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Baxter Pursuing Park

Fund assisting plant to acquire 63 acres along river

By MATT ERICKSON
Staff Writer

BAXTER - In order to protect a portion of the Mississippi River, the city of Baxter and other organizations are working to set aside land to be used as a passive park.

That effort, the Mississippi River Overlook Project, recently received help from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which awarded a grant of $260,000 to the city to be used to acquire 63 acres of forested land along the river.

The Mississippi River Overlook will protect a sensitive area of the river from future development.

"It's not only a benefit to the city, but it's a benefit to people downstream. This will protect this property," Baxter Mayor Darrel Olson said. "This is a really sensitive area. We're taking it out of circulation, so to speak."

The total cost of the land was appraised at $1.2 million, a bill the city couldn't foot alone. But Olson said several groups expressed interest in preserving the land and stepped up with resources of their own. The Land and Water Conservation Fund grant was part of a $500,000 grant received through DNR funding. The Department of Defense funded $260,000 toward the project to promote its Army Compatible Use Buffer program around Camp Ripley and the Nature Conservancy, and the Trust for Public Land contributed $100,000 each from the Habitat Corridors Partnership Program. The remaining $240,000 will be funded by Baxter using park dedication fees paid by developers.

"You talk of sharing resources, getting together, this is a classic example of that," Olson said.

In April, Baxter City Council member Randy Hukriede, Todd Holman of the Minnesota Nature Conservancy and Baxter Community Development Director Bill Deblon lobbied members of Congress in Washington, D.C., for funding for the project.

Hukriede said the 63 acres set aside for the Mississippi River Overlook hopefully will be a first step at preserving more environmentally sensitive land along the river in southern Baxter.

"It's an opportunity with the fast growth of Baxter to preserve more land for public use, for public benefit, that otherwise would be developed," Hukriede said. "This partnership has been great. I'm glad we're seeing it come together, and hopefully we'll be able to continue setting aside more land."

The 63 acres involves a mix of thick woods, swamps and meadows, leading from near Jasperwood Drive south to the Mississippi River, west of Highway 371, and adjacent to an existing canoe landing. When all is said and done, the Mississippi River Overlook will be used for outdoor recreation activities such as nature observation, walking, hiking, bird watching, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, canoeing, photography and similar low-impact activities, Deblon said.

The 63 acres is not suitable for development, Deblon said, because the area manages flow and recharge of groundwater to the river. Because of development pressure on all sides, he said a year ago, the city council, long-range planning commission and parks commission worked with the other groups to preserve the area.

It's the true wilderness area of Baxter, Deblon said.

"This is such a unique system and we're trying to preserve the system. This is one step - a huge boost for that initiative," Deblon said. "A lot of local people, the residents, they want the preservation, and these things take time. In the meantime, development doesn't stand still.

"It's a permanent fixture, a preservation initiative. It boils down to two words - water quality. If you don't have that, what have you got?"

Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., who in a news release Monday announced the $260,000 grant, also said that earlier this year, he made a funding request for the project in the fiscal year 2007 Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill and that bill is currently awaiting consideration by the full Senate.

"I am very excited for the folks in Baxter to receive this grant," Coleman said in the news release. "As former mayor of St. Paul, I appreciate what an enormous resource the Mississippi River is for a community, which is why I've worked to support this effort in the Senate."

With funding in place, closing on the property is expected Dec. 4. Deblon said city officials also are awaiting the final results of an archeological survey. The next step, he said, will be developing a master plan to determine the compatible uses of the 63 acres.

MATT ERICKSON can be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.