The St. Paul District is updating its strategic land use and recreation management document that will guide the district’s comprehensive management and development of natural, recreational and cultural resources of the Upper Mississippi River basin for years to come. The master plan, while conceptual in nature, will serve as the vision for both environmental stewardship and recreation as the Corps continues to serve the public in the 21st Century.
Why Revise the Master Plan?
The plan was last updated in 1988 and supplemented in 2011 with the Land Use Allocation Plan. The current plan is in need of revision to address changes to the environment, outdoor recreation trends and the Corps' management policy.
Developed by a Corps interagency team, the plan will include coordination with local, state and federal agencies and tribal representatives, along with input from the public.
The primary goals of the plan include:
- Establish an overall land use management plan
- Identify resource objectives
- Identify associated design and management concepts
The St. Paul District Mississippi River Project encompasses 240 miles and nearly 52,000 acres on the Mississippi River from Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock & Dam in Minneapolis to Lock & Dam 10 in Guttenberg, Iowa.
The Upper Mississippi River is a multi-purpose resource, and the Corps seeks to balance and enhance fish and wildlife management actions and recreation opportunities while maintaining the river’s navigation system.
The Mississippi River recreation and environmental stewardship functions are headquartered in La Crescent, Minnesota. The organization includes Blackhawk Park, a recreation area located near De Soto, Wisconsin, with overnight camping, day-use areas and boat launching facilities. Operation and maintenance of three additional boat accesses at Bad Axe, Millstone and Jay’s Lake Landing are also administered by the Corps. The Corps also grants limited licenses for the use of its land and water areas for park and recreation purposes to the states, agencies and other local government entities.
A forest and wildlife habitat management program is implemented by the Corps on these lands, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service via a cooperative agreement incorporating a majority of the Corps-owned lands into the larger Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The Corps provides forestry and other natural resource management expertise to this partnership and implements a wide range of traditional forest management activities for habitat restoration, including tree planting, invasive species control and forest canopy management.