See also: Critical Area overview | The path to Critical Area modernization | Critical Area rulemaking | Defending the Critical Area

The Mississippi River Critical Area: Its Purpose and Function

Because stewardship of the corridor is shared across so many municipalities and uses, there needs to be strong coordination among local governments and the DNR to manage the resource.

The Mississippi River Critical Area was established over 30 years ago to protect and preserve the unique scenic, environmental, recreational, mineral, economic, cultural and historic resources of the section of the Mississippi River flowing through the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Area. It comprises 72 miles of river and 54,000 acres of surrounding land in some 30 governmental subdivisions.

Regulation of activities in this area of the Mississippi River is accomplished largely at the local level, with planning coordination, oversight and assistance provided primarily by the Minnesota Department of National Resources (DNR) and the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA).

Local municipalities within the Critical Area are required to adopt Critical Area Plans designed to provide a long-term vision for how the municiaplity intends to protect its stretch of the Mississippi River Corridor. From the Critical Area Plans, municipalities are expected to adopt local Critical Area Zoning Ordinances to help realize the goals of their Critical Area Plan, and protect the unique natural, recreational, historic and cultural features of the River in their area.

The DNR has the responsibility of reviewing and approving all Critical Area Plans and Zoning Ordinances before they go into effect. However, it is up to local municipalities to review applications for zoning actions.

The core of the Mississippi River Critical Area policy is found in state Executive Order 79-19; the Mississippi River Critical Area exists within a larger Critical Area framework, found in Minnesota Statutes Chapter 116G.

Geography of the Mississippi River Critical Area

The Mississippi River Critical Area stretches 72 miles from Ramsey and Dayton on the north, to Hastings, Denmark and Ravenna Township on the south. As the river travels that geography, it transforms from a smaller prairie river in the north, over the only natural waterfall on the entire river at St. Anthony Falls, through the Minneapolis and St. Paul gorge, and to the much larger floodplain river most Americans know.

As is explained below, the river corridor is currently divided into four zoning districts, shown on the maps below. Yellow corresponds to the Rural Open Space District; blue to the Urban Developed District; red to the Urban Diversified District; and green to the Urban Open Space district.

Clicking on the various sections of the map below will open one of twelve close-up maps that provide a more detailed view of the Critical Area boundaries, along with the boundaries of Crtical Area zoning districts, overlaid on aerial imagery of Critical Area communities.

The Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area is shown above. Click on a section of the map to see up a close-up aerial view in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

Key Events in the History of the Mississippi River Critical Area

1973 The state Critical Areas Act of 1973 (Minnesota Statues Chapter 116G) allowed for the protection of specific areas which "possessing important historic, cultural, or esthetic values, or natural systems which perform functions of greater than local significance."

1976 The Mississippi River Critical Area was first created in 1976 under the framework of Chapter 116G. Governor Wendell Anderson created the Mississippi River Critical Area when he signed Executive Order 130, which sunsetted in 1979.

1979 By signing Executive Order 79-19, Governor Al Quie renewed and refined Executive Order 130, which today remains the regulatory framework for the Mississippi River Critical Area.

The Naitonal Park Service has worked to foster stewardship, education and interpretation in the Critical Area corridor. The Mississippi Naitonal River and Recreation Area shares the exact same borders as the Mississippi River Critical Area.

1988 Congress designates Mississippi River Critical Area Corridor as a National Recreation Area, known as the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA). The Park shares the identical boundaries with the Mississippi River Critical Area.

1991 Minn. Statute §116G.06 is added to reference the Mississippi River Critical Area in state statute. The new provisions also call for the Governor to recommend modifications to the current Critical Area to reflect the thinking of the National Park Service Comprehensive Management Plan for the Park (see next item). No such updates have yet been made.

1995 The National Park Service establishes a Comprehensive Management Plan for the management of the MNRRA for the next decades.

2007 The 2007 Legislature called on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to issue a report to the Legislature including, "the status of critical area plans, zoning ordinances, the number and types of revisions anticipated, and the nature and number of variances sought. The report shall include recommendations that adequately protect and manage the aesthetic integrity and natural environment of the river corridor."

2007-08 Friends of the Mississippi River, under contract with the Minnesota DNR, worked to engage diverse stakeholders in an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the Mississippi River Critical Area program. Municipal officials and staff, developers, community members and river advocates shared their experiences, which are compiled in a Summary of Stakeholder Engagement and Potential Management Options.

2008 Based on internal analysis and stakeholder feedback, the Minnesota DNR issues the Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area Report to the Minnesota Legislature. The report provides information on how the Mississippi River Critical Area law is being implemented, perspectives on the program's strengths and weaknesses, and an assessment of possible options to improve the program.

2008-09 Based on the recommendations in the DNR report, Senator Katie Sieben and Representative Rick Hansen call together a second group of stakeholders to figure out how to best put options in the DNR Report to the Legislature into reform legislation.

2010 The Minnesota Legislature passes an update to Minn. Statute §116G.15, requiring the DNR to undertake an administrative rulemaking process to update the provisions in Executive Order 79-19 and incorporate them into state rules. $500,000 is provided by the legislature to the DNR, at the DNR's request, to pay for bluff mapping and staff time associated with Critical Area rulemaking.