Video - Minneapolis and the Mississippi River

Awesome documentary on the Mississippi River and Minneapolis...

Video / A Preview of Disaster: Asian Carp Take Over in Illinois

From KSTP:

Asian carp are beginning their invasion in Minnesota, with four caught in the last year - including one just last week.

The fish may just be showing up here, but they're a big problem in central Illinois near Peoria. Residents say fishing isn't what it used to be because the Asian carp have cut down on other fish.

Plus, the size of the Asian carp means they can do damage to boats and hurt people. A study there found 33 percent of boats have been damaged by carp and 47 of boaters have been hit by flying carp.

Betty DeFord, who runs The Boat Tavern, says her boating customers aren't showing up.

"They don't want to get bloodied and slimed with the stupid fish," DeFord says. "They can bruise you, knock you out of your boat."

This year the Illinois legislature even considered a bill allowing boaters to shoot the Asian carp.

http://kstp.com/article/stories/S2598503.shtml

River Talk Update

Recents posts from the River Talk Blog from the U of M:

River-City Connection: Poorly Understood? Too Complex to Understand or Model

I have been posting a number of articles and links on our River Portal microblog (Yes, we have one.  And yes, you should read it.  It’s here.  Now go and read it.  Good.  You’re back?  Now where was I?)  about sustainability in cities, about the importance of public art in cities, about urban green infrastructure.  What’s all that got to do with rivers?

Well, everything, I think.  Here are some ideas, call them axioms, propositions, definitions, or what have you.

Read the full article...

St. Anthony Falls Needs YOU

Well, maybe the Falls themselves don’t need you–water seems to flow over them ok, per gravity and basic hydrology.  But the elements of Minneapolis around the Falls Do need your help.

The Central Minneapolis Riverfront is poised to be the engine driving the city into the 21st Century because the City, its citizens, the Minneapolis Park Board and a host of other individuals and organizations have concentrated on the district for the past 40 years.  Today, as a result of that effort, $400 million of public investment has created $1.3 billion in private contributions to a place that is arguably a World Heritage-caliber site.

Following the vision and the success of 2009′s landmark study Power of the Falls, the city’s Community Planning and Economic Development Department has invited public comment on a new set of design guidelines for the Central Riverfront.  To read the document and make your comments, go here.

Read the full article...

Asian Carp Casualty - River Cruises Through St. Anthony Falls Lock & Dam

From the Star Tribune:

A popular leisure cruise will no longer travel through locks beside the Stone Arch Bridge as part of a city effort to ward off Asian carp.

The Minneapolis Park Board voted Wednesday night to stop Paradise Cruises from using the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam. The change is part of an effort to scale down use of the lock, which may be eventually closed altogether to prevent Asian carp from reaching northern Minnesota.

Read the full article...

Minneapolis Parks Foundation Newsletter

	April 2012

Spring into Action! RiverFirst design and planning A bold, 20-year vision for Upper Riverfront parks-based redevelopment, RiverFirst was officially adopted by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board in March. With the Park Board's action, the Minneapolis Parks Foundation begins working with the Park Board and the City of Minneapolis to establish a collaboration agreement through which the three agencies can work closely together - with numerous community and organizational collaborators - to make the RiverFirst vision a reality, beginning with five prioirty projects in the next five years. Read about our RiverFirst involvement. As a co-sponsor of the Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition, through which RiverFirst emerged as the winning concept of design team TLS/KVA, the Parks Foundation is an early partner and visionary in this initiative. We look forward to the day - with our help and yours - RiverFirst comes to life as the truest and best example of the Next Generation of Parks™. Water Works cleaning and greening Saturday, April 21, 9:30 AM - 12 Noon The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board named the Water Works/Fuji-Ya site, 420 South First Street, one of its annual Minneapolis Earth Day Clean Up locations. Won't you please join volunteers from our staff and board - and hundreds of other community members at some 40 Minneapolis Parks locations - as we contribute two hours of our time to help make the Mississippi Riverfront cleaner and more beautiful? Tilia giving and thanks Some one hundred satiated samplers helped Tilia Mpls - a top restraurant food-wise and people-wise - celebrate its one-year anniversary, March 19. In addition to enjoying a tasting menu that included brussels sprouts prepared so deliciously you can actually say "brussels sprouts" and "delicious" in the same sentence, these civic-minded, fork-in-hand folks helped raise a generous contribution for the Minneapolis Parks Foundation. Now that's food for the soul.

