For 40 years, the Parks and Trails resource management program has worked to protect, manage, and restore the natural and cultural resources found on Parks and Trails lands.
History of the resource management program
The passage of Minnesota's Outdoor Recreation Act in 1978 formed the basis for establishing a Division resource management program. The first resource specialists assisted the Division with the unit master planning process. They compiled baseline natural resource inventory information and also provided recommendations to the Division where recreational development could take place. By 1980, five resource program staff stationed around the State started conducting vegetation management projects that fulfilled the objectives and priorities found in those first unit master plans.
Resource management program
Today, the resource management program carries on this 40 year legacy by protecting and managing an ever increasing amount of abundant and unique natural and cultural resources on a growing land base. An impressive list of rare natural and cultural resources found on Division lands include:
- Over 300 different federal or state endangered, threatened, special concern, and rare species;
- 80 types of rare or uncommon native plant communities;
- 47 historic districts and over 600 buildings, structures and objects on the National Register of Historic Places;
- Over 950 archaeological and historic cemetery sites.
The active management of these resources is crucial to ensure that important natural and cultural resources are protected, maintained, and restored.
To learn more about Parks and Trails resource management program efforts, initiatives, and accomplishments, check out these articles from the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer magazine: