Corps of Engineers celebrates 150 years of service with canoe voyage

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Volunteers with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, are commemorating the district’s sesquicentennial celebration this summer by canoeing a portion of the Upper Mississippi River.  

Volunteers will begin the voyage at Lake Itasca with a ceremonial christening of the canoe to be used May 20 at 8:30 a.m. The volunteers will then canoe each weekend until they reach Lock and Dam 10, in Guttenberg, Iowa. The plan is for the team to reach Guttenberg Aug. 17, the day Maj. Gouverneur K. Warren, a West Point graduate and Civil War hero, arrived in St. Paul, Minnesota, with orders to set up an engineering office.  

Members of the public are invited to canoe along with the Corps’ volunteers at any time as they pay tribute to the St. Paul District’s 150 years of service to the region. The district’s service includes supporting inland navigation by operating 13 locks and dams and by maintaining a 9-foot navigation channel on the Mississippi River. The district also helps communities reduce damages caused from flooding by building flood risk management projects and operating 16 large reservoirs for flood risk reduction, recreation and fish and wildlife habitat.  

“Our work strengthens the nation’s economy, enables the movement of goods and people, reduces damages from disasters such as flood and drought, restores and maintains aquatic ecosystems and provides outdoor recreation for millions,” said Col. Daniel C. Koprowski, St. Paul District commander. “We are proud of our past and present service to the region, and we are continually transforming to be able to meet the needs of our nation well into the future.”  

The nearly 600 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, employees working at more than 40 sites in five upper-Midwest states serve the American public in the areas of environmental enhancement, navigation, flood damage reduction, water and wetlands regulation, recreation sites and disaster response. Through the Corps’ Fiscal Year 2015 $100 million budget, nearly 1,600 non-Corps jobs were added to the regional economy as well as $155 million to the national economy. For more information, see www.mvp.usace.army.mil. 

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