Time for Farmers to Help Clean Up the Mississippi?

Above: Minneapolis Riverfront 1973

From MinnPost:

The Mississippi River is cleaner today than it was just 40 years ago. Not coincidentally, it was 40 years ago this year that the Clean Water Act was passed and signed into law. Everyone in the land became liable for his or her own pollution — everyone, except farmers.

The lion's share of the work to clean up the Mississippi, and all rivers across the country, fell on industrial polluters and cities. Governments fined polluting industries, and cities spent millions in storm water and sewer facilities. The taxpayer, in one way or another, footed much of the bill.

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Below: Minneapolis Riverfront 1973 Slideshow

Transit, Sustainability and the Twin Cities Mississippi River Corridor

From The River Talk Blog:

One of the (many) difficulties in managing a large urban river so that the river corridor is sustainable is how to get a handle on transportation.  On one hand, you want the people of the city to know, love, and protect their river.  On the other hand, many of those folks are going to want to visit by car, which causes a whole host of problems:  parking places, air pollution, contributions to sedentary lifestyle.  The list goes on.

But a potential solution in the case of the Twin Cities Mississippi River is on the horizon.  The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MISS) has received over $1 million dollars from the  Federal Transit Administration and NPS Category III funds to implement a partnership, multi-modal, alternative transportation project that builds on  existing public transit, Nice Ride MN’s bike share program, and existing river access.  Over $843,000 came directly from the Federal Transit  Administration, as announced by Administrator Peter Rogoff.

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Politics & Flying Carp

From the Star Tribune:

The sanctity of the Lessard-Sams Council is being challenged, and council members owe it to conservationists statewide and to future councils not to cave when threatened, directly or indirectly, by its legislative members. McNamara isn't the first and won't be the last to insist, in effect, that the council amputate its own appendages. Let him -- them -- make the cuts if they must, or dare.

Secondly, mere shillings won't beat back invasive species, and the sooner the Legislature -- and the governor -- own up to this obvious fact, the sooner an invasive species research center at the U can be developed, and the sooner real action can be made toward minimizing the impact that carp and zebra mussels have on all of us.

Think $30 million in the first year, and $20 million a year thereafter for at least five years.

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Telling River Stories: People and Places Along the Mississippi River

Telling River Stories is a project of the University of Minnesota's River Life Program.

This project populates a map with stories of how people shape, and are shaped by, the Mississippi River. If we are to continue to live richly on this River, we’ll need to design, plan, and build so that we enhance instead of degrade it. Stories of people improving lives along the River are told here too.

Video - Carp & Minnesota

From River Life Facebook page:

Here's a great video with some more information on carp, and what they mean to Minnesota.

Best of 2011 from Friends of the Mississippi River

Video - St. Paul's Great River Passage Plan Unveiled

The Great River Passage Master Plan is intended to transform Saint Paul in profound ways. Developed with hundreds of hours of citizen input, the Great River Passage vision is based on three principles – to be more natural, more urban and more connected.  These were outlined in the 2007 Great River Park chapter of the Saint Paul on the Mississippi Development Framework. These principles guide a grand vision for unifying the entire length of Saint Paul’s riverfront. Moving forward, the master plan will set the stage for the manifestation of sustainable parks and open spaces, ecological restoration and economic development, connecting the City, its neighborhoods and people, to Saint Paul’s unique Mississippi River resources.

What is the River Talk Blog?

From River Life:

Last week, I posted a set of accomplishments for 2011.  Now what?

We’ve thought a lot this year about who we are and what we should be doing.

We’re a university program, which means that we have a three part mission:  educate, research, and engage our community.  The previous list makes the first and last of these very evident; we’re “locked in” on community engagement and education.

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Mississippi National River and Recreation Area [Video]

The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area includes 72 miles of the Mississippi River stretching from the cities of Dayton and Ramsey, Minnesota to just downstream of Hastings, Minnesota. The diverse stretch of the river flowing through the park consists of numerous natural, historic, recreational and cultural resources of national significance.

Minnesota Starts New Mississippi River Cleanup Effort

From the Star Tribune:

Project will offer farmers incentives to clean up runoff, but critics say voluntary efforts haven't worked.

Minnesota will be the nation's first test site for a federal program designed to stem the flow of agricultural pollution strangling some of the country's great bodies of water, including Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River.

Gov. Mark Dayton is expected to announce Minnesota's leading role in the project at the Capitol on Tuesday morning, with Tom Vilsack, U.S. secretary of agriculture, and Lisa Jackson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, at his side.

They are promoting the pilot project as the start of an ambitious federal strategy that, in essence, would give farmers a green seal of approval if they voluntarily choose to put land conservation and water quality ahead of crop yields.

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