St. Croix Riverway Time and the River: A History of the Saint Croix

CHAPTER 4:
Up North: The Development of Recreation in the St. Croix Valley (continued)

Preserving the St. Croix River

President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal had a profound influence on reawakening popular interest in preservation and protection of the St. Croix River. Its culmination was in many respects the passage of the Wild and Scenic River Act by Congress on October 2, 1968 that designated the St. Croix and Namekagon Rivers as National and Scenic Rivers. With so many tourists and sportsmen enjoying the St. Croix Valley issues of control over the river and its proper usage once again emerged. By the 1920s the Northern State Power Company had bought up extensive frontage on the St. Croix and Namekagon Rivers. In 1928, the Power Company applied for a permit to build a dam on the St. Croix at Kettle Rapids. Sportsmen complained that the dam would flood some of the finest small mouth bass fishing areas on the river. The dam never materialized because engineers for NSP even questioned the feasibility of a large dam on the river. Innovations in coal-generated power plants prompted the NSP to let their permit elapse. However, the company owned 29,238 acres of land on the St. Croix River. Since it was such a large landowner on the river, the Northern States Power company could not help but be a factor in determining the future of the river. [217]

Back in the 1930s the Army Corp of Engineers aimed to revitalize the towns on the lower St. Croix by reviving a plan created in the Herbert Hoover years of dredging a nine-foot channel on the Mississippi. The plan required a series of locks and dams along the entire length of the river. The Corp was permitted to use relief funds to hire workers and finance construction contracts. In 1936, a dam was built at Red Wing on the Mississippi that backed up water on the St. Croix. Although conservationists, such as the Izaak Walton League, complained that the creation of a slackwater pool would harm wildlife, the economic distress of the times caused such objections to fall on deaf ears. By 1940, the Army Corp of Engineers' feat of turning the Mississippi River into a giant canal made the federal agency appear to be critical to the economic well being of river valleys and towns. Struggling farmers in Wisconsin and Minnesota appealed to the Corp district headquarters in St. Paul to turn the St. Croix River into a "Little TVA of the North" with a dam at Kettle River.

The Kettle River project united the interests of northern farmers, who wanted more electrical power for milking machines and the like with the Army Corp of Engineers who wanted more dams to control flooding down river. In 1945, a River and Harbors Act authorized a study of the St. Croix River basin. Among the proposals was rebuilding Nevers Dam to a height of forty-five feet. Damming the river would create a thirty-mile lake between Nevers Dam and Kettle River, and would create a reservoir from there to Danbury. The proposed project would affect seventy-five miles of the St. Croix River. [218]

The Northern States Power Company, conservationists, and townspeople on the river were determined to oppose the project. The motive of conservationists was obvious — to preserve wildlife habitat and fishing streams. Public opinion in the towns on the lower river were against the dam for fear of flooding and because so much work and money had already been spent on promoting tourism and in the Interstate Park and all along the river. The Northern States Power Company, however, had other interests in the fight. In the past they had cooperated with the federal government in conservation efforts and now felt they were being edged out by the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) program, a creation of the New Deal. The REA had done much to bring remote rural areas into the twentieth century by creating the means for farmers to purchase electric power cheaply. But if the REA were behind the Kettle River dam project, the Northern State Power Company would have a new competitor — the federal government. In 1947, after a long, bitter struggle dam permits were denied.

The Army Corp and farmers had failed to create a united effort. The sole aim of farmers was to create hydroelectric power, which was somewhat at odds with the goal of their allies, the Army Corps, whose aim was flood control and improved navigation. Because the proponents of the "Little TVA of the North" did not put forth a unified and concerted effort, the St. Croix River was spared during the 1940s and 1950 -- the age of unprecedented dam building in America. Even in 1953 the Federal Power Commission refused to grant the Wisconsin Hydroelectric Company a permit to build a twenty-five-foot dam on the Namekagon. The decision was based on the "unique" recreational features of the river. "The canoeist has the illusion of being in a forest primeval, far from civilization," wrote the presiding judge. The Namekagon case was a milestone in recognizing that energy development and the deep-rooted need for unspoiled recreation should be balanced. However, despite these efforts to maintain the natural setting of the river, by 1953, there were twenty-three dams and hydroelectric plants in the St. Croix Basin. The upper Namekagon had five small dams including electric generating stations at Trego and Hayward. [219]