Friend on Facebook Follow on Twitter Forward to a Friend Looking Ahead A few things you can do, see and be a part of in ... April Visit our new, you-friendly website. May Minnesota Arbor Month Have you planted a tree in North Mpls yet? June Water Works lights up with Northern Spark, June 9-10, 2012 Many donors make more spring! We are grateful to the many individuals and organizations who shower us with their generosity all year long. You, too, can help put even more spring into our action by making a gift or becoming a member today.

follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend

Blue Herons Return To North Minneapolis

From CBS Minnesota:

Almost a year after the tornado hit North Minneapolis, there’s one hopeful sign. The blue herons, whose population was devastated by the storm, have returned to an island in the Mississippi River.

RiverFirst News Release

News Release

Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to redefine “City of Lakes” with RiverFirst

Sweeping vision for Mississippi riverfront parks and public space will create largest expansion of nationally recognized park system in 100 years

Minneapolis, Minn., March 29, 2012 – The Mississippi River shapes a continent, shaped a nation and defines the cities along its course, including here in the “City of Lakes,” where 5.5 miles of the Mississippi riverfront will soon host the largest expansion of park and public space since the award-winning park system in Minneapolis was created over 100 years ago. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board approved, on March 14, RiverFirst: A Park Design Proposal and Implementation Plan for the Minneapolis Upper Riverfront. With the adoption of RiverFirst, the Minneapolis Park Board sets in motion a five-year initiative to create several miles of new Mississippi riverfront walking and biking trails, three new multifunctional parks and multiple local and regional connections to one of the four great rivers of the world and “America’s fourth coast.”

RiverFirst is the outcome of the 2011 Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative (MR|DI), a nine-month community-based vetting of the winning landscape and urban design concept submitted by the RiverFirst Design Team of Tom Leader Studio and Kennedy & Violich Architecture to the 2010-11 Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition. More than 60 agency and community partners, along with a broad spectrum of community members, were directly involved in the MR|DI. The RiverFirst Design Team included New York-based economic development consultants HR&A Advisors, which created the RiverFirst implementation plan, and Groundwork City Building, which managed the project.

“This is a tremendously exciting time for the Minneapolis Park Board, the city and residents of North and Northeast Minneapolis, in particular,” says John Erwin, President of the nine-member board of elected Commissioners governing the independent agency. “We are known as the ‘City of Lakes,’ but we also recognize that the Mississippi River is the birthplace of our city and has been neglected as a citywide natural amenity. Under the RiverFirst initiative, the Park Board will work with our partners to bring to life a vision that will transform the Upper Riverfront for residents of Minneapolis, the region and the state. We recognize this project will not only add recreational amenities, but will also be an economic catalyst for the entire area, and dramatically increase bird and fish habitat along an important natural flyway. Taken together, this project is a win for everyone.”

A “multi-modal” vision serving generations to come

The 6,725-acre Minneapolis park system is renowned for more than 100 miles of parkways, trails and greenways that interlink regional park destinations. Together with the more than 150 neighborhood parks, these regional parks attract more than 20 million visits annually, especially to multifunctional natural, recreational and entertainment destinations, such as the Chain of Lakes.

The RiverFirst vision builds on this dynamic legacy with the creation of riverfront regional parks connected by a sophisticated network of trails that balances infrastructure with ecology. RiverFirst fills the gap in the Mississippi River parks and trails system and contributes significantly to improved water quality of the river, completes a critical connection to the larger Minneapolis “Grand Rounds” and links into existing corridor initiatives taking place on both sides of the river.

Furthermore, RiverFirst creates a healthy community network and opportunities for economic development, by tying into the expansive regional parks and trails system managed by the Three Rivers Park District and the Metropolitan Council.

