St. Croix 360

River stories to inspire stewardship.

  • Share News
  • Event Calendar
  • About
    • Contact
    • Subscribe
  • Support

Documents show how power company decided to donate St. Croix River lands

Archives tell a story of protecting a river loved by many in the mid-20th century.

By Greg Seitz | August 14, 2020 | 5 minute read

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Telegram
Click on images to see larger versions.

Vast tracts of wild lands along the upper St. Croix River probably wouldn’t be open to the public today if not for the work of power company executives in the 1950s and 1960s. Northern States Power (NSP), now part of Xcel Energy, donated its holdings along the river to help create the Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway.

NSP had acquired lots of land along the river in the first half of the 20th century as it considered building dams to generate electricity. When those ideas didn’t prove feasible, and as momentum built to designate the St. Croix a Wild and Scenic River, the company began to consider donating the land to the federal government.

The upper St. Croix was included in the 1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and the next year, NSP signed an agreement to donate approximately 25,000 acres of lands to the new National Scenic Riverway.

Men smile — and the land smiles back. W.N. Marx, president of Northern States Power Company, Wisconsin, R.H. Engels, president, Northern States Power Company, Minnesota, Les Voigt, representing Wisconsin Governor Knowles, and Minnesota Governor Harold LeVander smile after signing an agreement under which NSP transfers to the states and the federal government 25,000 acres along the upper St. Croix.

During the years of discussion and deliberation that led up to the donation, NSP produced and collected an assortment of materials. As the 50th anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act approached in 2018, the company located a cache of old documents from the deliberations, and ultimately donated them to the National Park Service.

“Basically they were the original files used by the Company to make the decision to donate the lands, which was a bit of a circuitous process that started in the late 1950s,” said Pam Rasmussen, a long-time Xcel Energy employee with connections to the St. Croix River. “They’d been in storage for at least 35 years, if not more. I wish I had known about them earlier!”

Rasmussen tracked the materials down at Xcel Energy’s headquarters in Minneapolis. The company once again decided to make a donation to the National Park Service. The documents will be preserved in perpetuity by the agency.

Back in 2018, I spent an afternoon perusing the archives at the National Park Service headquarters in St. Croix Falls. I’m finally ready to share a few of the documents I saw, but it’s truly a tiny sample of what’s in the archives.

There were memos, press releases, brochures, and newspaper clippings. It told a story that lasted decades, and celebrated the St. Croix River as a beloved place for canoeing, camping, fishing and more long before it was a National Park.

They tell a story that’s important to the Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway, says superintendent Julie Galonska, who also expressed gratitude for Xcel’s donation.

“The collection enhances the park’s archives by fostering a greater understanding of Northern States Power’s pivotal role in the creation of the Riverway,” Galonska said. “These historical documents will be an asset to park managers, park staff, researchers, and the public for generations to come.”

One interesting aspect to the story was the popularity of the St. Croix long before it was considered for federal protection. Northern States Power allowed the public to use its lands along the river as a recreation area, providing boat landings, campsites, and more.

In the post-World War II era, as outdoor recreation exploded in popularity, NSP’s “St. Croix Wild River Recreation Area” was a popular destination for canoeing, fishing, and camping.

Outfitters provided canoes, camping gear, and shuttle services. Multi-day trips down the river offered “complete relaxation and exhilarating experience in exploring the numerous tributary rivers and islands or simply drifting with the current through an area accessible only by canoe.”

The archives included brochures from The Voyageurs Canoe Outfitters, which offered trips between Riverside Landing near Danbury, and St. Croix Falls.

The company eventually realized that the lands were better suited in public ownership.

Shortly after the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was signed in 1968, the company moved to donate the lands to the new National Park being created on the St. Croix. One quote from then chairman of the NSP board, Earl Ewald, was repeated frequently during the 2018 celebration of the anniversary.

“By all measures, the time to take bold action to preserve the St. Croix and its tributary, the Namekagon, has now arrived,” Ewald wrote in a report released in the late 1960s. “Today we are privileged to transfer this wilderness to the people of the nation. It will be theirs to guard as jealously and to use as wisely as those who preserved it for them.”

The company also laid out some of its thoughts for how the Riverway ought to be managed once it was in public ownership. They believed roads should be kept away from its banks, access limited, and perhaps the need for a reservation system to preserve the St. Croix’s solitude far into the future.

As mentioned above, this is just a small and fairly random selection of documents, and hardly supported with any context or connections. It’s a complicated story, and I hope to spend more time in these archives in the future, and will share additional documents when I do.

Note: Special thanks to Jonathan Moore, Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway Cultural Resources Program Manager, for helping me view these documents.

Related

Comments

  1. Mike says

    August 15, 2020 at 8:47 am

    I am interested in how NSP “acquired” the St. Croix property. Who did they acquire it from? Was money exchanged at the time? Thanks Greg!!

    • Greg Seitz says

      August 16, 2020 at 9:35 am

      Mike, my understanding is that generally, they bought a lot of cutover timber land from logging companies that had no further use of it. But that’s incomplete if not incorrect. A good question.

  2. Brian Finstad says

    September 1, 2020 at 2:14 pm

    That photo of the river is from the Gordon Ranger Station. :+)

Follow

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

St. Croix 360 is 100% supported by readers.

Click here to contribute →

 

Latest stories

  • No wakes allowed on lower St. Croix due to high water
  • Snake River Canoe Race sees fast times and smooth paddling
  • Developer proposes 12 new ‘cabins’ on St. Croix River

More news

  • Residents resist St. Croix Falls riverside development proposal
  • Birds, Bugs, and Blooms: A St. Croix 360 spring Saturday
  • Tribal officials applaud plan to change derogatory names for places
  • Stillwater teen drowns in St. Croix River while helping save friend
  • Afton State Park phenology May 13 to 19, 2022
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

About

St. Croix 360 builds support for river stewardship, and connects people and organizations. It is an independent news source produced by Greg Seitz, with past support from the St. Croix River Association.

Donate to St. Croix 360 today »

Story of 360

One of the biggest challenges facing the St. Croix River is harmful blooms of algae in in the lower river, due to excess nutrients in runoff. The goal is to restore the river by reducing phosphorus levels to 360 tons/year. Learn more »

Share Your News

St. Croix 360 is powered by a broad community of St. Croix River-loving people. Please visit our submission page to send tips, press releases, and other news.

Submit an Event

Lower St. Croix: St. Croix 360 partners with online calendar St. Croix Splash.

  • Submit your events to Splash.
  • Share it with St. Croix 360 for promotion.

For events elsewhere in the watershed, contact St. Croix 360 directly.

St. Croix 360 Syndication

To help increase awareness of the St. Croix River, news organizations and other outlets are free to share St. Croix 360 content, as long as you follow a few simple rules.

Republish St. Croix 360 stories »

Partners

  • St. Croix River Association
  • St. Croix Watershed Research Station
  • ArtReach St. Croix
  • You and all St. Croix 360's readers!
Handcrafted in May Township, Minnesota. Please contribute today »
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
 

Loading Comments...