Posts Tagged ‘National Great Rivers Research and Education Center’

Alton’s Vitality Shows Collaborating Works

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Alton, Illinois’ Mayor Tom Hoechst pointed out the benefits his town is accruing from its inclusive community approach to the Mississippi River. America’s Waterway is the same kind of community collaboration — only on-line and on behalf of the whole River. 

“Coupled with Argosy, the marina’s success, Riverfront Park Improvements, the Ampitheater, the meeting of the Great River National Scenic Byway, and the new National Great Rivers Field Station, Alton is becoming a unique nautical communitywith strong ties to the iconic Mississippi River. Lewis and Clark Community College’s commitment to developing green job training opportunities, particularly the effort to train water treatment  plant operators for certification and Ilinois-American Water Co’s investment in Alton at the national call center and the state-of-the-art waterplant are helping to establish ourselves [Alton] as a major water-based employment center.

“Water is truly the  most valuable resource in the world. We have been given a natural asset and must cherish it from an ecological and economical standpoint.”

This all sounded familiar. It’s being repeated in River towns up and down the Mississippi River. While others may not have as much collaboration or success to date, together they make a case for America’s Waterway, the organization seeking to build an interactive constituency for the whole Missisippi River so that unified approaches to its character, condition and future can develop. Here’s how I put it in a follow-up op-ed to the Alton Telegraph.

“We applaud the work Alton and its Mississippi River neighbors have accomplished, and we encourage them to continue and celebrate what they’ve started. We hope you will share your experience with others so that River residents can learn and expand their opportunities and their relationship to the Mississippi River. Perhaps most importantly, efforts like Alton’s and ours are part of a growing public interest in rivers that offers the prospect of seeing the Mississippi River acknowledged and appreciated for what it really is, America’s Waterway.”

In September 2008, I wrote about the gradual decline in America’s appreciation for its natural resources. That process is beginning to reverse itself. But as is the case with many of our natural resources, we don’t have time to wait for the public to pick up on the need to protect and preserve them. In the northern regions of the Mississippi River, we are used to having to jump start cars. America’s Waterway and our planned National Dialogue for the Future of America’s Waterway can be the “jump start” for the iconization of the Mississippi River. If you agree and would like to know more, please contact us or leave a comment.

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Posted in Future of the Mississippi River | Comment Here »

The Mississippi River and America’s Pioneering Spirit

Monday, August 24th, 2009

Today I return to the northern part of the Mississippi River. Last week, I looked at the Mississippi River from its middle section. The River looks very different physically in these two locations. But one thing that Minnesota, Illinois and Missouri share when they look out at the Mississippi River is their tie to America’s pioneering experience.

The Missourians take a more overt approach to this. The museum at the base of St. Louis’ arch celebrates the role this community played in the westward expansion of the United States. The exhibit pays homage to the explorers, both Native and European, who risked life and limb to explore uncharted territories. While not overtly about the Mississippi, you understand that this region of the country is intensely proud of the gumption and guts it took to make the westward trek. It is part of America’s character and it started — or so they claim — here on the banks of the Mississippi.

Today that pioneering spirit is being carried forward by local institutions like the Lewis and Clark Community College - aptly named for renowned American explorers - as it works with other research and education institutions as a part of the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center.

And in the northern section, those of us who have known this River for decades are familiar with its tales of exploration by voyageurs and Native Americans. We know its tie to our development first as a source of timber for urban expansion in the 19th century and then as a vehicle for commerce as the nation expanded.

In festivals all along the watery artery, the riverboat days are celebrated for their tie to a bygone era. Some times we forget that that this was not only a poetic era in terms of travel, but a way for a nation to link itself across a broad territory. Some times the links were short - as from St. Paul to Des Moines. Other times, the connection went throughout the ten state corridor. But this became an avenue of ideas and trade not unlike the connectedness of the Internet today. And certainly, no less pioneering.

So as we work together to discern a vision for the future of America’s Waterway, the Mississippi River, I hope we will include the link the River provides to an element of the American spirit we still appreciate today. Let’s hold on to and update that part of America’s character that’s associated with discovery, meeting challenges and linking communities -  and celebrate it as inherently a part of the Mississippi River today as well as its past.

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Posted in Culture and History | Comment Here »