Wisconsin celebrates National Mississippi River Day

A national effort hopes to bring together communities and other stakeholders to celebrate the Mississippi River in order to better protect it.

Wisconsin is one of three states, along with nearly a dozen local governments, celebrating June 2 as National Mississippi River Day. 

In his proclamation, Gov. Tony Evers cited both the river’s importance to Wisconsin communities and tribes, and the threats the waterway faces, including shoreline erosion, wetland degradation and flooding.

Executive director Kelly McGinnis said the group wanted to find a new way to raise awareness about the issues facing the river, especially in an increasingly divided political climate.

“We know the river has the ability to unite, and that it is a place where we can find common ground,” McGinnis said during an online event June 2. “We know that wanting healthy rivers, healthy communities and clean water is not controversial. That is something we can all agree on, and so we felt like now is a really important time to be finding those connection links.”

In April, the Mississippi River was named “America’s Most Endangered River of 2025” by national conservation group American Rivers. The organization said mass layoffs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, along with President Donald Trump’s efforts to eliminate FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program, presented a serious threat to the Mississippi River’s health and the safety of river communities.

McGinnis said the changes are “a call to action” for organizations to continue calling out the impacts of a changing climate on the waterway.

Sara Walling, the water and agriculture program director for Clean Wisconsin, said the national day of recognition is in some ways overdue for river states.

Walling, whose organization is a member of One Mississippi, points out that two-thirds of Wisconsin’s landscape drains towards the Mississippi.

“I think a lot of times the river gets a little less attention, given some of the challenges with protecting and managing a river and river water quality,” she said. “Just the fact that it’s always on the move makes it a little bit harder for people, I think, to gravitate toward and appreciate it in some of the same ways that they do our Great Lakes.”

Walling said there is growing interest among Mississippi River states to establish a more comprehensive approach to conservation and resource protection like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. She said more collaboration is needed to improve the waterway’s health, especially for states further down river that are seeing more problems related to pesticides and other contamination.