Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 04/10/1997

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GOALS OF ANOKA COUNTY Anoka County's master plan for Mississippi West Regional Park identifies several specific goals. The goals serve two purposes: 1) assure the park offers activities and resources desirable to the c'~_~ns of Anoka county, and 2) ensure the park offers activities and resources favorable to the Metropolitan Council (Anoka County Master Plan, 1994). The concern over the Met Council is due to the desire by the Park Board to obtain regional funding for the park. The concern of citizen perception ensures that the tax payers of Anoka County feel they are receiving maximum value for their taxes. The Mississippi River is used not only by people of surrounding communities, but by travelers of the river also. The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA) encompasses the Mississippi River and its surrounding land. The Mississippi River Coordinating Commission has developeql, a comprehensive management plan to guide river communities in development to ensure that the river's recreational and scenic value will be maintained. MNRRA would eventually like to connect trails from Anoka and Elk River. At present, MNRRA's plan shows an extensive trail network that would use existing parks and trails and develop new ones (Figure 3). Because ofthi~, the need for a park offering both community and regional oriented resources has been recognized. The Anoka County master plan mentions some of the park should be maintained as an arboretum. Other arboretums in the metro area are not as easily accessed by citizens of Anoka County, nor are there any arboretums located within the Anoka sand plain. The only existing arboretum in the seven county metro area is the Minnesota Landscape Arbor~_m in Chanhassen, Carver County (Issacson, 1995). This arboretum does not represent the geological and biological systems of the sand plain. Local horticulturists, University Extension, 4-H, educators, adult interest groups, and neighboring communities have all expressed interest in an arboretum representative o£the geology and ecology of the sand plain (Anoka County Board of Parks and Recreation, 1994).