Big Stone Wetland Management District (Odessa)
The Big Stone Wetland Management District manages approximately 3, 000 acres in Lincoln and Lyon counties, Minnesota. Properties include 11 waterfowl production areas (WPAs), two former Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) conservation easements, and 11 wetland or habitat protection easements. The district office also assists private landowners with wetland restoration. Located in the Minnesota River watershed, district properties provide important habitat for nesting and migrating waterfowl.
Keweenaw Waterway (Duluth)
At the upper and lower entrances of the Keweenaw Waterway Project on the Portage River in the Keweenaw Peninsula, Houghton County, Michigan, are two harbors of refuge. This waterway entrance for Great Lakes shipping is used as a shortcut and refuge from storms on Lake Superior. Recreational areas managed by State and local agencies at the upper entrance include boating, swimming, and picnic facilities. The lower entrance, Portage Entry, has a restroom facility and a boat launch.
Lac Qui Parle Lake (Watson)
In a rich agricultural area, the nearby Mission Park Historical Site contains replicas of early Indian life. Lac qui Parle is known for its good fishing and waterfowl hunting. Camping is available in the nearby Lac qui Parle State Park.
Lake Traverse (Wheaton)
Lake Traverse is located on the Minnesota - South Dakota border. The project consists of two dams, one dike and two lakes, Traverse and Mud. The main purpose of the project is to control flooding along the northward flowing Bois de Souix River, which joins the Ottertail River to become the Red River of the North. The significant feature of the project is the Browns Valley Dike on the south end of Lake Traverse, keeping it separate from Big Stone Lake.
Mississippi River Pool No 4 (La Crescent)
Located within the scenic Upper Mississippi River Valley between Red Wing, MN and Winona, MN. Project lands are located within the Corps of Engineers Nine Foot Navigation Project and the Fish and Wildlife Service Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The Main channel provides deep draft boating opportunities while the backwaters provide a wilderness area atmosphere for the smaller shallow draft boats.
Orwell Lake (Fergus Falls)
Much of the project area is used for wildlife habitat development by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Many lakes in vicinity.
Mississippi River Headwaters Lakes Project (Grand Rapids)
You will find something unique about a vacation in Minnesota's lake country. The six unique lakes, Gull Lake, the Whitefish Chain (Cross Lake), Big Sandy Lake, Pokegama Lake, Leech Lake, and Lake Winnibigoshish, are roughly bounded by a triangle from Brainerd to Bemidji to Grand Rapids in central Minnesota. Campfires and sunsets and the peacefulness of the water make each day a special event.
Mississippi River Pool No 7 (La Crescent)
Located within the scenic Upper Mississippi River Valley between Trempealeau, WI and Dresbach, MN. Project lands are located within the Corps of Engineers Nine Foot Navigation Project and the Fish and Wildlife Service Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The Main channel provides deep draft boating opportunities while the backwaters provide a wilderness area atmosphere for the smaller shallow draft boats.
Superior National Forest (Duluth)
Located in northeastern Minnesota's arrowhead region, lies the Superior National Forest comprising three million acres. The Forest spans 150 miles along the United States-Canadian border. Here you can find recreation opportunities year round, including travel in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness .
Edge of the Wilderness Scenic Byway (Marcell)
Leave the urban center of Grand Rapids and enter 47 miles of the natural wonders of upper Minnesota, including vistas of flat lowland meadows, swamps and lakes, rolling hills of hardwood forests, and remnants of glaciers long gone.
Minneapolis Grand Rounds (Minneapolis)
The Grand Rounds Scenic Byway is a system of lovely trails, paths and roadways in a totally unique urban setting.
Pipestone National Monument (Pipestone)
The story of this stone and the pipes made from it spans four centuries of Plains Indian life. Inseparable from the traditions that structured daily routine and honored the spirit world, pipes figured prominently in the ways of the village and in dealings between tribes. The story parallels that of a culture in transition: the evolution of the pipes influenced - and was influenced by - their makers' association with white explorers, traders, soldiers, and settlers.
Mille Lacs National Wildlife Refuge (Mille Lacs County)
Mille Lacs National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1915 and is known as the smallest refuge in the National Wildlife Refuge System. The refuge is comprised of two small islands (0.57 acres total) over a mile from shore on Lake Mille Lacs in north-central Minnesota. The islands are boulder and gravel outcrops important for colonial nesting birds, including common terns, ring-billed and herring gulls, and double-crested cormorants.