In 1947, revitalized by these developments, the St. Croix River Improvement Association was renamed the St. Croix River Association. While water flow and channel depths remained on their agenda, the association expanded its concerns to include sewage disposal and river pollution, parks, roads, and bridges along the river, wildlife and fish propagation, pleasure boating. [220]

Thanks to local, state, and even federal efforts, by 1950 a series of state parks and wild life refuges were created in the St. Croix River Valley. The Interstate Parks were no longer the sole preserver of the river's scenic wonders and resources. The creation of recreational forests by the CCC encouraged the private sector to add to the preservation of the St. Croix for posterity. In 1945, Alice M. O'Brien donated to the state of Minnesota the 180 riverfront acres of land her father, William O'Brien, had owned north of Marine on St. Croix. Within two years the Minnesota state legislature officially established it as a state park. In 1951, Alice O'Brien donated an additional fifteen acres, and in 1958, S. David Greenberg donated a sixty-six acre island. Over the years the William O'Brien State Park has grown through personal gifts and through the efforts of the Minnesota Parks Foundation to 1343 acres. [221]

During this same period, the state of Wisconsin began to develop the Crex Meadows Wildlife Area in Burnett County, approximately one mile north of Grantsburg. The property contains 25,000 acres of restored wetlands. It was necessary to construct miles of dikes and a series of water-control structures to recreate a thriving marsh habitat. The marsh is home to several species of birds and animals, and is used by hunters and naturalists. The William O'Brien State Park and the Crex Meadows Wildlife Area have contributed yet another dimension to the development of leisure activities, by offering bird watching, wildflower appreciation, naturalists talks, and walking tours. [222] Through the establishment of the St. Croix River State Park and the Carlos Avery Wildlife Area the state of Minnesota further expanded these opportunities.

The state of Wisconsin added to its forestland when it bought Soren Jensen Uhrenholdt's forestlands as a demonstration plot. Jensen's children donated more land as a memorial not only to Soren but to his wife and also a son and grandson who died in the armed services. On August 15, 1947, few months after his death, the Uhrenholdt Memorial Forest was dedicated in the town of Seeley "among the lofty pines he preserved," wrote his neighbor Eldon Marple, " — a fit tribute to a man of vision who had the courage and wisdom to carry out practices he knew to be right,. The tree did grow!" On May 6, 1969 a Nature Trail was dedicated to the public in Uhrenholdt's forest. [223]

Another example of local efforts to preserve the heritage and environment of the St. Croix-Namekagon River Valley was the revival of the old Portage Trail along the Namekagon River near Hayward, once used by Indians, fur traders, and explorers, as a hiking route. In 1965, a local society under the leadership of Lyman Williamson set its goal to preserve what was left of the trail. Thanks to an 1855 government land survey and some help from old time hunters and farmers, the group was able to locate sections of the old trail. Williamson laid out the route and obtained permission from property owners to make the improvements and allow hikers to use it. On May 22, 1966 the historic trail was reopened with the help of more than two hundred Boy Scouts of the Chippewa Valley Council and their leaders cleared out the logs, brush, and debris strewn on the path. Since most of the trail is on private property, however, permission is usually needed for groups to traverse it.

Despite all these efforts at preserving areas along the St. Croix River, it was not enough to protect the unique qualities of the river. By the mid-twentieth century the St. Croix River Valley began to take on a suburban quality, in part from the dramatic growth of communities on the river and due to its close proximity to Minneapolis and St. Paul.. The commuting time and the ease of travel between the Twin Cities and the St. Croix were drastically changed thanks to the automobile. Before long towns and resorts along the St. Croix, particularly Stillwater, functioned as virtual suburbs of the metropolitan area. The presence of commuters in the valley was also noticed in many communities. "With the end of the 1940s more and more city dwellers, having first come into the valley as summer renters," wrote James Taylor Dunn, "were establishing themselves in Marine as permanent residents, commuting to their jobs in Stillwater, St. Paul, and Minneapolis." The various parks and recreation areas attracted these newcomers, but at the same time a surge in residential population threatened to drastically alter the ambience of the area. [224]

