VNP Staff Report

Complementing the PBS documentary series, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, Minnesota is telling its own National Park story, airing on WDSE Channel 8 at 8 p.m. Sunday.

Minnesota is home to a treasure of National Park Service sites — all of them are “crown jewels” of unique, cultural, historic and natural significance that merit national status. Together they represent a wide variety of landscapes and cultures, from the scenic waterways of the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers to the historic sites steeped in Native American history at Pipestone and Grand Portage to the vast waters of Voyageurs. With the North Country trail weaving across the state there is a national park “right outside our front door” just about everywhere. There is also an active branch of the NPS-led Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program that helps local communities complete conservation projects and build trails.

Minnesota’s National Park Legacy shows the diversity of this region’s nationally-significant sites and demonstrates that Minnesota’s National Park Service units are dynamic, living, evolving places with important histories and incredible futures. Most importantly, the ongoing committed citizen stewardship of each generation is critical to the ultimate preservation of the natural heritage for generations to come.

The most active way to be a citizen steward for national parks is to go out and visit them, or take a few hours to volunteer at one. Visit www.nps.gov to learn more about national parks and programs in Minnesota: Grand Portage National Monument, Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, North Country National Scenic Trail, Pipestone National Monument, Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program, St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, and Voyageurs National Park.

Children today are the next generation to be stewards of these special areas. Their involvement in the National Park Service is vital to its future. Partners who supported Minnesota’s National Park Legacy are committed to providing schools and libraries in the region with DVD copies of the film, with the hope that it will promote stewardship of the parks right outside back doors, and introduce young people to a lifetime of active exploration and preservation of this region’s most treasured natural resources and cultural heritage. This opportunity to bring the film into classrooms around the state was made possible by the Northeast Minnesota Sustainable Development Partnership and the Donald Weesner Foundation. Those interested in having the film available at their child’s school may contact Voyageurs National Park Association for more information at 612-333-5424 or vnpa@voyageurs.org.