional system along the Upper Minnesota River Valley. 
Youth constructed parking lots and trails, assembled and installed benches and signage, and landscaped the area adjacent to the Water Trail carry-in access.
- Project partners included Conservation Corps Minnesota, Center for Changing Landscapes, Tatanka Bluffs Corridor and its Green Corridor Initiative, Renville County Parks, the Division of Environment and Community Development, and the Redwood Area Development Commission.
Among the projects under consideration for next year is the development of a Water Trails campsite at Whispering Ridge Aquatic Management Area. This site is near Patterson's Rapids, which historically was the head of navigation on the Minnesota River.
Minnesota's Newest State Water Trail - the Cedar River
The 2011 state legislature designated the Cedar River in Mower County as Minnesota's newest State Water Trail. The river has moderate flow and is fairly easy to paddle from Lansing (just north of Austin) to the Iowa border - approximately 25 miles. There are two Wildlife Management Areas (Ramsey Mill Pond and the Red Cedar) located in this stretch, as well as two Aquatic Management Areas. The entire Iowa portion of the Cedar River is a Water Trail and the first access in Iowa is 3 miles south of the Minnesota border at Otranto.
The Minnesota DNR currently operates two public water accesses on the river. The DNR will now send a crew down the river annually in the spring to check for navigability and then visit problem locations that the public reports later in the season. As well, the DNR will also create digital and paper maps, a webpage, and will interpret the existing river gauges to provide river level reports. DNR will connect with local officials to provide signage at sites where local government units have facilities on the river. Work on these projects will commence in 2012. Funding was not appropriated with this designation, but if future funds become available, the DNR may also pursue acquisition and development of new facilities along the river, such as access sites or campsites.
"This is a big positive for the Cedar River and a very fitting designation," said Justin Hanson, resource specialist with the Cedar River Watershed District. "The Cedar River offers a beautiful, wooded corridor for canoeists and kayakers, and this will provide, among other things, significant help in raising awareness about it." The District hopes to have the entire stretch 'adopted' by local groups that will organize periodic Adopt-A-River cleanups.
U.S. Dept. of Interior recognizes Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers
America's Great Outdoors is an initiative of the Obama Administration to establish a 21st century conservation and recreation agenda and reconnect Americans to the outdoors. Two projects in each state have been selected to support a healthy, active population, conserve wildlife and working lands, and create travel, tourism and outdoor-recreation jobs. The projects in Minnesota are:
Upper Minnesota River Watershed
The 335-mile-long Minnesota River flows through an agricultural watershed that encompasses 20 percent of the state. The upper Minnesota River Valley corridor has a high density of county and state parks, wildlife or aquatic management areas, natural areas, a National Wildlife Refuge, a Wild and Scenic River, a National Scenic Byway, and a Minnesota Water Trail designation. This corridor also has a rich natural and cultural history of regional and national significance.
The area is a focus of numerous partnerships - between local governments, citizens, nonprofit organizations, and state and federal agencies - to plan and implement programs to connect people to the river. Supporting the expansion of the infrastructure in parks and trails along the river is a key component of this project that will help connect more people to the river. The U.S. Department of Interior may also designate the upper Minnesota as a National Blueway and provide technical or financial support for expansion and improvement of river access. A National Blueway designation refers to the area on and around a waterway that has significant recreational as well as ecologic value. Blueways offer many access points and recreational opportunities as well as pristine natural environments.
Twin Cities Parks: Mississippi National River and Recreation Area
The confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers in the Twin Cities is an area of immense importance for conservation and recreation by virtue of its tremendous water, geologic, vegetative, and cultural resources. The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA), managed by the National Park Service, includes 72 miles of the Mississippi River stretching from the cities of Dayton/Ramsey through the heart of Minneapolis/St. Paul. State agencies, the National Park Service, Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and many local governments and nongovernmental organizations have a presence along this stretch of river.
This area has potential for accelerated work that supports the goals of America's Great Outdoors to increase recreational access in an urban area, restore the natural systems, and engage young people and communities of color in activities along the river. Fort Snelling State Park and historic and cultural resources could also be better integrated into the river experience.
Potential actions by Interior could include creating a Mississippi River recreation and wildlife coordinating body to maximize local, state, federal, and private partners' restoration, recreation, and education accomplishments. Designating the Mississippi River in this region as a National Blueway could also benefit the region by helping to attract more tourists.
Learn more about the America's Great Outdoors initiative or check out a map of the projects already announced.