When I became Mayor of Little Falls in 2007, former Representative Al Doty and I started brainstorming on how we could link into the Paul Bunyan Trail and bring it to Little Falls. I developed the Mississippi River Cross Roads Trail Committee, which eventually became the Camp Ripley Veterans State Trail Committee, and together we developed a plan with a potential trail route from Crow Wing State Park to the Soo Line, wrapping around Camp Ripley.
Within a very short amount of time we enlisted the support of all the counties and cities in Central Minnesota in an attempt to lobby the federal government, as well as the state legislature for support of the CRVST. After lobbying the MN State Legislature In 2009, they designated the CRVST a state trail. In 2012, a corridor study and master plan were completed by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and now can be viewed on the DNR website.
Currently, under the direction of the CRVST committee, DNR is working on the first leg of the trail, which will start south of Little Falls, on the west side of the Mississippi River and travel to Mill Park in Little Falls. Thanks to Senator Paul Gazelka, Representative Ron Kresha, and the CRVST Committee, the MN State Legislature passed their bonding bill in 2014 that included $1,732,000 for the CRVST. The funding is for acquiring and constructing land for the CRVST.
The CRVST committee recently hosted an informational luncheon and an ATV Ride to educate state and local officials about the importance of the trail, development of the trail, and the progress the committee and DNR has made. Brainerd Dispatch article.
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| ATV participants for ATV Run |
What are your thoughts about the CRVST? Do you have any questions for me?
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