In 1957, Theodore A. Norelius, editor of the Chisago County Press was the first to voice the opinion that the St. Croix's scenic and recreational features deserved national attention. The Northern States Power Company still owned extensive tracts of land along the St. Croix River. For years it had graciously allowed sportsmen access to the game and fish on their land. Norelius, however, feared that in an era when nuclear power seemed to be the future of electrical energy, the utility might be tempted to sell its lands to real estate developers who would subdivide the land for cottages. "If Mr. Public has a place or places to play in the future," he asserted, "now is the time to consolidate all efforts here in the upper Midwest and ask for a gigantic St. Croix Federal Park, perhaps named the ‘River of Pioneers National Park.'" Only in this way, he argued, could sportsmen avoid signs stating "Private" and "No Trespassing." "This is your land," Norelius wrote, "protect it and preserve it for all posterity." [225] Through a bit of luck Norelius's editorials received the attention of the National Parks Service when U.E. Hella, director of the Minnesota State Park System passed it along to Howard Baker, director of the Omaha office. Norelius won the support of Minnesota Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, but state and federal agencies did not make the St. Croix a park proposal priority.

All this began to change, however, as public concern for environmental protection grew. In his influential books, The Singing Wilderness (1956) and The Listening Point 1958, Sigurd Olson drew attention to the threats against the environment. He argued that the unique values and beauty of the North Country were very fragile and threatened by development. Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, published in 1962, created a national sensation by her convincing arguments about the devastating harm caused by pesticides on wildlife. As the 1960s became an activist decade the environmental movement enjoyed a revival of public interest and support not seen since the Progressive Era's conservation movement. Along with these noteworthy books was the 1959 National Park Service report, Our Fourth Shore: Great Lakes Shoreline Recreation Area Survey. This work helped bring the National Park Service into the Great Lakes region. While it did not specifically target the St. Croix River Valley, the river would never have received the attention it later did without it. [226]

On September 3, 1964 the U.S. Congress passed the Wilderness Act. This marked another significant shift in American attitudes towards nature and the outdoors. This act required federal agencies to identify and preserve areas as part of a national wilderness preservation system. Along with other criteria, these basically included regions unspoiled and uninhabited by humans. The aesthetic and spiritual qualities of nature were once again valued for their own sakes, but this time they were perceived as benefiting the public good. Emphasis turned from parceling natural resources as commodities to a more holistic approach based on ecological values that ultimately would benefit everyone. [227]

This modern view of environmentalism was clearly evident along the St. Croix during the 1960s. Concerns about pollution of the river, injury to its native species, and over-development of adjacent lands, led to calls for its protection. The Saint Croix River Association rose to challenge the Northern States Power Company (NSP), which proposed the construction of two new power plants near Oak Park Heights and Bayport, Minnesota, just south of Stillwater. Although only successful in stopping the building of one of the generating stations, the power plant project awakened the people of the St. Croix to a broader environmental cause — protecting the river's ecosystem. [228]

Although much time, effort, and political wrangling went into it, by September 12, 1968 the House of Representatives passed the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act with a vote of 265 to 7. On October 2 the Senate was on board with the House bill, and in the closing days of Lyndon Johnson's administration the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was signed giving the St. Croix and Namekagon River from St. Croix Falls up to Gordon, Wisconsin national distinction as a protected area. Making the park a reality, however, also required a new approach to park management. The type of park the St. Croix would become was unprecedented. It not only faced the problems of dealing with extensive private ownership issues along its extensive banks, but the legislation that created the park did not give the National Parks Service final authority. That authority was to be shared by private, county, state, and federal agencies. The National Park Service's administration of the river was haunted by the legacy of divided authority that had long plagued the St. Croix Valley. The concept of a park the length of the upper river ran counter to deep rooted traditions, from the Anglo-American custom of using rivers as boundaries to the 1785 Land Ordnance's imposition of a grid system of property ownership along the rivers, and perhaps most strikingly, to the National Park Service's power of condemnation that flew in the face of what some owners of river lands regarded as their American right to private property. It would take several decades of conflict, court cases, and interagency cooperation before the riverway park concept could be fully realized. [229]

