For the first time since the Twin Cities’ founding, we have an opportunity to redefine the Mississippi River in the heart of the Twin Cities. In 2014, Congress directed the U.S Army Corps of Engineers to permanently close the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock. This ended commercial barge traffic at the Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam and Lock and Dam No. 1. Now the Corps wants to leave all three. The Upper St. Anthony Falls Dam will stay, but we have a choice whether the other two locks and dams remain or come out.

John will talk about the choice before us and how we can make a 21st century decision for the Mississippi River between St. Anthony Falls and the Minnesota River confluence, a reach we call "the Gorge."

John Anfinson biography:

Dr. John O. Anfinson has been researching, writing and speaking about the Mississippi River for over 40 years. He spent the first half of his 40-year federal career with the St. Paul District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as District Historian, Tribal Coordinator and Cultural Resources Program Manager. He joined the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service, in 2000, from which he retired as Superintendent in 2021.