Written by Allie Mastny, 1 Mississippi Intern
Brought up on the banks of another river in eastern Minnesota, I signed on as a 1Mississippi intern last summer feeling like a turncoat. The Mississippi River I could see from downtown St. Paul and Minneapolis had nothing on the wild and scenic St. Croix River of my childhood, and it didn’t seem much worth saving, either. Choked by roads and cut off by municipal land, the Mississippi seemed nothing more than a passive mirror reflecting the brighter lights and neon colors of the Twin Cities’ skyline. As they say, we love what we know, and until I was hired by the Mississippi River Fund six months ago, I didn’t know the Mississippi River at all.
I remember the tipping point. During my second week on the job, I was invited to attend seasonal ranger training with the National Park Service. Paul Labovitz, the Superintendent of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA), roused us all with an inspirational speech. He recalled a conference he’d attended where a director of a park west of the continental divide pitied Paul the task of managing a park with “no natural icon.” Knowing the Mississippi as little as I did, even I knew this was a foolish statement and Paul told us exactly why.
Mississippi River: Courtesy of Liz Farmer
Fourth in size after the Amazon, the Nile, and the Yangtze rivers, the Mississippi flows 2,300 miles from its headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico and is a natural resource known around the world. It is the primary source of drinking water for eighteen million people in seventy towns and cities. Not home to soaring mountains or alien geysers, the River nonetheless houses nests of American bald eagles and serves as a flyway for 50% of the nation’s migratory waterfowl. The Mississippi River is a major national artery pumping life into America’s agricultural heartland and economy, not to mention its significance as an icon of American history, culture and western expansion. Heading home on Bus Route 21A after work that evening, I looked out the window at the Lake Street Bridge crossing and saw the Mississippi River shining in a clearer light, reflecting nothing but its own green, wooded banks.
- My role as
1Mississippi
- intern this summer encompassed a breadth of responsibilities. My most urgent task, however, was to recruit 1,000
- : individuals who pledged to protect the River through volunteerism, conscious lifestyle and political action. During many weekends and evenings spent at events around the metropolitan area, I encountered thousands of people for whom the Mississippi River is a vital and vibrant resource. They shared stories with me of beautiful commutes to work punctured by vistas of the river, of picnics on white sand beaches in the gorge, of canoe trips as children with
- , or “paddlepub” adventures with
- . Some discussed challenging efforts in their industry to reduce pollution in the River or to sponsor restoration events to protect the River’s shoreline for their children. I even met handfuls of
intrepid, modern-day voyageurs
- boasting they had traveled the length of the Mississippi, be it by car, bike, canoe, or houseboat. I realized then that whether the River is the setting for one’s workday or the next great American road trip, it holds a powerful place in our collective imagination and understanding of home.
Allie: Courtesy of Lisa De Guire
Charged with “raising public awareness of the Mississippi River,” I realized I was ill equipped for the job. I first needed to come to know the river for myself if I were to become its advocate; I needed to discover the 1Mississippi. The blog series to come will catalog this journey of exploration, discovery, and rediscovery, chronicling my evolving relationship with the River. No longer the skeptic standing inert on the shoreline, I set out to learn as much as possible: What makes the Mississippi vital to our American culture and economy? Where are the premier travel destinations on the Mississippi River? How is the “partnership park” model revolutionizing urban development? How can river conservation bolster the economy? What work can volunteers and nonprofit organizations do to affect conservation on the river? My discoveries to these questions and more are illustrated by personal research and experience, interviews with other River Citizens, organizations belonging to the Mississippi River Network and profiles of river towns and destinations from the headwaters in Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico.
A powerful voice for conservation, Wendell Berry writes, “Nobody can discover the world for somebody else. Only when we discover it for ourselves does it become common ground and a common bond,” (excerpt from A Place on Earth). More than a natural resource, more than a national icon, the Mississippi River is our common ground, our common bond linking cultures and histories, individuals to community and humans to our natural world. Just as no one could discover the River for me, I know I can’t discover it for any of you. But I hope the writings contained in this blog will help you discover you want to.