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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
St. Paul District
Public Affairs Office
332 Minnesota St., Suite E1500
St. Paul, MN 55101

Phone: (651) 290-5807
Fax: (651) 290-5752
cemvp-pa@usace.army.mil 

 

  • October

    Resident engineer Scott Baker, center, during the weekly progress meeting and site visit Aug. 11, 2015, for the Harper’s Slough project. The Harper’s Slough Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project, located within the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, was planned and designed under the authority of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program. It will protect five existing islands and construct an additional seven islands using material from the backwater and main channel. The program emphasizes habitat rehabilitation and enhancement projects and long-term resource monitoring. Project component includes dredging backwater areas and channels, constructing dikes, creating and stabilizing islands and controlling side channel flows and water levels. Once the project is completed, the project will be turned over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who manages the refuge.

    Harpers Slough restoration gains ground

    After years of degradation, Mississippi River islands near Lansing, Iowa, are receiving much needed attention.

  • August

    Bonnie Greenleaf, Devils Lake flood risk management project manager, briefs Mississippi Valley Division commander Maj. Gen. Michael Wehr on features of the project during a tour of the area during his North Dakota visit July 6-8, 2015. The Devils Lake basin is a 3,810 square-mile sub-basin of the Red River of the North with no natural outlet until lake levels reach an elevation 1,458, at which it flows through Tolna Coulee into the Sheyenne River. Maj. Gen. Wehr received an orientation of the Devils Lake Basin prior to attending Devils Lake Executive Committee, or DLEC, meeting July 8, 2015. The DLEC, co-chaired by the commander of the Mississippi Valley Division and the governor of North Dakota, is comprised of representatives from more than 20 Federal, State, tribal, local agencies and governmental entities.

    Division commander visits North Dakota projects

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Mississippi Valley Division Commander Maj. Gen. Michael Wehr and St. Paul District Commander Col. Dan Koprowski visited the cities of Minot and Devils Lake, North Dakota, July 6-8, to meet with members of Congress, state and local officials and to see Corps projects in the region.
  • The end of an era was witnessed at 11:17 p.m., June 9, 2015, when the last boat, a recreation craft, locked through the Upper St. Anthony Falls lock. The Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014, signed June 10, 2014, directed the Corps of Engineers to close Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock to navigation within one year of the act being signed into law. In 1937, Congress authorized the Minneapolis Upper Harbor Project which extended the Upper Mississippi River 9-Foot Navigation Project an additional 4.6 miles by constructing two locks to lift vessels over St. Anthony Falls. The Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock was completed in 1963.

    Upper St. Anthony Falls makes final lockage

    The end of an era was witnessed when the last boat, a recreation boater, locked through Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam in Minneapolis June 9 at 11:17 p.m.
  • The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, along with Roseau Mayor Jeffry Pelowski, U.S. Sen. Al Franken, U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, state Sen. LeRoy Stumpf, state Rep. Dan Fabian, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources representative Kent Lokkesmoe and Mark Karl of Polaris Industries, dedicated the Roseau Flood Risk Management project August 18, 2015. The $44.6 million project includes a 4.5 mile diversion channel and 45 acres of recreation opportunities to include three birding sites, 9 miles of off-road vehicle trails, an ATV challenge course, 7 miles of multi-use trails and a trail head with parking and picnic area. The diversion channel was designed to divert floodwater around the city to reduce flood stages within the community.

    Roseau flood project dedicated

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, celebrated the completion of its Roseau, Minnesota, Flood Damage Reduction Project with a ribbon cutting ceremony in Roseau, Aug. 18.
  • Sandy Skinaway, Sandy Lake Tribe chairwoman, Col. Dan Koprowski, St. Paul District commander, and Tammy Johnson, Sandy Lake Park Manager, conduct a ribbon cutting ceremony, officially rededicating the Sandy Lake visitor center August 17, 2015. The center, a former lock house located next to the dam, has artifacts and information about the region’s history. Corps staff spent the past year updating the displays and artifacts to better communicate the centuries of history that has occurred around the site.

    Sandy Visitor Center receives a facelift

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District’s Sandy Lake Visitor’s Center has a new look. The district’s history committee recently completed a renovation there that included the tearing down of older displays, the research and design of new panels and the building and installation of new display cases and panels. The new look was unveiled at a ribbon cutting ceremony Aug. 17.

  • July

    BRAINERD, Minn. – Robert Burns, Gull Lake Recreation Area summer ranger, picks up debris following a July 12 storm that dropped nearly 1,000 trees. The park, on the southeast side of Gull Lake and near Brainerd, Minnesota, had campers at 26 campsites when the storm arrived around 7 p.m. Despite damage to a few vehicles and buildings, there were no injuries to any of the staff of campers.

    Fierce storm destroys vehicles, trees

    A Sunday evening storm caused severe damage to the Gull Lake Recreation Area July 12.

  • May

    Aaron Buesing, engineering and construction, is one of the St. Paul District's four Civil Servants of the Year.

    Civil Servants of the Year selected for 2015

    Civil Servants of the Year selected for 2015
    Aaron Buesing
    Monique Johs
    Dawn Linder
    Nate Wallerstedt

  • April

    Jeff Cook, is the operations manager for the Pokegama Dam and Winnibigoshish Lake recreation areas.

