News Release

Mississippi National River and Recreation Area Superintendent Announces Retirement

Date: December 14, 2020

Mississippi National River and Recreation Area Superintendent, John Anfinson, recently announced his retirement effective January 2. Superintendent Anfinson’s federal service career spanned over 40 years, beginning at the Saint Paul District of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and 20 years with the National Park Service.  

At the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Anfinson served as Chief of Cultural Resources and District Historian reviewing the potential impact of Corps’ projects on cultural resources and researching the history of the Corps’ work on the Mississippi. Anfinson also published The River We Have Wrought, A History of the Upper Mississippi River, 2003.Transferring to the National Park Service - Mississippi National River and Recreation Area in 2000 as their cultural resources program manager and historian, Anfinson had more opportunities to tell the stories of people and events along the Mississippi River.  As the park’s superintendent, Anfinson spearheaded the conversion of the abandoned Bureau of Mines campus at Coldwater Spring to parkland and a native prairie, worked closely with partners to save the Upper Post at Fort Snelling, and supported the renovation of the park’s visitor center at the Science Museum of Minnesota, the latter an effort that resulted in increased yearly visitation from 60,000 to 160,000. Anfinson also initiated discussions and coordination on the issue of invasive carp in the Mississippi River, developed a partnership with the Corps at Saint Anthony Falls Lock and Dam to provide interpretative services, encouraged staff and partners to develop new recreation opportunities, and created a strong partnership with Mississippi Park Connection to provide youth education, volunteer opportunities, and access to the river via PaddleShare .  

In retirement, Anfinson intends to continue engagement with the Mississippi River through participation on boards and commissions such as Friends of the Mississippi River, Minnesota and National Mississippi River Parkway Commissions, and the Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Citizen Advisory Board.