LUVERNE - On the eve of leading a 122-mile Prairie Pedal bike ride through southwest Minnesota, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Commissioner Tom Landwehr and DNR regional office and parks and trails staff gathered with leaders Tuesday night in Luverne.
The three-day ride - the first of what may become an annual event - will give DNR officials an opportunity to experience the natural resources available in southwest Minnesota. Along the way, they will visit Touch the Sky Prairie and Blue Mounds State Park north of Luverne, Split Rock Creek State Park near Ihlen, the Casey Jones Trail at Pipestone, Lake Shetek State Park near Currie and Camden State Park southwest of Marshall before ending the journey Friday afternoon in Marshall.
Landwehr said he hopes to accomplish three things with the Prairie Pedal - to demonstrate the natural beauty of the prairie, to showcase the great outdoor recreation assets in southwest Minnesota and to demonstrate biking opportunities in this part of the state.
“A lot of people just don’t appreciate that we have the big expanses of grasses,” Landwehr said. “It really represents just a huge segment of what Minnesota used to be. Half of Minnesota used to be prairie, and now we have these itty bitty remnants, but you can still get the feel of that native beauty when you’re out in there.”
A good chunk of that prairie can be found just north of Luverne, with 1,000 acres containing more than 120 species of native grasses and forbs at Touch the Sky Prairie and another 1,500 acres of prairie in Blue Mounds State Park.
“You see the very subtle prairie flowers, a whole host of animal species,” Landwehr said. “It’s bringing attention to the prairie as a beautiful element of our natural heritage.”
This will be the DNR commissioner’s initial visit to Touch the Sky Prairie and Split Rock Creek State Park. While he’s been to the other state parks on the tour, this will be his first time experiencing them on a bicycle.
Landwehr spoke of a couple of key Minnesotans who promoted bicycling, including former Star Tribune travel writer Jim Klobuchar, who hosted the Jaunt with Jim Klobuchar bike ride (later known as the Tour of Minnesota) across the state up until 2013. Also, former Rep. Jim Oberstar brought national attention to bicycling. He’s credited with starting the federal Safe Routes to School program, and during his 36 years in Congress, pushing the federal investment in bicycling from $0 to $700 million per year.
Landwehr recalled his own bicycling memories - a trip from St. Paul to Duluth that he took with his high school buddies years ago - and how taking the slower pace allowed for more enjoyment of the natural resources.
“It was a wonderful way to see the countryside,” he said. “You’re going slow - you get a good sense of what the whole atmosphere is like.
“When you’re on a bike, you’re connected,” he added. “It’s just a nice way of traveling.”
As part of Tuesday evening’s gathering, Landwehr heard of the work taking place in Luverne to develop the six-mile Luverne Loop trail, plans to develop a canoe and kayak trail on the Rock River and the outdoor amenities the community hopes to expand upon in the future.
District 22 Sen. Bill Weber, R-Luverne, said southwest Minnesota perhaps isn’t thought of for its bike trail opportunities, but the Casey Jones Trail - a multi-county trail system - was one of the first state trail systems authorized when trail legislation was passed in the late 1960s. Additional funding is needed to expand the trail - something Weber said he and District 22A Rep. Joe Schomacker, R-Luverne, have sought in recent years without success.
Yet Landwehr said funding for parks and trails is available. When voters approved the Legacy Amendment in 2008, dedicating three-eighths of one percent tax to the outdoors, it resulted in an additional $300 million in revenues per year.
That money goes into four pots, one of which is parks and trails. With a 14.25 percent share in the overall pot, parks and trails gets $40 to $50 million per year. Of that, 40 percent goes to metro parks, 40 percent to state parks and 40 percent to Greater Minnesota parks and trails. Landwehr said the Greater Minnesota funds are for parks and trails of regional significance.
DNR Regional Director Dennis Frederickson, based at the New Ulm office, said within the 32 counties of southwest Minnesota - the Prairie Region of the state - there are 18 state parks and room for more trails to be developed.
“We have a lot of amenities in southern Minnesota. We have great hunting, and we have great open spaces,” Frederickson said. “That’s what we want to focus on. We want to let people know that there’s a lot to see around Luverne and around southwest Minnesota.”
Schomacker thanked the group for visiting Luverne and experiencing the parks and trails and encouraged the guests to spend some money while they were in town.
“We believe we have one of the best towns in southwest Minnesota,” said Luverne Mayor Pat Baustian. “We have so much to offer - the outdoors, the biking, the Blue Mounds State Park, the canoeing, our parks. Everything goes hand-in-hand down here, and everybody has a part in making Luverne beautiful.”
