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leanly bisecting Dakota County from west to east, the Vermillion River has a sudden change of mind at Hastings, veering south toward Red Wing instead of plunging on into the Mississippi. The intervening miles of braided backwater channels, floodplain forest, sloughs, and wooded hills are known as the Vermillion River Bottoms, one of Minnesota's most important habitats for rare forest birds and other migratory species.
Within a half-hour of downtown St. Paul, the area is heavily hunted each fall. Birders and canoeists are discovering its charms in growing numbers. A third of the Vermillion Bottoms is state owned, but the ecological integrity of the area remains at risk from surrounding land uses, farming, mining, unregulated OHV riding, and the need for a new sewage treatment plant outlet.
For the past two years a consortium of nonprofits and government entities spearheaded by DNR Metro Greenways has been cobbling together funds to purchase a key 325-acre property at the south edge of Hastings. Escalating land prices along with limited funding for conservation put habitat protection in the metro region beyond the means of any one or two organizations. A new source of possible funding for protection of the Vermillion River Bottoms was created last fall when voters in Dakota County approved a $20 million referendum to protect natural areas and farmlands, with special emphasis on riparian corridors.
About the photographs
In conjunction with this campaign, we invited 10 Minnesotan photographers to photograph each of our Twin Cities Treasures. This page includes low-resolution images of the Vermillion River Bottoms area by Jeff Krueger, who also received a McKnight Artist Fellowship for photography in 2001.
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