Army Corps of Engineers Seeks Input On Updated Mississippi Headwater Master Plan

The master plans for managing the Mississippi River’s headwaters are getting an update almost 40 years after they were first released and the Army Corps of Engineers is looking for public input on how to manage the lands.

The Corps manages six parks and campgrounds around the Mississippi River’s pristine headwaters in northern Minnesota. The sites include Lake Winnibigoshish, near Deer River; Leech Lake, near Federal Dam; Pokegama Lake, near Grand Rapids, Minnesota; Big Sandy Lake, near McGregor; Gull Lake, near Brainerd; and Cross Lake.

For decades, land management has heavily focused on the recreational use of the land, but the Corps wants to incorporate more natural resources planning. That includes how to deal with invasive species, like zebra mussels, that weren’t around in the 1970s.

Gull Lake Recreation Area natural resources specialist and Park Ranger Corps Brian Turner is the project manager for the Mississippi River Headwaters Master Plan.

He said it’s important to find a balance between recreation and natural resources, or environmental stewardship.

Turner said the plan will have the biggest impact on the federal land near the headwaters but the effects could trickle downstream toward Wisconsin, especially when it comes to helping the region’s endangered species.

“The federal lands also encompasses a lot of other forested areas and wetlands, so we want to incorporate that in the master plan, too, because it’s a great habitat for lots of endangered species and species of special concern,” Turner explained.

Turner said the way people use the land recreationally has also evolved over the last few decades, so those plans also need to be updated. For example, he said it’s hard to maneuver the increasingly popular 40-foot RVs in many of the campsites.

Turner said the public comments will help the Corps make sure its goals match the community’s desires for the land. People can submit comments through August 21.