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Upper Mississippi River
Fifty-seven communities and over 250 supporting organizations worked together
to achieve designation of the Upper Mississippi River as an American Heritage
River. The stretch of the river within which the communities are located begins
in the headwaters area of Bemidji, Minnesota, flows through five states, and
ends in St. Louis, Missouri. Three small communities asked to join the
initiative after designation and now a total of 58 communities are participating.
Few rivers have had as great an impact on the nation as the mighty Mississippi.
Its many names underscore the diversity of the people who have lived along its
shores---the Father of Waters, Big Muddy, Old Devil River. Generations of
explorers, engineers, Native Americans, fur traders, steamboat pilots,
writers, painters, and musicians have contributed to its legend. The river
has contributed to a rich fabric of social, economic, cultural, and natural
resources.
This depth and breadth of resources is a significant contributor to the
"river renaissance" that can be found in many locations and is represented
by the over 100 community-based projects identified in the plan of action
submitted with our initial nomination. In addition, our communities and
supporting organizations agreed early on to identify and ultimately work
together on the following six regional initiatives:
- Creation of a regional marketing strategy.
- Promotion of economic development and riverfront revitalization.
- Linkage of existing trails and greenways.
- Establishment of or improvement in interpretive centers.
- Restoration of natural resources.
- The sharing of successful projects and expertise.
Two of the above six regional initiatives have made good progress and have
the potential to either lay the groundwork or create the model for successful
collaboration on the other four. The first is the creation of an Upper
Mississippi River Trail Working Group, which worked closely with
representatives of a successful continuous bike trail in the Lower
Mississippi River to achieve together the recently announced designation
of the Mississippi River as a "National Millennium Trail" by the U. S.
Department of Transportation. (The work group, which has had two meetings
since May of this year, is currently working through existing state
programs or regional partnerships and initiatives wherever possible, to
map existing trails and identify gaps.) The second is the creation and
recent implementation of the "Bridging the River" project, a website-based
communication and information-sharing tool funded by the McKnight Foundation
that links communities and supporting organizations with riverfront
revitalization expertise and resources.
The sheer size and magnitude of the Upper Mississippi River, as well as
the significant community and organizational support for the American
Heritage River Initiative, is indeed
a strength. However, this same scale can also pose some significant
administration and decision-making challenges.
Our river navigator, Owen Dutt, has undertaken to visit all 60 communities
personally and as of last week had nearly met his goal. Chief of
navigation and environmental projects for the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers in St. Louis, Mr. Dutt has 26 years of experience in water
resource planning, has degrees in zoology and botany, and is a
wildlife biologist. His team of pilots has been identified and seems
reasonably well-located and geographically diverse. We are working
actively with our navigator to create a decision-making and
administrative structure that maximizes efficiency while still leveraging
the diversity of support for AHRI in the Upper Mississippi. Federal
agencies with whom we are most likely to seek some form of assistance on
a regular basis include the Corps of Engineers, Department of the
Interior, National Park Service, Environmental Protection Agency and the
Department of Transportation.
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