outdoors | Field 2 Field

April 14, 2022April 14, 2022

Boom Island in Minneapolis – Take Two

Boom Island Park in Minneapolis is one of my favorite places to explore in the Twin Cities. In fact, it was the first place I went to when I got bit by the exploring bug. Well, now that Derrick moved to Minnesota, it’s time to start showing him some of my favorite places in the Twin Cities (and there are a LOT of them).

The park actually gets its name from the island that it once was. The island was named for the booms that were used to separate logs floated down the Mississippi River to sawmills powered by St. Anthony Falls (another of my favorite spots). Each log cut along the tributaries of the Mississippi River was “branded” by each lumber company that put its own stamp on the end of is logs.

One of the things I love about Boom Island Park is the big city is on one side, the green (it will be at some point!) and the wide open space of the park on the other side. (Photo by Chad Smith)

They were separated using the stamps and directed to the right mill by men working from Boom Island. The sawmills at the falls were eventually replaced by flour mills. What remains of those flour mills makes up Mill Ruins Park, yet another great place to explore in the Twin Cities of Minnesota.

What I love most about the park, besides just how big it is, is the fact that it’s set up next to the Mississippi River. You’ve got the big city on one side, and the open areas of the park on the other side.

The land ceased to be an island a while ago due to a buildup of silt and sawdust. It was bought by the park board with funds from the state legislature through the Metropolitan Council in 1982. The land was bought from a construction company for $2.6 million. That land had been targeted for acquisition in the 1978 plan for the development of the central riverfront as a park by the Riverfront Development Coordinating Board.

At one point, the RDCB even considered converting the land to an island once again, but they decided against it because of the cost. The first phase of the park was dedicated in 1987.

Isn’t this a remarkable old bridge at Boom Island Park? (Photo by Chad Smith)

One of my other favorite parts of the park is an old railroad bridge, originally built in 1901 to Nicollet Island, was converted into a bicycle and pedestrian bridge. The bridge was repaired and restored in 2018.

And here is the old railroad bridge. The MOTHER LODE for this old urban explorer.

What I was most surprised at that day is how many people took hiking trips up and down the tracks. (Photo by Chad Smith)

Here’s the link to my Facebook photo album.

September 12, 2021September 12, 2021

Fergus Falls and a broken dam exploration

Fergus Falls was calling me over the weekend, and that call finally proved irresistible. I’d heard through the grapevine about the ruins of an old dam along the Otter Tail River that collapsed back in the day. Well, I quit listening after the word “ruins” because I already knew I wanted to see “Broken Down Dam Park.”

Here’s a short video tour of the broken dam

Folks in that area built what’s called a hydroelectric gravity dam on the river in 1907. The dam was built out of concrete and powered a plant called the Fergus Falls City Light Station. The station provided power to city residents for just a year before disaster struck.

Approaching the Broken Down Dam (Photo by Chad Smith)

The large concrete dam suddenly collapsed in 1909, and you did not want to be downriver from the massive wall of water that suddenly rushed down the Otter Tail River. Can you image the roar of all that water moving at once?

One part of the Broken Down Dam near Fergus Falls that gives the dam it’s name. (Photo by Chad Smith

The dam broke at 4:20 in the morning on September 24, 1909, and the power of all that water releasing at once broke not one, not two, not three, but FOUR other dams downriver. Atlas Obscura says there were reports that the water was so powerful, it picked up a ten-ton generator and threw it into the river. Thankfully, no one died as a result of what was a catastrophe of immense size.

A wiki article (which I was able to validate in several other web pages) says that engineers made a crucial mistake when they constructed the dam. They didn’t conduct a proper site evaluation and wound up building on top of a spring. While I don’t pretend to understand how a spring can flow separately from a river while occupying the same space, it only took a year for the water pressure to build up along the foundations. The rupture washed out the concrete foundation and undermined the structural integrity of the dam, which then collapsed.

