User:MississippiRiverFriend/Sandbox

Friends of the Mississippi River works to protect and enhance the Mississippi River and its watershed in the Twin Cities area. The non-profit organization has grown steadily since its founding as a one-person office in 1993; it now has a paid staff of roughly 16, approximately 1,500 dues-paying members, and engages an additional 3,500 volunteers a year .

Approach
Friends of the Mississippi River or FMR is a place-based organization. It believes the "tremendous ecological, cultural, scenic and recreational values of the Mississippi River must be carefully tended to ensure that they continue to be shared equally by all citizens and that they endure for future generations."

Rather than focusing on one form of civic engagement,Friends of the Misissippi River:


 * Advocates on behalf of the river on both a community and statewide level,
 * Conserves high-quality lands throughout the watershed,
 * Works with partner groups and volunteers to maintain or restore habitat for both wildlife and water quality, and
 * Educates residents about ways to protect the river.

Who is involved?
Many people are familiar with the organization, but come to be involved in different ways.

Most citizens interact with the organization through volunteer and educational events, typically interacting with staff outdoors though hands-on habitat restoration and monitoring activities, or at educational tours, paddles, gardening workshops or other activities.

News-hounds, nonprofit groups and public agencies and representatives are more familiar with the group's advocacy work, interacting with staff in city and county halls and at the state capitol. Some citizen activists are also involved in this effort.

Meanwhile, landowners and conservation agencies throughout the state are most familiar with the land protection and conservation component of the group's work.

Advocacy
FMR has had several major victories in the past few years, including: In general, FMR's advocacy work is development focused. In addition to their cultural and scenic impacts, development is a significant contributor to urban and suburban runoff, a major nonpoint water pollutant.
 * The Mississippi River Critical Area Reform Law, which calls for and funds a rulemaking and citizen input process to establish new development standards and districts or development zones along the river;
 * Defeating the Bridges, a massive primary residential riverfront project, the largest in the history of St. Paul;
 * Developing or advocating for water quality standards in the fastest growing parts of the metro area, the Rice Creek Watershed and Vermilllion Standards.
 * Other advocacy efforts include setting height limits on riverfront buildings and advocating for land in Lilydale Park and other areas from being developed.

Conservation
FMR has helped to create two highly protected parks in the watershed, including the two most recently designated Scientific and Natural Areas in the state.
 * Pine Bend Bluffs Scientific and Natural Area
 * Sand Coulee Scientific and Natural Area
 * Additional areas where FMR helped win easements and protections include the Rosemount Wildlfife Preserve, Hastings River Flats. As of 2008,FMR’s land conservation work had led to the permanent protection of 849 acres in the Twin Cities region, with another 2,288 acres in the process of being protected.

Habitat Restoration
In addition to working in the areas it helped gain protection of