The RiverFirst Design Team was guided by the dynamics of the river and the RiverFirst design is infused with essential infrastructure such as stormwater treatment, flood storage, energy generation and food production – practices that derive multiple public benefits from a single investment and will spur development, retain and attract talented people, and enrich the city’s culture – necessary ingredients for a 21^st century river city.

“There are 21st century challenges that are global in nature and local in impact. RiverFirst considers how the Minneapolis park system can protect the national ecological heritage of the Mississippi River, foster community health, support economic opportunity and prepare Minneapolis with resilient and sustainable eco-infrastructure for generations to come,” says Tom Leader, Principal of the RiverFirst Design Team and Founder of Tom Leader Studio. The Design Team considered multiple approaches – loops, moisture gradients, urban ecology, mobility, green networks and water – when shaping the RiverFirst vision. Adds Sheila Kennedy, Principal of the RiverFirst Design Team and Partner in Kennedy & Violich Architecture, “RiverFirst integrates these approaches to cultivate a ‘blue and green’ – river-first and sustainable – way of life in Minneapolis, nurtured by responsive, multi-modal public places around which residents thrive and businesses prosper.”

Given its ambition, full realization of the RiverFirst vision will likely take 20 years. Through the MR|DI, the RiverFirst Design Team developed a Strategic Implementation Plan for five phase one priority projects to meet the city’s needs today and build momentum for overall completion of the RiverFirst vision over time. The five priority projects will be pursued simultaneously, with participation from multiple agencies and stakeholders: riverfront trail system and knot bridges; the Scherer Park District; Northside Wetlands and Downtown Gateway parks; new greenways on both sides and leading to the river; and floating islands.

Three additional projects are featured in the long-term RiverFirst vision: A mile-long land bridge covering Interstate 94, Northeast Riverfront Park, and Spirit Island. There is potential in the short- and long-term for additional projects to fit under the RiverFirst standard. Such projects would likely have to meet a number of criteria, including being within, or a critical connection to, the RiverFirst geographic area; creating public space with multiple purposes or uses, such as being an attraction, or providing transportation or economic development opportunities; and integrating with the area ecologically, culturally and with the built environment.

Five-year priority projects are underway

With the adoption of the RiverFirst vision, the Minneapolis Park Board begins a series of 2012 design and planning next steps for projects to be built beginning in 2013:

• Seeking a regional park boundary adjustment to include the Scherer site in the Above the Falls Regional Park;
• Using RiverFirst as a basis for coordinating with the City of Minneapolis to update the Above the Falls Master Plan;
• Seeking a scope of work and fee proposal from the RiverFirst Design Team for the next stage of design; and,
• Working with the Minneapolis Parks Foundation to establish a collaboration agreement with RiverFirst implementation partners, which would include the Parks Foundation, the City of Minneapolis and multiple agency and community contributors.

Over five years, the RiverFirst framework calls for completion of five priority projects at an estimated cost of $174M from a mix of public and private funding for both capital projects and operating costs. Some of the potential sources are outlined in the Implementation Guide, found in the RiverFirst proposal and executive summary.

The road to RiverFirst

In April 2011, the Minneapolis Park Board established the Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative as a special project to carry through the promise of connecting people from near and far with new multifunctional Upper Riverfront parks along “America’s fourth coast.” The MR|DI was charged with transforming RiverFirst from a visionary concept to a workable plan for short- and long-term parks-based development.

Beginning in June 2011, the MR|DI carried out a summer-long community engagement process that included: a community input survey taken by more than 600 people; promotion and participation in more than 30 community events throughout Minneapolis; three additional public meetings held in association with the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Riverfront Partnership; more than 40 presentations and meetings with neighborhood associations, community-based non-profit organizations, agencies and other stakeholder groups; and the debut of “River Is,” a figurative gathering of people’s thoughts about the Mississippi today and for the future. 

About the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

With 182 park properties totaling nearly 6,732 acres of land and water, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board provides places and recreation opportunities for all people to gather, celebrate, contemplate, and engage in activities that promote health, well-being, community, and the environment. Each year, approximately 18 million visits are made to the nationally acclaimed Minneapolis park system. Its urban forests, natural areas and waters endure and captivate. Its Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway, neighborhood parks, recreation centers and diversified programming have made the Minneapolis park system an important component of what makes Minneapolis a great place to live, play and work. To learn more about the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, visit www.minneapolisparks.org.