The Broken Down Dam, first built near Fergus Falls in 1907, collapsed to to an engineering error. (Photo by Chad Smith)

The dam broke in the center, and the rushing water first took out the Kirk Dam, which powered the city’s waterworks. The water then took out the Mount Faith Avenue Bridge before sweeping away the Red River Mill Dam and Woolen Mill Dam. Damage to the two mills totaled $15,000, with the damage in today’s economy equivalent to $432,000 in 2020.

Conspiracy theory alert: The Dayton Hollow Dam, five miles southwest of where the dam broke, was saved from destruction. The dam’s owner, Vernon Wright, had enough warning to hustle down there in time to get the floodgates open. The conspiracy? He also was president of the Otter Tail Power Company.

The biggest break in the Broken Down Dam. (Photo by Chad Smith)

The city of Fergus Falls then hired Otter Tail Power to build transmission lines into town. That helped spawn a local rumor, fueled by the newspaper, that Wright deliberately destroyed the city’s dam by secretly distributing quicksilver from a rowboat to undermine it.

Broken Down Dam Park was established in 1949, an 11-acre parcel of land. When the water level on the Otter Tail River is high, the flow can go fast enough between the blocks of the structure to create Class 3 rapids.

Here is the link to my complete photo album from Broken Dam.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=chad.smith.75685&set=a.4467526469974421

February 26, 2019February 26, 2019

MN Deer Hunting Association supports CWD Fight

At its annual meeting on February 23 in Grand Rapids, members of the Minnesota Deer Hunting Association (MDHA) voted to support a number of critical legislative initiatives intended to help protect Minnesota’s wild deer herd from chronic wasting disease (CWD).

“Minnesota Deer Hunting Association members recognize that CWD is the biggest threat to Minnesota’s wild deer herd,” said MDHA Executive Director, Craig Engwall. “As Minnesota’s leading deer organization, our group will do everything it can to help protect Minnesota’s deer, as well as the state’s deer hunting tradition.”

MDHA is calling on the Governor and Legislature to agree to support and implement a number of key initiatives this year to fight CWD, including:

Requiring double fencing on all captive deer farms; Mandatory depopulation of all cervids (hoofed animals) on farms with a CWD-positive test; Moratorium on any new cervid farms and a voluntary buyout of existing cervid farms; Prohibition of interstate movement of both captive and wild cervids; Prohibition of interstate movement of any captive cervid byproducts, including blood and semen; Elimination of antler point restrictions (APR) statewide; Dedication of an additional $0.50 of current deer license fees to wild deer health, making the total from each deer license $1.00.

Engwall added, “With the discovery of a single CWD-positive wild deer within a half-mile of a CWD-infected captive cervid farm in Crow Wing County, as well as the 40-plus wild deer testing CWD-positive in Southeast Minnesota, it is imperative that Minnesota act now to protect its wild deer herd. CWD threatens not only Minnesota’s deer and deer hunting tradition, it threatens the nearly $1 billion economic impact that deer hunting contributes to Minnesota.”

Minnesota DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen addressed the Minnesota Deer Hunting Association membership at the annual meeting, providing an update on DNR’s CWD response plan in Crow Wing County and Southeast Minnesota. Strommen also discussed Governor Tim Walz’s budget proposal to provide $4.57 million to fight CWD.

“We are pleased with the actions DNR has taken to address CWD, as well as the governor’s budget proposal to add funding to the CWD fight. That comes in addition to the dollars already provided by Minnesota’s deer hunters,” stated Engwall, “We urge the DNR, the Governor, and the Legislature to work together to vigorously pursue these measures.”

This is what the effect of CWD looks like on deer:

About MDHA: The Minnesota Deer Hunting Association was founded in 1980 as a grassroots organization dedicated to deer and deer hunting and is comprised of nearly 20,000 members in 60 chapters across Minnesota. MDHA is building its hunting and conservation legacy through habitat, education and advocacy.

Additional information about MDHA can be found on the web at: www.mndeerhunters.com. Media contact: Craig Engwall, Executive Director, work phone, 218-327-1103 x13, cell, 218-244 6822, email: craig.engwall@mndeerhunters.com.