In 1970, the St. Croix Valley got another boost to protect it as a wild and scenic river when the St. Croix River State Forest was established. The forest was the culmination of agreements made between the Department of the Interior, Northern States Power Company, and the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota. It is a narrow stretch of land on either side of the river reaching from Nevers Dam Site in Polk County to Danbury in Burnett County. Its purpose was to create a buffer zone along the river corridor and provide more recreational options for the public. The land had belonged to the Northern States Power Company. The National Parks Service facilitated the donation of 4600 acres to the State of Minnesota. Additional contributions to the cooperative river-park concept included the opening of Wild River State Park. By 1978, Wild River State Park opened to the public, relieving the overcrowding of hikers and campers in William O'Brien State Park. In 1982 the Afton State Park joined the St. Croix parks system with "1684 acres of steep bluffs, deep wooded ravines, broad rolling fields, and some impressively sweeping views." Chester S. Wilson, who had served as Minnesota's commissioner of conservation, conceived the idea for this park. As recreation boomed and visitors flocked to the available water sites along the river, Wilson felt that the Afton area was one of the last remaining scenic spots for a state park on the Minnesota side of the St. Croix. In 1967, he asked the Minnesota Parks Foundation for assistance in obtaining the key tract of land at the mouth of Trout Brook until the Minnesota legislature could authorize a state park. Through the work of foundation members, enough money was raised from individuals, corporations, and foundations to buy the necessary land. In 1969, the Minnesota legislature passed a bill authorizing the Afton State Park, and the Minnesota Parks Foundation turned over its land to the state. The park, however, had no public facilities and did not welcome visitors for twelve years. By 1981, the Department of Natural Resources finally opened the gates to this latest addition to the St. Croix River system. During the 1980s, the state of Wisconsin established Kinnickinnic State Park across the river from Afton. [230]

In July 1997, National Geographic commented on the changing face of the valley. "Today the St. Croix is an asset for its own sake," wrote David S. Boyer, "no longer for its wild rice or furs or timber, nor for other purposes of man's pocketbook, but now for his silence and his soul." [231]

But silence was becoming increasingly rare on the lower St. Croix River. During the late 1960s and early 1970s the sprawl of the Twin Cities metropoliatan areas began to lap against the banks of the St. Croix. Scores of new bedroom communities arose to provide a status address and a high quality of life for doctors, lawyers, airline pilots, 3M managers, and corporate executives. [232] Recreational boat traffic on the lower river exploded during the 1960s, particularly on summer weekends. The National Scenic Riverway played no role in protecting the river downstream from Taylors Falls because it had not been included in the 1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson bitterly regretted the last minute deletion of the lower river from the original bill and in 1971 he introduced into the Senate a new bill to create a Lower St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. Concern over cost and administration made the National Park Service less than enthusiastic about the proposal. But development pressures on the lower river were desperately needed to be brought under control. At the time Nelson's bill was announced plans were underway to construct a series of high rise condominium towers at Hudson. Development along the St. Croix was moving forward so fast that many people felt a new river bill could not be passed soon enough to be of any good. Yet, in what Minnesota Governor Albert Quie accurately described as a "legislative miracle" Nelson's bill was approved by the Congress in October, 1972. [233]

The Lower St. Croix National Scenic Riverway differed considerably with the legislative mandate for the management of the upper river. The lion's share of the agency's responsibility on the lower river was to cooperate with local government's to manage traffic on the river and control development along its banks. As a result the National Park Service took much less of an ownership role on the lower river. This proved to be more challenging than traditional park management. It also was very expensive as the park service devoted considerable sums to a program to purchase easements on riverfront property in an effort to freeze development at existing levels. National Park Service managers were forced to become involved with numerous local issues from zoning rules to marina construction and bridge building. [234]

