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GREENWAY ON THE RED MISSION
STATEMENT
"To promote the development of a greenway system on the Red
River River of the North  and
its tributaries that mitigates floods and protects people through
education and partnerships that enhance the economy, environment
and communities of the Red River Basin."
ORGANIZATIONAL
BACKGROUND
The Greenway on the Red Trust provides a unique opportunity to make
a difference. Greenway on the Red will coordinate the establishment
of a 600-mile/960 kilometer continuous Greenway from Lake Traverse
in South Dakota to Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, collaboratively with
partners in North and South Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba. The
overriding purpose of this contiguous Greenway will be to mitigate
the destruction and hardship caused by inevitable flooding in the
Red River Basin. In addition, the Greenway will provide multiple
on-the-ground benefits through riparian restoration; water quality
enhancement; farmer/landowner incentives; community strengthening;
and increased recreation, tourism, and economic development.
Learn More about What is a Greenway and What can I do as an individual?
Learn
more about the proposed Red River and Wild Rice Greenway Project
Learn
more about Greenway projects along the Red River of the North by
clicking on the map.
Riparian
Areas
Riparian areas are ecosystems that occur along watercourses or waterbodies.
They are distinctly different from the surrounding lands because
of unique soil and vegetation characteristics that are strongly
influenced by free or unbound water in the soil. Riparian ecosystems
occupy the transitional area between the terrestrial and aquatic
ecosystems. Typical examples would include floodplains, streambanks,
and lakeshores.
The
primary goal of the Red River Basin Riparian Project is to assist
landowners to restore degraded riparian corridor within the Red
River Basin to reduce the impacts of non-point source (NPS) pollution
to the Red River and its tributaries. Learn more about the Red
River Riparian Project.
GREENWAY
ON THE RED's START UP (PHASE I) ACTIVITIES
1. Conduct a centralized inventory and assessment of individual,
ongoing urban and rural Greenway initiatives, as a base for the
provision of support, linkage services; and identification of Greenway
opportunities;
2. Develop and implement a private landowner outreach strategy
for rural portions of the Greenway;
3. Define and implement research linkages necessary to delineate
and monitor the evolving Greenway with the Red River Basin Institute
for Flood Damage Reduction, Natural Resource Studies and Watershed
Education; and other Basin entities as appropriate; and
4. Increase awareness, participation and educational opportunities
in the Greenway, in conjunction with the Broadcast Media Partnership,
the Red River Institute for Watershed Education, and the Audubon
Nature Center under development as a "Gateway to the Greenway."
Manitoba
The mandate of Rivers West is to develop and implement a long-term tourism and conservation strategy focusing on the development, promotion and management of the natural, tourism, cultural/heritage and recreational resources of the Red River from Emerson to Lake Winnipeg.
Its vision is to make Manitoba's Red River corridor a destination. Rivers West - Red River Corridor Association Inc. is working closely with communities and government to develop several initiatives related to tourism, conservation initiatives and greenway activities.
The mission of Rivers West is to develop the Red River corridor, from Emerson to Lake Winnipeg, as a destination. Their role involves developing recreational, economic and tourism opportunities while staying focused on conservation and the preservation of historic and cultural resources. Rivers West advances projects on our own or serves as a catalyst and coordinate efforts and resources from other organizations to get the job done. (Learn more about Rivers West and Greenway efforts in Manitoba)
Downtown Fargo-Moorhead River Plan Moving Forward
The River Keepers' board of Directors met to develop action steps to move forward on development of the riverfront. The plan developed by the downtown consultants hired by Moorhead and Fargo, Dahlgren, Shardlow & Uban (DSU), was reviewed and additional ideas were discussed. The plan covers the river from the area south of Oak Grove to the Dike East area. The plan offered by DSU was supported with a few changes.
There is a plan for the riverfront, which is gaining momentum. The Board discussed the need to take that plan and begin to build public support for it. The first step is to garner support for the political jurisdictions. Meetings have been scheduled with the Mayors of Fargo and Moorhead, the Park Districts, as well as the City Commission/Council. Board representatives have already met with the staff of the Downtown Community Partnership and will develop a process to engage the downtown business owners and residents. A meeting will also be scheduled with neighborhood groups surrounding the downtown area.
The intent is to build consensus for hiring an architectural firm to develop a detailed plan for development. This will allow the costing out of those projects and getting them programmed into the appropriate budgets. We're hoping this can all occur by June 2001, in order for the projects to be included in the 2002 budgets.
River Keepers continues to work on the issue of riverfront cleanup. In the downtown area our Adopt-the-Red program which primarily deals with trash, in inadequate for large deadfalls, heavy brush cover, etc. We are facilitating discussions with the cities, forestry and park departments to address these needs.
For
additional North Dakota and Minnesota Greenway Information contact:
Greenway on the Red / National Audubon Society
118 Broadway, Suite 512
Fargo ND 58102
Telephone: (701) 298-3373
Fax: (701) 298-9097
GENEVIEVE
THOMPSON
Project Director (US)
E-mail: gthompson@audubon.org
DONNA
SCHNEIDER
Project Coordinator (US)
E-mail: dschneider@audubon.org
For additional Manitoba Greenway Information contact:
LORNA HENDRICKSON
Executive Director
Rivers West – Red River Corridor Association Inc.
201 – One Forks Market Road
Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada R3C 4L9
Telephone: 204-945-7733
E-mail: lhendricks@gov.mb.ca
Website:
www.riverswest.ca
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