### 

--
Janette Law
RiverFirst and MR|DI Public Relations Manager
dir 612-929-0939 mbl 612-306-4430
Visit our blog

Friends of the Mississippi River Newsletter - March 2012

FMR Updates We need your help to get out the vote today! — Help us win the $25,000 MillerCoors River Network Watershed Grant We know we've been posting, tweeting and emailing like crazy but competition is VERY stiff and we're in 2nd place! Help us reach 1st place. We know you want this $25,000 to come to the Twin Cities for habitat restoration and stewardship! It takes just a few clicks — choose Friends of the Mississippi River, add your email, city, and state — and you're done! Please vote and share the link. Voting ends at 7:00 p.m. local time, Monday, March 19th! Read more » Congress introduces bipartisan bill to stop Asian carp After months of being warned that Asian carp eDNA test results portend an all-out invasion into Minnesota’s waters, a big-head and silver carp — two of the four Asian carp species — were caught in the Mississippi River near Winona on March 1st. Within days, bipartisan legislation was introduced in Congress calling for possible closure of the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock in downtown Minneapolis, among other steps intended to stop the dreaded carp. Read more » South metro cleanup plan open for public comment! The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is requesting public comments on the draft South Metro Mississippi Total Suspended Solids TMDL report through April 27th. Following the comment period, the MPCA will revise the draft TMDL report and submit it to the federal Environmental Protection Agency for final approval. Read more » Welcome new FMR staff! Please join us in extending a warm and hearty welcome to new FMR staff! Marlis Schmidt, Adam Flett and intern Kalei Holt make up the new Mississippi River Challenge team, while Katie Clower and intern Christian Anderson are the new friendly faces in the outreach and events corner. Read more » Join FMR for Earth Day! Whether you prefer working to clean up the river right in the heart of the city, digging in the dirt of a more “off-the-beaten-path” site, or learning what you can do in your own backyard to help water quality, we have the Earth Day event for you. Read more » Summer internship openings with FMR Help the Mississippi River while gaining academic credit and valuable experience as an intern for FMR. Applications are now being accepted for the summer Restoration and Education Events and Mississippi River Challenge Communications and Marketing internships. Read more » Mississippi River News A national ban on coal tar sealants? A recent editorial in Stormwater Magazine (yeah, we read that kind of stuff around here) highlighted the increasing push for a national ban on coal tar-based sealants. Currently used on asphalt driveways and parking lots, the sealants contain high concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs — highly carcinogenic compounds that grow increasingly problematic when they run off pavement and build up in lakes and urban stormwater ponds over time. (The MPCA's factsheet is available here.) Currently, 13 Minnesota communities have coal tar-based sealant bans of some kind, while the State of Minnesota has its own restrictions for state agencies. The Stormwater article explores the question on the minds of public health and natural resources managers everywhere: When will coal tar sealants be phased out for good? Read more » 'West Side Flats plan could get new life as apartments in St. Paul' Developer George Sherman hasn't given up on the prospect of building a 175-unit housing complex in St. Paul's West Side neighborhood. Just across from downtown, near Harriet Island, the apartments would be but a stone's throw from the riverfront — if public agencies agree to the financing. Read more from the Pioneer Press article by Frederick Melo. Read more » Calendar of Events South Creek, Vermillion Stewards Earth Day Cleanup Saturday, April 21 — 9:00 a.m.-12:00 noon South Creek, Lakeville Help clean up South Creek, which feeds the Vermillion River, an important tributary of the Mississippi River and trophy trout stream. This cleanup is part of the city of Lakeville's Watershed Cleanup Day. A light lunch will follow for all Lakeville cleanup volunteers at a central location. This event is also part of the Vermillion Stewards program, which helps local residents learn about the watershed while working to protect and enhance its unique natural resources. Read more » Earth Day in the City: Minneapolis Watershed Cleanup Saturday, April 21 — 9:30 a.m.-12:00 noon E. 36th St. & E. 44th St. at W. River Pkwy, Mississippi River Gorge, Minneapolis Join this Earth Day tradition in the Minneapolis River Gorge! People come from throughout the local river corridor neighborhoods and metro area to contribute to the health and vitality of the Mississippi River Watershed. All ages are welcome and all supplies provided. We’ll meet at two sites along the parkway and bluff-top. Pick whichever works better for you — the oak savanna at East 36th Street and West River Parkway, and the maple basswood forest at 44th and the parkway. No registration is required and complete details and directions are available on the event page. We look forward to seeing you there! Read more » Schedule your stenciling outing! Mid-April through mid-October, 2012 City of Saint Paul If you're looking for a great service outing that is educational, active, outdoors and provides a significant community benefit, consider storm drain stenciling. It's just one and a half to three