The MRCCA is an established city landscape, is the DNR trying to turn it into the Boundary Waters?
No. Executive Order 79-19 and the 2009 legislation directing the rulemaking both recognize that much of the MRCCA is developed and that the area must be managed for multiple uses and purposes including commercial, industrial, and residential development. The National Park Service?s plan for managing the Mississippi River National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA), which has the same boundaries as the MRCCA, recognizes the uniquely urban qualities of the area, including cultural and historic features. Its highly urbanized setting makes the MRCCA/MNRRA unusual among National Park System units. Minnesota Statutes 116G.15 clearly states the MRCCA should be is managed as a multipurpose resource that conserves the scenic, environmental, recreational, mineral, economic, cultural and historic resources and functions.
