The Chisago County Sheriff’s Department dispatched rangers, deputies and local fire and ambulance units to a location near Taylors Falls on the St. Croix River in response to a report of a drowning just before midnight on Sunday, October 14th. The first units arrived to find that a man had been pulled from the river and that CPR was in progress. He was transported to St. Croix Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Investigation revealed that the 52-year-old man, a landowner within the park’s boundary whose property is encumbered by an NPS scenic easement, was removing a privately-owned dock from the river when the towrope broke, the dock hit him in the head, and he fell into the river. Riparian landowners within the park are allowed to maintain seasonal private docks via an approved Army Corps of Engineers docking permit.  However, this dock was being maintained as a private dock according to a special court order specific to this particular stretch of the river.

Contact Information
Name: Scott B. Carrigan, Acting Chief Ranger