The Lower St. Croix National Scenic Riverway helped to create a forum by which suburban sprawl could be checked along the river. Still it was up to each municipality along the river to embrace or reject the partnership opportunities the new park offered. Emblematic of the way many river towns responded was the experience of Stillwater. Rather than be swallowed up in the Twin Cities' commuter world, Stillwater sought to retain its historic charm and identity, as well as cater to tourists. By the mid-1970s the town began an ambitious restoration program. The buildings and homes from the era of the lumber barons and jacks were painstakingly restored and renovated into shops, restaurants, and museums. "This combination of natural and mad-made attractions, plus some carefully orchestrated festivals," wrote the Pioneer Press, "have created in Stillwater an increase in tourism unlike most other towns in the state." Its fifty-year old Lowell Inn continues its tradition of fine dining and accommodations. Picnickers now enjoyed the spot where the old Stillwater boom collected its logs. Its annual "Lumberjack Days" and revived steamboat excursions celebrate its yester years for residents and visitors. "The ‘birth place of Minnesota' now is experiencing a robust rebirth of its own." [235]

The growth of recreation in the Upper St. Croix and Namekagon region is illustrated by a 1976 census of Yellow Lake. In that year the village reported a year-round population of only ten, but a summer census revealed hundreds of people made it their summer home. The largest resorts in the 1970s were Log Cabin Hollow, Lucky Strike Resort, Carl Peterson, Birch Grove, Al Anderson, Pursel's Resort, Atlasta Resort, Larry Hanson, Yellow Lake Lodge, Norway Slope, and Ray Pardun. Yellow Lake even had its own resort owners association. "We have wonderful summers and autumns," wrote one resident, "and tourists from all over the U.S. and Canada are with us then." In the early part of the twentieth century Burnett County was described as the poorest county in the state and that Webb Lake was the poorest town in the county. However, by the 1970s most of its lakeshore lots had been sold and new summer homes as well as year-round homes for retirees from the Twin Cities were built. [236] Winter sports enthusiasts made recreation a year round activity. Cross-country skiers, snowmobilers, sledders, and skaters joined their nineteenth century counterparts who found the weather brisk and exhilarating.

In 1993, the well-entrenched tourist industry along the upper river prompted the Department of Natural Resources in Wisconsin to begin the Northern Initiatives Project for northern Wisconsin. This project was the result of an internal review of the DNR that revealed that the agency played a greater role in the economic well being of the northern half of the state than in the south. Decisions made by the DNR relating to deer permits, fishing bag limits, and the like had a profound impact on which areas tourists chose for their vacation destination. The DNR invited the residents of northern Wisconsin to share in the decision-making of how to manage the state's natural resources. The Initiative concluded that northern Wisconsin had successfully transformed itself into:

a unique and distinguishable regional entity. . .with its reputation for clean air, water, healthy forests and abundant public opportunities. It is a place where sound science shapes environmental policy, guides sustainable management and ensures expenditures that yield commensurate environmental benefits. The North has a viable and diverse economy that is compatible with its ecological and social values. It is a place where residents and visitors can live, work and play in harmony and safety. [237]

At the dawn of another century and millennium, the recreational experience along the Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway is perhaps more structured than at any time in its history. State and federal park units have imprinted the landscape with standardized signage, trails, structures, and campgrounds. Private concession operators supplement these public resources with additional recreational facilities and tourist amenities. Developed areas have been "returned" to their "natural" states in an attempt to enhance the Riverway's "wild" and "scenic" character. [238]

The St. Croix is not a wild river, but Congress has designated it a scenic river and its scenic qualities constitute its principle economic asset. That asset is today managed with a rigor that would have been unimaginable to the American Fur Company and which would astonish even an organizational genius like Frederick Weyerhauser. But it is useful to recall that the valley has long been managed by its human population, from the family hunting zones established by the Chippewa to the 160-acre farms that sprang from federal homestead law and immigrant dreams. Our management reflects our desires and our values. Over time from furs, to lumber, to wheat, to diary, to scenery we have varied how we manage the valley based upon our economic needs. The Bible says the "Earth abides," and history teaches us that people change. The landscape of the beautiful St. Croix is a product of abiding, persistent nature and the restless, changeable human societies that have called the valley home. The St. Croix is what we have made it and it will be what we dream it to become.