PART I: In a series on the MNRRA
The Hudson River Valley (HRV) Special Resource Study Act (H.R. 4003), introduced November 2009 by Congressman Maurice Hinchey, references the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA) as a precedent.
But what exactly is a National River and Recreation Area?
The Mississippi River through the St. Paul/Minneapolis metro area is a rapidly growing destination for canoeists and boaters. *2008 NPS
Established in 1988, the MNRRA is an example of this National Park Service (NPS) designation. The MNRRA encompasses a total of 54,000 acres of public and private land and water along a 72-mile stretch of the Mississippi River and a four-mile run of the Minnesota River, between the cities of Dayton and Ramsey, MN to the south of Hastings, MN. The NPS owns only 65 acres of the 54,000 acres that make up the MNRRA.
The MNRRA was founded to “(1) protect, preserve, and enhance the significant values of the Mississippi River corridor through the Twin Cities metropolitan area, (2) encourage coordination of federal, state, and local programs, and (3) provide a management framework to assist the state of Minnesota and units of local government in the development and implementation of integrated resource management programs and to ensure orderly public and private development in the area.”
This federal designation is in one sense, an outgrowth of a preexisting Minnesota state legislation — the Critical Areas Act of 1973. The Mississippi River and its adjacent corridor were designated a Mississippi River Critical Area in 1976 as the Minnesota Legislature found that “the development of certain areas possessing important historic, cultural, or aesthetic values or natural systems that perform functions of greater than local significance could result in irreversible damage to these resources, decrease their value and utility for public purposes, or unreasonably endanger life and property.” The Mississippi River Critical Area comprised 54,000 acres of the Mississippi corridor, and it is these external boundaries that the MNRRA adopted when it was established in 1988.
The Mississippi River’s national designation process, however, first began in 1968 when Congress enacted the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act establishing a system for protecting nationally significant wild and scenic rivers. Congress revised the list of these Wild and Scenic Rivers in 1975 and included a portion of the Upper Mississippi River between Anoka and Lake Itasca, MN. Two years later, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Outdoor Recreation conducted a study that recommended the inclusion of about 350 miles, spanning 12 segments, of the Upper Mississippi River for inclusion in the Wild and Scenic Rivers system. These segments had previously been excluded from consideration for Wild and Scenic River status because of development.
Later the same year, legislation was introduced in Congress to incorporate these 12 segments of the Mississippi River into the Wild and Scenic Rivers System. However, public hearings in 1978 were poorly attended and controversial, which led to an amendment to the legislation requiring the NPS to prepare a master plan for the Upper Mississippi as a prerequisite for congressional action.
Congress created the Metropolitan River Corridors Study Commission in 1980 to recommend ways to protect and manage the resource values of the Mississippi, Minnesota, and St. Croix Rivers in the metropolitan area. The Commission’s final report was released in 1986 finding that although there were many efforts towards protecting and enhancing the river’s resources, “a more concerted effort was needed to provide an overall vision for the river and to protect it.” This report led to the 1988 legislation that created the MNRRA.
This 1988 legislation also established a 22-member Mississippi River Coordinating Commission composed of federal, state, and local officials and citizens to develop a comprehensive management plan (CMP) to manage the corridor. With extensive public involvement, the Mississippi River Coordinating Commission and the NPS released a finalized CMP to the public in 1994 and the Secretary of the Interior approved the plan in 1995. A distinguishing feature of this multi-party CMP is that it is based upon the concept of a “partnership park” that includes both private and public lands.
MNRRA Timeline
1968 – Congress enacts the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
1973 – State enacts the Critical Areas Act.
1975 - Congressional legislation introduced to designate Upper Mississippi as a Wild and Scenic River.
1976 – Mississippi River and its adjacent corridor becomes the Mississippi River Critical Area under the state Critical Areas Act of 1973.
1978 – Public hearings lead to an amendment requiring NPS to prepare an Upper Mississippi master plan as a prerequisite for Wild and Scenic River designation.
1980 - Metropolitan River Corridors Study Commission created to recommend a management framework.
1986 - Metropolitan River Corridors Study Commission releases its report, recommending “a concerted effort to provide an overall vision for the river and to protect it.”
1988 – The MNRRA designation is created, establishing a 22-member Mississippi River Coordinating Commission composed of federal, state, local officials, and citizens to develop a comprehensive management plan (CMP).
1994 - After an extensive public process led by Mississippi River Coordinating Commission and NPS, a CMP is released.
1995 – Secretary of Interior approves the CMP, which is based upon the concept of a partnership park including both public and private lands.