hours in length, and can be set at a time and St. Paul location convenient for your group. Reservations are now being taken for April through October 2012. Read more » Bittercress and Garlic Mustard Pull at Pine Bend Thursday, April 26 — 6:00-8:00 p.m. Pine Bend Bluffs Scientific and Natural Area, Inver Grove Heights Learn about one of the most beautiful areas in the Upper Mississippi River Basin, Pine Bend Bluffs Scientific and Natural Area, and assist with critical habitat restoration work in this hidden gem. Volunteers will work with FMR ecologist Joe Walton to identify and remove invasive narrowleaf bittercress in an effort to improve the ecological health of the natural communities that are found there. Narrowleaf bittercress is an invasive species that has only recently been reported in Minnesota but is spreading at an alarming rate along the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers. Removing this weedy species will help to enhance Pine Bend's ecological integrity and protect its threatened native plant species. To learn more, or sign up, please see the event listing or contact Katie at kclower@fmr.org or 651-222-2193 x23. Read more » Join the Pledge to Pull at Crosby Park! Wednesday, May 2 — 6:00-8:00 pm Crosby Park, Mississippi River Gorge, St. Paul Enjoy the beauty of early spring at a riverside park while helping protect native plants from an invasive species. The area volunteers will be working in is home to a striking array of spring wildflowers native to Minnesota — Dutchman's breeches, trout lily, and Jack-in-the-pulpit to name a few — all in need of volunteer assistance. After a brief training and certification, participants will be asked to commit to returning to the area for an additional six hours to continue removing invasive species at times convenient for them. This is an excellent opportunity for those looking to make a difference but needing to set their own volunteer schedule, or looking for a way to return to a specific area to make a difference with friends and family. To learn more, or sign up, please see the event listing or contact sue at 651-222-2193 x14. Read more » Native Plants, Raingardens and Lawn Care for Water Quality Tuesday, May 15 — 6:30-8:30 p.m. Wilder Center, St. Paul Whether you're interested in a smaller native planting or want to transform your whole yard into a force for clean water, this free FMR workshop can get you started. Taught by FMR's Stewardship Coordinator Karen Solas, the presentation receives rave reviews from participants, who also appreciate the high-quality and concise take-home materials. This workshop takes a how-to approach, suggesting local resources and quickly covering the most relevant information so you can begin taking steps to protect water quality this gardening season. Topics include rain barrels, composting, landscaping with native plant species, the proper use of lawn fertilizer, soil testing, raingardens and more innovative approaches to managing stormwater. Classroom capacity is limited and preregistration required. To sign up, view the full event listing and contact FMR Program Assistant Katie Clower at kclower@fmr.org. When emailing, please include the name of the event, your full contact information and the number in your party. Read more » Phenology Divebombing for love While it may ring a little hollow considering this year's "winter," we're excited to say that spring has finally sprung. For one piece of evidence, look to the skies: bald eagle mating dances. Read more » Whose View? From Where? March 2012 Each month in this section, we feature a photo from somewhere along the river corridor in the Twin Cities that is in some way significant, important, or just plain scenic. Individuals may then e-mail us and identify the view and explain why they believe it is significant to the community or important to them personally. Read more » February 2012 Answer We received two correct guesses this month — thanks to both of our entrants! Read more » Resource of the Month Free prescription drug disposal In response to the growing problem of pharmaceuticals polluting our waters, many counties now offer free prescription drug disposal. To find out more about proper medicine disposal, select your county: Hennepin, Ramsey, Dakota, Washington or Anoka. Carver county also recently began an anonymous medicine take-back program, citizens are encouraged to drop unused medications at the drop box in the sheriff's office at 606 East 4th Street in Chaska, Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Supporting FMR Support FMR with Special $15 gift and volunteer memberships through June 1st! Have a graduation, birthday or other gift-giving occasion coming up? Want to give a meaningful gift for Earth Day? Or are you an FMR volunteer but not yet a member? Please join or give a gift membership now for just $15. In addition to the other benefits of being an FMR member, new and gifted members receive a free year's subscription to Big River Magazine courtesy of Big River and the McKnight Foundation (the full gift goes to FMR's work). Please note gift recipient info and the code "2012 Earth Day Member Drive" in the Gift Details box! If you'd rather not receive this subscription, please note that in the 'Gift Details' box as well. And please don't forget to vote and spread the word about the $25,000 MillerCoors River Network watershed grant! Voting ends Monday, March 19th, at 7:00 p.m.! Read more » Quote of the Month “You and I, and our government must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow.”         - Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961

