Pioneer Press Sat, 16 Feb 2008 18:39:50 -0700
North Metro / Agencies bridging Rice Creek gap
It's a water trail in an urban jungle. Enthusiasts have been quietly paddling parts of Rice Creek in the north metro for years - but not the entire 18 miles from Peltier Lake near Centerville westward to the Mississippi River in Fridley. Land at the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant in Arden Hills, about midway through the creek's course, was off limits to the public. Now that problem is about to disappear. Ramsey County took possession of a section of ammunition plant land in late 2006 and will remove water gates on the creek sometime before summer, said Greg Mack, Ramsey County parks and recreation director. Other obstacles stand in the way of having a widely used, safe recreational water trail for new and experienced paddlers, but Mack and other local parks officials are excited about the possibility of ultimately promoting Rice Creek as one of only two recreational water trails in the sevencounty metro area. "I'm really optimistic," Mack said. "We want to open up the entire (Rice) creek corridor for recreation and kayaking." Other groups trying to make that happen are Anoka County Parks and Recreation, the Rice Creek Watershed District and the National Parks Service. This fall, those agencies teamed up with a University of Minnesota environmental sciences class, which studied vegetation, risk assessment, access points, environmental education and recreational planning along the creek.
[[keywords: LandUse;Ramsey;Metro;]]
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