Volunteer Opportunities to Help Care For Our Mississippi Riverfront
Saturday, April 6, 2024 at 7:21AM
Public is invited to participate in shaping the Natural Resource Management for East Owamniyomni/Father Hennepin Bluff Park Lower Trail.
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1 - April 16, 6:30pm, Pillsbury A-Mill Performance Hall, 315 Main Street SE - Community Discussion: Caring for East Owamniyomni/Father Hennepin Bluff Riverfront
Friends of the Mississippi River and Full Circle Indigenous Planning and Design will offer regional context for this planning and share their initial assessment and draft recommendations. Participants will be invited to offer ideas, respond to draft concepts, and sign up to participate in caring for nature at East Owamniyomni. You can sign up for care events this season here.
Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association (MHNA) has partnered with Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board for several years by engaging volunteers in nature restoration activities at Father Hennepin Bluff Lower Trail, part of the Central Mississippi River Regional Park. As the Dakota name for the falls is Owamniyomni, volunteers are calling this lower trail area East Owamniyomni.
In 2023-24, MHNA received funding from the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization to complete a 10-year natural resource management plan for volunteer-led restoration at East Owamniyomni. Friends of the Mississippi River and Full Circle Indigenous Planning and Design are working together on this plan. Essential parts of this planning process are evaluating its ecological health, and engaging Indigenous people and community members both in shaping the plan and playing a role in caring for nature in this special Mississippi River sanctuary.
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2 - Thursday, April 25, 6:30-7:30p - Join a site visit about this plan, led by volunteers. Following the meeting, you are welcome to comment, including online, until May 16. The plan will be finalized in July 2024.
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3 - Tuesday, Sept. 10, 5:30-7:30p - The group will be planting shrubs as they launch implementation of the plan. This event is part of the 2024 season of care days - please sign up here for April - November dates!
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For more information or to join the volunteer leadership team, please contact Cordelia Pierson at cordelia.pierson@gmail.com, 651-815-1268 cell, LinkedIn, Facebook.
