Agenda - Council - 04/25/2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Components of the Regional Parks System are categorized into four major components. These four components are regional parks, park reserves, regional trails, and special recreation features. Regional Parks Areas selected for regional parks should contain a diversity of nature-based resources, either naturally occurring or human-built. The recreational quality of a regional park is measured by the presence or absence of outstanding natural resources and the ability to provide adequately for a wide range of natural resource-related recreational opportunities. Access to water bodies suitable for recreation — such as swimming, boating and fishing — is particularly important and most of the regional parks are focused on lakes, rivers or streams. A regional park should be large enough to accommodate a variety of activities, preserve a pleasant natural aspect, and buffer activity areas from each other and from surrounding areas. This is interpreted as requiring 200 to 500 acres of land. Occasionally, because of the quality of the resource, an exception may be made and a regional park may be as small as 100 acres. Experience has shown this to be the minimum size acceptable for the range and type of activities expected to be accommodated. As of 2014, there are 42 regional parks developed and open to the public. These regional parks are listed in Table 3-2 and shown on Figure 3-2. Table 3-2. Regional Parks Open to the Public (2014) Regional Parks Regional Park Implementing Agency 1 Anoka County Riverfront Regional Park Anoka County 2 Bunker Hills Regional Park Anoka County 3 Lake George Regional Park Anoka County 4 Martin-Island-Linwood Lakes Regional Park Anoka County 5 Mississippi West Regional Park Anoka County 6 Rum River Central Regional Park Anoka County 7 Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park Anoka County/Three Rivers 8 Baylor Regional Park Carver County 9 Lake Minnewashta Regional Park Carver County 10 Lake Waconia Regional Park Carver County 11 Lake Byllesby Regional Park Dakota County 12 Lebanon Hills Regional Park Dakota County 13 Whitetail Woods Regional Park Dakota County 14 Above the Falls Regional Park Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board 15 Central Mississippi Riverfront Regional Park Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board 16 Minneapolis Chain-of-Lakes Regional Park Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board 17 Minnehaha Regional Park Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board 18 Nokomis-Hiawatha Regional Park Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board 19 Theodore Wirth Regional Park Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board 20 Mississippi Gorge Regional Park Minneapolis/Saint Paul