Mississippi River Pool No 3 (La Crescent)
Located within the scenic Upper Mississippi River Valley between Hastings, MN and Red Wing, MN. Project lands are located within the Corps of Engineers Nine Foot Navigation Project. The Main channel provides deep draft boating opportunities while the backwaters provide a wilderness area atmosphere for the smaller shallow draft boats. There is excellent fishing below Lock and Dam 3 at Red Wing, MN.
Mississippi River Pool No 5 (La Crescent)
Located within the scenic Upper Mississippi River Valley between Minnesota City, MN and Winona, MN. Project lands are located within the Corps of Engineers Nine Foot Navigation Project and the Fish and Wildlife Service Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The Main channel provides deep draft boating opportunities while the backwaters provide a wilderness area atmosphere for the smaller shallow draft boats.
Mississippi River Pool No 6 (La Crescent)
Located within the scenic Upper Mississippi River Valley between Trempealeau, WI and Dresbach, MN. Project lands are located within the Corps of Engineers Nine Foot Navigation Project and the Fish and Wildlife Service Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The Main channel provides deep draft boating opportunities while the backwaters provide a wilderness area atmosphere for the smaller shallow draft boats.
Mississippi River Pool No 8 (La Crescent)
Located within the scenic Upper Mississippi River Valley between Dresbach, MN and Genoa, WI. Project lands are located within the Corps of Engineers Nine Foot Navigation Project and the Fish and Wildlife Service Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The Main channel provides deep draft boating opportunities while the backwaters provide a wilderness area atmosphere for the smaller shallow draft boats.
Mississippi River Pool No 10 (La Crescent)
Located within the scenic Upper Mississippi River Valley between Lynxville, WI. and Guttenberg, IA. Project lands are located within the Corps of Engineers Nine Foot Navigation Project and the Fish and Wildlife Service Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The Main channel provides deep draft boating opportunities while the backwaters provide a wilderness area atmosphere for the smaller shallow draft boats.
Mississippi River Pool No 5A (La Crescent)
There is no public access or facilities at the Lock and Dam. There are public facilities scattered throughout the Pool.Located within the scenic Upper Mississippi River Valley between Winona, MN and Trempealeau, WI. Project lands are located within the Corps of Engineers Nine Foot Navigation Project and the Fish and Wildlife Service Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.
Mississippi River Pool No 1 (La Crescent)
Located within the Upper Mississippi River Valley between Minneapolis and St. Paul. Project lands are located within the Corps of Engineers Nine Foot Navigation Project. The Main channel provides excellent deep draft boating opportunities and scenic views of the metropolitan riverfront. This pool is within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area corridor. There is an observation platform for visitors to watch lock operations and see towboats and barges up close.
Mississippi River Pool No 2 (La Crescent)
Located within the Upper Mississippi River Valley between St. Paul and Hastings, MN. Project lands are located within the Corps of Engineers Nine Foot Navigation Project. The Main channel provides excellent deep draft boating opportunities and scenic views of the metropolitan riverfront. Pool 2 is within the Mississippi National River and Rrecreation Area corridor. There is an observation platform for visitors to watch lock operations and see towboats and barges up close.
Mississippi River Pools Upper & Lower St Anthony Falls (La Crescent)
Represents the head of navigation for the Corps of Engineers Nine Foot Navigation Project and is located in downtown Minneapolis. The USAF Visitor Center is located at the Upper Lock and is open to the public year around. The Visitor provides an excellent view of the historic falls, the Minneapolis skyline and the historic mill ruins along the banks of the river. This area is within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.
Duluth-Superior Harbor (Duluth)
Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center is located on the shore of Lake Superior at one of the two entrances into Duluth-Superior Harbor. Features include accessible ship canal piers, the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge, three lighthouses, close views of commercial shipping and a public lakewalk. Visitor Center exhibits feature the Corps of Engineers role in harbor and connecting channel development. All aspects of commercial shipping are displayed using audio-visual equipment presentations.
Chippewa National Forest (Cass Lake)
Located in northern Minnesota, lies the Chippewa National Forest. The Forest boundary encompasses about 1.6 million acres, of which about 665, 000 acres are managed by the USDA Forest Service. Aspen, birch, pines, balsam fir, and maples blanket the rolling uplands of the forest. In between, water is abundant, with over 700 lakes, 920 miles of rivers and streams, and 150, 000 acres of wetlands.
Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge (Middle River)
Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge is located in northwest Minnesota. Packs of wolves, moose, waterfowl, and 280 species of birds make this refuge a wildlife wonderland. The refuge, originally named Mud Lake Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, was established in 1937 primarily for waterfowl production and maintenance. Located in eastern Marshall County, the contiguous 61, 500 acres are situated in the aspen parkland region of northwest Minnesota.
Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge (Odessa)
Straddling the headwaters of the Minnesota River in extreme west-central Minnesota, Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge is within the heart of the tallgrass prairie's historic range. Today, less than one-percent of tallgrass prairie remains. Big Stone Refuge serves as the "keeper of the prairie" by working to maintain and restore native prairie habitat while providing optimum nesting cover for waterfowl and other grassland nesting birds.
Crane Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (Little Falls)
Crane Meadows National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1992 to preserve a large, natural wetland complex. The 1, 825-acre refuge is located in central Minnesota and serves as an important stop for many species of migrating birds. It harbors one of the largest nesting populations of greater sandhill cranes in Minnesota. Habitats include native tallgrass prairie, oak savanna, and wetlands with dense stands of wild rice.
Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District (Detroit Lakes)
Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District is located in northwest Minnesota and includes the counties of Becker, Clay, Mahnomen, Norman, and Polk - an area of approximately 6, 000 square miles. The district is divided into three general landscape areas, roughly equal in size. From west to east, these are: the Red River Valley floodplain, the glacial moraine/prairie pothole region, and the hardwood/coniferous forest.
Fergus Falls Wetland Management District (Fergus Falls)
The Fergus Falls Wetland Management District was established in 1962 with the initiation of the Accelerated Small Wetlands Acquisition Program. It includes the counties of Douglas, Grant, Otter Tail, Wadena and Wilkin. Historically, this portion of western Minnesota was a broad, sweeping grassland known as the Northern Tallgrass Prairie. Interspersed throughout this open landscape was an abundance of wetlands in every shape and size imaginable.
Hamden Slough National Wildlife Refuge (Audubon)
Eastern forest dramatically gives way to the western prairie at Hamden Slough National Wildlife Refuge. Hardwood forests stretching from the Atlantic seaboard rapidly shift to the vast western prairie at this picturesque refuge. Prior to settlement, this diverse vegetation was attractive to wildlife, and the area teemed with waterfowl, upland birds, bison, wolves, and other prairie wildlife.
Litchfield Wetland Management District (Litchfield)
Litchfield Wetland Management District is located on the eastern edge of the Prairie Pothole Region in central Minnesota. Here, just a little south of the famous mythological Lake Wobegone where "all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average, " more than 33, 000 acres of Service-owned land and 8, 000 acres of wetland easements provide outstanding marsh, prairie, transition, and woodland habitats.
Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge (Bloomington)
Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge is located within the urban and suburban areas of Minneapolis and St. Paul. It is a green belt of large marsh areas bordered by office buildings, highways, residential areas, and grain terminals. The refuge is comprised of eight linear units totaling approximately 12, 500 acres, spanning 34 miles of the Minnesota River. Refuge habitats include riverine wetlands, fens, seeps, floodplain forests, oak savannas and forest, and native grasslands.
Minnesota Valley Wetland Management District (Bloomington)
The Minnesota Valley Wetland Management District (WMD) is a fourteen-county district located in east central Minnesota. It includes portions of the Minnesota, Cannon, and Mississippi river watersheds. Pre-settlement habitats included prairie pothole, native prairie, oak savannah, and big woods. Currently, the prevalent land use in the district is agriculture and urban development around the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area.
Morris Wetland Management District (Morris)
The Morris Wetland Management District includes 244 waterfowl production areas, encompassing over 50, 000 acres scattered throughout an eight-county area. Like other wetland management districts in the prairie states, the goal of the Morris District is to restore and protect sufficient wetland and grassland habitat to meet the needs of prairie wildlife, particularly breeding waterfowl, as well as provide places for public recreation.
Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge (McGregor)
The 18, 064-acre Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1935 and is located in the scenic forest and bog area of northern Minnesota. Visitors can enjoy a range of habitats, including lake, river, bog and hardwood forest. The Refuge's history centers around the 4, 500-acre Rice Lake which, for thousands of years, has supplied an abundant wild rice crop.
Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge (Winona)
Soaring overhead, a bald eagle dives to catch a walleye from the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The 261-mile refuge is the longest in the U.S. excluding Alaska. The refuge begins at the confluence of the Chippewa River near Wabasha, Minnesota, and ends near Rock Island, Illinois. The refuge lies within four states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois. The river was free-flowing until a series of locks and dams were constructed in the 1930s by the U.S.
Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge (Zimmerman)
Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge is located in the St. Francis River Valley, which is known as one of the finest wildlife areas in the state. The wildlife value of the valley was severely reduced in the early 1900s, when the area was drained for agriculture. Congress established this 30, 600-acre refuge in 1965 with Federal Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp (Duck Stamp) funds. Land acquisition continued for the next decade.
Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge (Rochert)
Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge covers 42, 724 acres and lies in the glacial lake country of northwestern Minnesota in Becker County, 18 miles northeast of Detroit Lakes. It was established in 1938 as a refuge breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife. Refuge topography consists of rolling forested hills interspersed with lakes, rivers, marshes, and shrub swamps.
Upper Mississippi River Wildlife & Fish Refuge (Winona)
The Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge is located along 284 miles of the Mississippi River valley extending from the confluence of the Chippewa River near Wabasha, MN to near Rock Island, IL. The lands that make up the refuge lie in four states: MN, WI, IA, IL. The Refuge is largely confined to the floodplain. The Refuge provides migratory habitat for a large percentage of the migratory birds in the Mississippi Flyway.
Windom Wetland Management District (Windom)
The Windom Wetland Management District acquires and manages waterfowl production areas, enforces wetland easements, and provides conservation assistance to landowners in 12 southwestern Minnesota counties. The landscape is dominated by intense, row-crop agriculture, which has led to the drainage of most wetlands and widespread water quality problems. Deteriorating drainage tile systems and the abundance of historic wetland basins provide unlimited opportunities for wetland restorations.
Voyageurs National Park (International Falls)
The park lies in the southern part of the Canadian Shield, representing some of the oldest exposed rock formations in the world. This bedrock has been shaped and carved by at least four periods of glaciation. The topography of the park is rugged and varied; rolling hills are interspersed between bogs, beaver ponds, swamps, islands, small lakes and four large lakes.
Rydell National Wildlife Refuge (Erskine)
Rydell National Wildlife Refuge, purchased by the Richard King Mellon and donated to the US Fish and Wildlife Service as a national wildlife refuge in 1992, is located in the Prairie Pothole Region of Northwestern Minnesota, between the flat Red River Valley Floodplain to the west and the rolling hardwood forest and lake regions to the east.
Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge (Odessa)
Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1999 to preserve 77, 000 acres of native prairie and buffer lands at widespread locations within the historic northern tallgrass prairie region of western Minnesota and northwestern Iowa. The project area for the refuge encompasses parts of 48 counties in Minnesota and 37 counties in Iowa.
Grand Portage National Monument (Grand Marais)
On a hot sultry day in mid July 1802, partners of the most successful fur trade company in North America, the North West Company, met in their majestic Great Hall at Grand Portage and voted to move their summer headquarters from the protected shores of Lake Superior?s Grand Portage Bay fifty miles north to the mouth of the Kaministquia River. Almost from the time the vigorous Scotsmen of the North West had organized at Grand Portage in the mid 1780?s an emerging United States had wanted them out.
Mississippi National River & Recreation Area (St. Paul)
Used by Native Americans for trade, food, and water long before Europeans visited the ?New World, ? the Mississippi River and its watershed is a major contributor to the ecology, culture, politics and economy of the North American continent. To acknowledge this fact, Congress established the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area in 1988. The park?s boundaries enclose about 54, 000 acres and 72 miles of river.
Mississippi River Pool No 9 (Blackhawk Park) (La Crescent)
Located within the scenic Upper Mississippi River Valley between Genoa, WI and Lynxville, WI. Project lands are located within the Corps of Engineers Nine Foot Navigation Project and the Fish and Wildlife Service Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The Main channel provides deep draft boating opportunities while the backwaters provide a wilderness area atmosphere for the smaller shallow draft boats.