FMR Updates We need your help to get out the vote today! — Help us win the $25,000 MillerCoors River Network Watershed Grant Congress introduces bipartisan bill to stop Asian carp South metro cleanup plan open for public comment! Welcome new FMR staff! Join FMR for Earth Day! Summer internship openings with FMR Mississippi River News A national ban on coal tar sealants? 'West Side Flats plan could get new life as apartments in St. Paul' Calendar of Events South Creek, Vermillion Stewards Earth Day Cleanup Earth Day in the City: Minneapolis Watershed Cleanup Schedule your stenciling outing! Bittercress and Garlic Mustard Pull at Pine Bend Join the Pledge to Pull at Crosby Park! Native Plants, Raingardens and Lawn Care for Water Quality Phenology Divebombing for love Whose View? From Where? March 2012 February 2012 Answer Resource of the Month Free prescription drug disposal Supporting FMR Support FMR with Special $15 gift and volunteer memberships through June 1st!

Mississippi Messages is a twice-monthly e-mail update distributed by Friends of the Mississippi River to help our members and subscribers stay informed on issues, FMR events, and opportunities related to the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities area. All subscribers' names and e-mail addresses are kept confidential. Original contents copyright 2012, Friends of the Mississippi River http://www.fmr.org

The Recreation of Hall’s Island: Part I

From Minneapolis Park History:

Hall's Island in 1903 plat book (John R. Borchert Map Library, University of Minnesota)

Before he saved enough money to go to medical school, Pearl Hall’s job as a teenager in the mid-1870s was pitching wood onto a cart at a lumber yard near the Plymouth Avenue Bridge on the east bank of the Mississippi River. He remembered vividly from those days of hard labor what he called a little steeple of land sticking out of the Mississippi near the bridge. He could see the tiny patch of ground when he stood on top of his loaded wagon–and he saw the little steeple gradually grow.

What Pearl Hall saw from his perch of pine was the beginning of Hall’s Island, the island that as Dr. P. M. Hall he would eventually acquire and turn over to the city, the island that became the site of a popular municipal bath house, the island that eventually was dredged onto the east bank of the great river, and the island that the Minneapolis park board will soon begin to recreate as the first step in its RiverFIRST development plan.

Read the full article...

Federal and State Leaders Push Plan for Closing Upper St. Anthony Lock & Dam to Stop Asian Carp

From the Pioneer Press:

Federal and state leaders highlighted the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam in downtown Minneapolis on Monday as a crucial barrier for stopping the advance of Asian carp up the Mississippi River.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Erik Paulsen visited the site to tout legislation to make it easier to close the lock and dam. They spoke to reporters at a University of Minnesota laboratory just across the river from the lock where researchers are studying bubble barriers and other potential ways to stop the invasive carp. 

Read the full article...