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PART I: In a series on the MNRRA
The Hudson River Valley (HRV) Special Resource Study Act (H.R. 4003), introduced November 2009 by Congressman Maurice Hinchey, references the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA) as a precedent.
But what exactly is a National River and Recreation Area?
The Mississippi River through the St. Paul/Minneapolis metro area is a rapidly growing destination for canoeists and boaters. *2008 NPS
Established in 1988, the MNRRA is an example of this National Park Service (NPS) designation. The MNRRA encompasses a total of 54,000 acres of public and private land and water along a 72-mile stretch of the Mississippi River and a four-mile run of the Minnesota River, between the cities of Dayton and Ramsey, MN to the south of Hastings, MN. The NPS owns only 65 acres of the 54,000 acres that make up the MNRRA.
The MNRRA was founded to “(1) protect, preserve, and enhance the significant values of the Mississippi River corridor through the Twin Cities metropolitan area, (2) encourage coordination of federal, state, and local programs, and (3) provide a management framework to assist the state of Minnesota and units of local government in the development and implementation of integrated resource management programs and to ensure orderly public and private development in the area.”
This federal designation is in one sense, an outgrowth of a preexisting Minnesota state legislation — the Critical Areas Act of 1973. The Mississippi River and its adjacent corridor were designated a Mississippi River Critical Area in 1976 as the Minnesota Legislature found that “the development of certain areas possessing important historic, cultural, or aesthetic values or natural systems that perform functions of greater than local significance could result in irreversible damage to these resources, decrease their value and utility for public purposes, or unreasonably endanger life and property.” The Mississippi River Critical Area comprised 54,000 acres of the Mississippi corridor, and it is these external boundaries that the MNRRA adopted when it was established in 1988.
The Mississippi River’s national designation process, however, first began in 1968 when Congress enacted the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act establishing a system for protecting nationally significant wild and scenic rivers. Congress revised the list of these Wild and Scenic Rivers in 1975 and included a portion of the Upper Mississippi River between Anoka and Lake Itasca, MN. Two years later, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Outdoor Recreation conducted a study that recommended the inclusion of about 350 miles, spanning 12 segments, of the Upper Mississippi River for inclusion in the Wild and Scenic Rivers system. These segments had previously been excluded from consideration for Wild and Scenic River status because of development.
Later the same year, legislation was introduced in Congress to incorporate these 12 segments of the Mississippi River into the Wild and Scenic Rivers System. However, public hearings in 1978 were poorly attended and controversial, which led to an amendment to the legislation requiring the NPS to prepare a master plan for the Upper Mississippi as a prerequisite for congressional action.
Congress created the Metropolitan River Corridors Study Commission in 1980 to recommend ways to protect and manage the resource values of the Mississippi, Minnesota, and St. Croix Rivers in the metropolitan area. The Commission’s final report was released in 1986 finding that although there were many efforts towards protecting and enhancing the river’s resources, “a more concerted effort was needed to provide an overall vision for the river and to protect it.” This report led to the 1988 legislation that created the MNRRA.
This 1988 legislation also established a 22-member Mississippi River Coordinating Commission composed of federal, state, and local officials and citizens to develop a comprehensive management plan (CMP) to manage the corridor. With extensive public involvement, the Mississippi River Coordinating Commission and the NPS released a finalized CMP to the public in 1994 and the Secretary of the Interior approved the plan in 1995. A distinguishing feature of this multi-party CMP is that it is based upon the concept of a “partnership park” that includes both private and public lands.
MNRRA Timeline
1968 – Congress enacts the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
1973 – State enacts the Critical Areas Act.
1975 - Congressional legislation introduced to designate Upper Mississippi as a Wild and Scenic River.
1976 – Mississippi River and its adjacent corridor becomes the Mississippi River Critical Area under the state Critical Areas Act of 1973.
1978 – Public hearings lead to an amendment requiring NPS to prepare an Upper Mississippi master plan as a prerequisite for Wild and Scenic River designation.
1980 - Metropolitan River Corridors Study Commission created to recommend a management framework.
1986 - Metropolitan River Corridors Study Commission releases its report, recommending “a concerted effort to provide an overall vision for the river and to protect it.”
1988 – The MNRRA designation is created, establishing a 22-member Mississippi River Coordinating Commission composed of federal, state, local officials, and citizens to develop a comprehensive management plan (CMP).
1994 - After an extensive public process led by Mississippi River Coordinating Commission and NPS, a CMP is released.
1995 – Secretary of Interior approves the CMP, which is based upon the concept of a partnership park including both public and private lands.