    Cook takes the lead at Pokegama Dam

    Jeff Cook said he always knew he wanted to be a park ranger.

  • February

    Airboat operator Bill Chelmowski and survey technician Kurt Schroeder scoot across frozen Lake Pepin as ice thickness measurements are taken on Feb. 18, 2015. St. Paul District staff from the channels and harbors section took to the ice of Lake Pepin on Feb. 18 for the first of weekly ice thickness measurements. The thickest ice discovered this year was at river miles 771 and 766, where 21 inches were recorded.

    Lake Pepin ice measurements begin

    With an air temperature of -5 degrees and winds at 15 miles per hour or more, St. Paul District staff from the channels and harbors section took to the ice of Lake Pepin on Feb. 18 for the first of weekly ice thickness measurements.
  • Kris Taverna, left, and Dale Rud, both of operations, work to remove damaged concrete from the lockwall at Lock and Dam 5A on January 15, 2015. Lock 5A was closed to navigation on Dec. 1, 2014, in order to complete the necessary work by March 9, 2015.

    Mother Nature allows for start early to winter lock maintenance

    Following a historically late start to the navigation season in 2014, Mother Nature once again showed who’s in charge, giving the region a shot of cold air and shutting down navigation earlier than anticipated. This worked in favor of the district’s maintenance and repair section, based out of the Fountain City, Wisconsin, service base.

  • January

    Jeff Cook, is the operations manager for the Pokegama Dam and Winnibigoshish Lake recreation areas.

    New operations manager for Pokegama Dam Recreation Area settles in

    Jeff Cook always knew he wanted to be a park ranger. From his early childhood growing up in Eagan, Minnesota, Cook encountered park rangers at the Autobahn Center in Sandstone, Minnesota, giving a presentation about the outdoors for kids. From that point on, he knew he wanted to do what park rangers do -- interact with the public, teach people about being good stewards of the environment and be involved in all the outdoor activities that Minnesota has to offer year around.
  • Working up to seven days a week, excavators move 50,000 to 70,000 cubic yards of material a week as contractors work through the winter months to complete the Roseau, Minnesota, flood risk management project.

    Roseau flood protection nears finish line

    Working up to seven days a week, excavators move 50,000 to 70,000 cubic yards of material a week as contractors work through the winter months to complete the Roseau, Minnesota, flood risk management project.

  • December

    SPRING VALLEY, Wis. – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District employees, veterans and hunters gathered at the Eau Galle Recreation Area, near Spring Valley, Wis., Dec. 13, for the third annual deer hunt. The Corps partnered with the Wounded Warrior Project and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to host the event. The goal was to connect veterans with other veterans and honor them for their service while also managing the deer herd in the recreation area.

    Military veterans take aim at deer

    SPRING VALLEY, Wis. – Seven U.S. military veterans took to the woods at the Eau Galle Recreation Area, near Spring Valley, Wis., with hopes of harvesting a trophy deer Dec. 13.
  • MINNESOTA CITY, Minn. -- Duane Skjeie, operations, drives a cart at Lock and Dam 5, near Minnesota City, Minn., Nov. 5.

    Lock staff’s quick response save canoeist, dog

    A typical day at Lock and Dam 5, near Minnesota City, Minn., turned into a quick reaction rescue for two of the district’s lock operators recently.

  • September

    A much needed renovation was completed at the Sibley boat ramp located on the north end of Baldhill Dam / Lake Ashtabula, near Valley City, N.D., in late August. When the ramp was constructed 30 plus years ago it met the needs of launching the smaller fishing boats of that time period, but it can no longer accommodate the larger boats of today, said Jeff Kapaun, park ranger.

    Corps, partners build relationship while building new boat ramp

    A much needed renovation was completed at the Sibley boat ramp located on the north end of Baldhill Dam / Lake Ashtabula, near Valley City, N.D., in late August.

  • May

    A Corps regulator’s life: Challenges and opportunities

    Corps regulators have many duties and responsibilities. They work with federal laws, including the Clean Water Act; Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, National Environmental Policy Act; Endangered Species Act; and National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Effectively implementing these rules requires training and experience.

  • Floodplain forests provide habitat, recreation and mitigation

    The St. Paul District environmental stewardship section has been busy lately planting trees near Bay City, Wis. The reforestation project began as a way to mitigate floodplain forest and wetlands that were lost due to the nearly $70 million dollars in renovations to Lock and Dam 3, near Red Wing, Minn.

  • Corps, partners develop plan to protect wetlands

    Northeast Minnesota is known for its views of Lake Superior, outdoor recreation opportunities, the call of the loon and its pristine wetlands.

  • Watershed planning offers hope to challenging problems

    The district recently finished one of its first comprehensive watershed reports, the Sunrise Watershed Study, solely for environmental purposes and the benefit of watershed managers.

  • Wetlands support flood risk reduction

    While wetlands play an important role in providing habitat for a myriad of species and serve as a filter for aquifers, they also play an important role in reducing the impacts of floods.