You are invited to participate in shaping the future of East Owamniyomni/Father Hennepin Bluff Park Lower Trail!
Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association (MHNA) has partnered with Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board for several years by engaging volunteers in nature restoration activities at Father Hennepin Bluff Lower Trail, part of the Central Mississippi River Regional Park. As the Dakota name for the falls is Owamniyomni, volunteers are calling this lower trail area East Owamniyomni.
In 2023-24, MHNA received funding from the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization to complete a 10-year natural resource management plan for volunteer-led restoration at East Owamniyomni. Friends of the Mississippi River and Full Circle Indigenous Planning and Design are working together on this plan. Essential parts of this planning process are evaluating its ecological health, and engaging Indigenous people and community members both in shaping the plan and playing a role in caring for nature in this special Mississippi River sanctuary.
At the April 16 meeting, Friends of the Mississippi River and Full Circle Indigenous Planning and Design will offer regional context for this planning and share their initial assessment and draft recommendations. Participants will be invited to offer ideas, respond to draft concepts, and sign up to participate in caring for nature at East Owamniyomni. You can sign up for care events this season here.
On Thursday, April 25, 6:30 - 7:30, you are welcome to join a site visit about this plan, led by volunteers.
After the meeting, you are welcome to comment, including through an online comment form, until May 16.
The plan will be finalized in July 2024.
Save the date! On Tuesday, Sept. 10, 5:30 - 7:30, we will be planting shrubs as we launch implementation of the plan.
This event is part of the 2024 season of care days - please sign up here for April - November dates!
For more information or to join the volunteer leadership team, please contact:
Cordelia Pierson