The nationwide "River Runs through US" program is a "Source to Sea" Mississippi River initiative of the United Nations Environment Program, NOAA, and the National Geographic Society, with the support of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative (MRCTI) and regional Rotary clubs. The main focus of this initiative is to monitor and clean up the Mississippi River, from the headwaters to the
Gulf of Mexico, especially with regard to the number one pollutant which is plastic. Along with river monitoring and clean-up, the mission of this program is to improve river recreation and expand river education, to help maintain a healthy river ecosystem, encourage sustainable outdoor recreation in and alongside the river, and to support and assist the small towns along the river that provide access to it. Locally, the Bemidji Rotary Club has joined forces with this initiative, along with the Mississippi Headwaters River Angels, and will coordinate local projects that fit into the larger regional river initiative, with a specific local focus on the following:
--river cleanup (including cleanup of headwaters river and tributary shorelines and shores of Lake Bemidj)
--cleanup and improvement of canoe campsites along the Mississippi Headwaters Watertrail, between Lake Itasca and Cass Lake,
--river education, including workshops and events for educators and community groups,
-- participation in area special events, especially those related to water, the river, and Lake Bemidji, and
--assisting the local Mississippi River Angels in welcoming and aiding through-paddlers who are on "Source to Sea" expeditions from Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico
More about this action project in general, and our local efforts for it, can be found at our webpage here:
https://www.rivergeo.org/action
Latest updates, including upcoming events, can be found on our page:
https://www.facebook.com/The-Mississippi-River-Runs-Through-US-Bemidji-100862825728601
If you would like to join us please let us know by responding to this email [email protected] and we will add you to our mailing list. Future events include a field trips to assess some of the local canoe landings and carry out site improvement projects there, to be followed by several local lake and river cleanup events throughout the summer, welcome events at Paul and Babe for the through-paddlers coming to Bemidji, and educator workshops. We would welcome your involvement, and hope you will consider joining us!
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Our river project will benefit our community and our local environment, as well as memorialize and continue the hard work of three local men who were passionate about the headwaters and worked hard to preserve its unique and special legacy:
ART KEENAN, a local DNR Chief of Forestery , whose passion for the river, wilderness preservation, for low-impact sustainable recreation led him to establish the DNR Mississippi River Water Trail in the 1960's, and to develop canoe campsites for paddlers throughout the headwaters region
PAT RYAN, a DNR water resources and water trail officer, who took the baton from Art Keenan and maintained the canoe landings and canoe campsites to high standards for many years in the headwaters region
REIS HALL, a canoe enthusiast, conservationist, and river guide , who was a founding member of the local Mississippi Revival festivities in the 1980's and 1990's, and who was also a past president of the Bemidji Rotary Club. and JIM MILLER, a musician and outdoorsman who was also a founding member of the local Mississippi River Revival, and who played a large role in many aspects of the "True Source" headwaters documentary and education project.
