State of the Park Report, Mississippi National
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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior State of the Park Report Mississippi National River and Recreation Area Minnesota April 2013 National Park Service. 2013. State of the Park Report for Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. State of the Park Series No. 4. National Park Service, Washington, D.C. On the cover: Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. Photo by: Brian Peterson, Minneapolis StarTribune Disclaimer. This State of the Park report summarizes the current condition of park resources, visitor experience, and park infrastructure as assessed by a combination of available factual information and the expert opinion and professional judgment of park staff and subject matter experts. The internet version of this report provides the associated workshop summary report and additional details and sources of information about the findings summarized in the report, including references, accounts on the origin and quality of the data, and the methods and analytic approaches used in data collection and assessments of condition. This report provides evaluations of status and trends based on interpretation by NPS scientists and managers of both quantitative and non- quantitative assessments and observations. Future condition ratings may differ from findings in this report as new data and knowledge become available. The park superintendent approved the publication of this report. Executive Summary The river itself has no beginning or end. In its beginning, it is not yet the river; at the end it is no longer the river. What we call the headwaters is only a selection from among the innumerable sources which flow together to compose it. At what point in its course does the Mississippi become what the Mississippi means? (T. S. Eliot, Introduction to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn). The mission of the National Park Service is to preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of national parks for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. NPS Management Policies (2006) state that “The Service will also strive to ensure that park resources and values are passed on to future generations in a condition that is as good as, or better than, the conditions that exist today.” As part of the stewardship of national parks for the American people, the NPS has begun to develop State of the Park reports to assess the overall status and trends of each park’s resources. The NPS will use this information to improve park priority setting and to synthesize and communicate complex park condition information to the public in a clear and simple way. The purpose of this State of the Park report is to: • Provide to visitors and the American public a snapshot of the status and trend in the condition of a park’s priority resources and values; • Summarize and communicate complex scientific, scholarly, and park operations factual information and expert opinion using non-technical language and a visual format; • Highlight park stewardship activities and accomplishments to maintain or improve the State of the Park; • Identify key issues and challenges facing the park to help inform park management planning. Congress established the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (Mississippi NRRA) in 1988 and stated that the Mississippi NRRA corridor “represents a nationally significant historical, recreational, scenic, cultural, natural, economic and scientific resource.” It directed the NRRA to: • Protect, preserve, and enhance nationally significant resources and values in the Mississippi River corridor through the Twin Cities metropolitan area; • Coordinate government programs in the corridor; and • Provide a management framework to assist the state of Minnesota and its units of local government in the development and implementation of integrated resource management programs for the Mississippi River corridor in order to ensure orderly public and private development in the area. The Mississippi NRRA is a 72-mile river segment of America’s—and one of the world’s—greatest rivers and is the only National Park about the Mississippi River. The NRRA strives to improve the public’s understanding of the river to promote public stewardship of its resources and strengthen people’s relationships with the Mississippi as a dynamic part of our nation’s heritage, our quality of life, and our legacy for future generations. The Mississippi is one of the most complex ecosystems on the planet. The Mississippi Flyway serves as a route for 40% of the migratory waterbirds, nearly half of North America’s bird species, and is essential to the ecological health of the entire continent. The river environment is home to a rich array of fish, wildlife, and plants. Millions of people live on and near the river, drink its water and rely upon the river’s resources. The Mississippi River lies at the heart of what is America, and more than any other natural feature is an unmistakable symbol of this nation. The Mississippi is one of the most recognized historic transportation routes in our country and features nationally significant natural, cultural, recreational, and economic resources. The Mississippi River has had spiritual importance to Native peoples for centuries. Most Americans and international visitors yearn to see and touch the Mississippi River when visiting the Twin Cities, showing that the river still has a spiritual draw to all people. The Mississippi is a working river, and commercial navigation is important to the economy of this region and the nation. Minneapolis, Saint Paul and most other communities in the corridor exist because of the Mississippi River. We believe answer to T.S. Elliot’s question about “At what point in its course does the Mississippi become what the Mississippi means” is here. For its first 25 years, the Mississippi NRRA focused far more on developing partnerships throughout the 72-mile corridor than on its own lands. Out of the 54,000 acres encompassed in the NRRA’s boundaries, the park owned only 35 acres on nine islands. Other than minimal resource management, the park spent little time on the islands. The park did not need law enforcement or maintenance staff. This changed January 2010, when the Department of Interior placed the 29.5-acre, former Bureau of Mines, Twin Cities Research Center property under the park’s management. Over the next two years, the park completed plans and specifications for the removal of a dozen buildings and related infrastructure, and for restoration of the land to park and open space. The site closed in November 2011 for the demolition and restoration project and opened to the public on September 1, 2012. The property is now the Coldwater Spring unit of the NRRA. State of the Park Report iii Mississippi National River and Recreation Area The demands on staff time and park needs have changed fundamentally with this new property. The Resource Management Team devoted much of the past three years to working on the demolition and restoration project and will continue working on the restoration in coming years. The Education and Interpretation Team began leading tours of the property while it was closed in 2011–2012 and has continued to do so since Coldwater Spring opened to the public. Immediately to the north, Minnehaha Park receives about 1.2 million visitors per year, and historic Fort Snelling to the south gets about 80,000. Coldwater Spring could see tens of thousands of visitors in the next few years. The NRRA is now dealing with maintenance and law enforcement issues on the property. For the first time, the park will need to spend more time on its own property, stressing our ability to work throughout the corridor as we did for our first 25 years. The summary table, below, and the supporting information that follows, provides an overall assessment of the condition of priority resources and values at Mississippi National River and Recreation Area based on scientific and scholarly studies and expert opinion. The internet version of this report, available at http://www.nps.gov/stateoftheparks/miss/, provides additional detail and sources of information about the resources summarized in this report, including references, accounts on the origin and quality of the data, and the methods and analytical approaches used in the assessments. Many of the assessments of resource condition in this report are based on the 2012 State of the River Report developed in partnership with the Friends of the Mississippi River, which examines the status and trends of 13 key indicators of water quality and river health and highlights key strategies for improvement moving forward. The Status and Trend symbols used in the summary table below and throughout this report are summarized in the following key. The background color represents the current condition status, the direction of the arrow summarizes the trend in condition, and the thickness of the outside line represents the degree of confidence in the assessment. Confidence in Condition Status Trend in Condition Assessment Warrants Condition is Improving High Significant Concern Warrants Condition is Unchanging Medium Moderate Concern Resource is in Good Condition is Deteriorating Low Condition State of the Park Summary Table Condition Priority Resource or Value Rationale Status/Trend Natural Resources web Annual mean temperatures and all seasonal mean, maximum and minimum temperatures have increased by more than 2 degrees F during the past 117 years. Weather and Climate Recent climate models suggest that precipitation in the form of snow and rain will increase in late winter/early spring, which could cause increased flooding in the coming decades. Estimated values for ozone and sulfur wet deposition in the park corridor for 2005– 2009 warrant moderate concern based on NPS Air Resource Division benchmarks. Air Quality Estimated nitrogen wet deposition and estimated average visibility warrant significant concern. State of the Park Report iv Mississippi National River and Recreation Area Condition Priority Resource or Value Rationale Status/Trend Water quality has improved dramatically since the 1950s and 1960s.