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The Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission is looking to fill vacancies as well as to appoint or reappoint directors for open seats in each of the six districts. District 5 and District 6 currently have vacancies due to early resignations and by a move out of the district.
Anyone interested in serving on the Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Council may apply on the Secretary of State website, Boards and Commissions link: https://commissionsandappointments.sos.state.mn.us/Position/Index/1. 
At the conclusion of the Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission (GMRPTC) CPO Small Grant Fund application and awards for 2022 there remains a balance of $14,280 in the CPO fund.
The Commission has made the fund balance available for designated Greater Minnesota facilities to apply for a grant specifically for a track wheelchair. A successful applicant must demonstrate the ability to store the chair in an enclosed facility, agree to perform maintenance on the chair as recommended by the manufacturer and make the chair available for loan to other designated facilities to test for a period of two years. (Not to exceed 45 days per year, transportation to and from the loaning facility is the responsibility of the testing facility) A successful applicant must also agree the chair is made available for use at no cost to users. This project is intended to serve as a prototype, thus the necessity of loaning the chair to other facilities. Liability release waivers for use of the chair are the responsibility of the grantee. The Commission has worked with Action Manufacturing/Midwest Trackchair to provide a discounted price for the chair, $14,780 + tax, making the purchase more affordable. The chair will come equipped with the most requested options; attendant control, attendant control relocation mount, cup holder and rod holder. Project costs beyond the available grant funds are the responsibility of the applicant and must be detailed in the application. Applicants must complete the application and submit by December 9, 2022
 In June 2020 the Parks and Trails Legacy Partners embarked on a two-year research project to count visitors to the three system’s parks and trails. Coordination Among Partners funds have paid for this research project for the benefit of all. A data scientist was hired and is housed at the Metropolitan Council offices, working with support of their research team.
The scope of the project is to conduct a statewide analysis of parks and trails visitation, which for Greater Minnesota includes not only designated parks, but parks ranked “eligible for designation” as well. The data used for the research has come from StreetLight Data, Inc., a company that aggregates vast amounts of anonymized data gathered from cell phones to algorithmically transform the inputs into contextualized, aggregated and normalized travel patterns. In plain speaking, they can deliver insight into how vehicles, bikes, pedestrians and transit passengers move on virtually every road and in every Census Block. This information provides the data scientists with ways to count visitors to our system parks and trails. Information that in many parks and trails in Greater Minnesota, we simply do not have. While the date shows as May 13, 2022, the information has been updated as StreetLight Data has advanced with a recent algorithm update. Please know that the system park information study is complete, but trail research is still underway and will be released in the first quarter of 2023. We invite you to review the report, check park visitation for your park or against other parks in the Greater Minnesota system or our partner agencies; Metropolitan Council Regional Parks and DNR State Parks. American Trails, a 501c(3) non-profit organization, in conjunction with the Eastern Region (Region 9) of the USDA Forest Service (NF), is holding a series of meetings regarding the Forest Service's 10-Year Trail Shared Stewardship Challenge (Trail Challenge). The meetings will be a discussion of how we can collectively elevate the sustainability and experience of the NF trail systems. To that end, meetings have scheduled. Participants will include valued existing and potential new partners identified by the NF, staff from the Eastern Region and local forests, and the American Trails Team. The purpose of the meetings are to:
Meetings for the US National Forests in Minnesota will be:
Please send a message to Candace Gallagher with American Trails to let her know you will attend the meeting and what organization, municipality, or agency you represent by July 13th. The meeting will also feature a few partner organizations to give a brief 5-minute overview of a recent partnership success. Hopefully, these presentations will stimulate conversations and ideas about future possibilities. To let you know a little bit more about these meetings and the 10-Year Trail Shared Stewardship Challenge, the following information is provided:
These meetings are being held for all Eastern Region forests. If your organization works in more than one forest, you do not need to attend multiple meetings (unless you would like to).
Only one week remains until the return of the Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission District Workshops! Don' t forget to register for the one you plan to attend - it helps us prepare for each stop. Registration Link: https://www.gmrptcommission.org/2022-district-workshops.html
Monday, April 25, 1:00 – 3:00PM District 5 (Southwest) @ Springfield Community Center, Springfield Monday, May 2, 1:00 – 3:00PM, District 2 (Northwest) @ Northland Regional Sports Park, Bemidji Tuesday, May 3, 10:00AM – 12:00PM, District 1 (Northeast) @ Mesabi Station, Eveleth With ZOOM online attendance option Wednesday, May 4, 10:30AM – 12:30PM, District 3 (West Central) @ Kensington Rune Stone Park Wednesday, May 11, 1:00 – 3:00PM, District 6 (Southeast) @ Quarry Hill Park, Rochester Thursday, May 12, 10:00AM – 12:00PM, District 4 (Central) @ Sherburne History Center, Becker We look forward to seeing you there! 
The Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission (GMRPTC) will be holding FREE District-level workshops across Greater Minnesota in late April and May. Workshop attendees will explore trends in park and trail development across the regional system, learn more about the Commission’s application process, and meet GMRPTC Commissioners and staff.
Park and trail managers, city/county administrators, land commissioners, planning consultants and others responsible for regional-level parks and trails in Greater Minnesota are encouraged to attend. A workshop will be held in each of Greater Minnesota’s six districts, including one on-line session. Attendees are encouraged to register for the workshop in their area but may choose another session if the time is more convenient. Register online for any of the following workshops at https://www.gmrptcommission.org/2022-district-workshops.html. Monday, April 25, 1:00 – 3:00PM District 5 (Southwest) @ Springfield Community Center, Springfield Monday, May 2, 1:00 – 3:00PM, District 2 (Northwest) @ Northland Regional Sports Park, Bemidji Tuesday, May 3, 10:00AM – 12:00PM, District 1 (Northeast) @ Mesabi Station, Eveleth With ZOOM online attendance option Wednesday, May 4, 10:30AM – 12:30PM, District 3 (West Central) @ Kensington Rune Stone Park Wednesday, May 11, 1:00 – 3:00PM, District 6 (Southeast) @ Quarry Hill Park, Rochester Thursday, May 12, 10:00AM – 12:00PM, District 4 (Central) @ Sherburne History Center, Becker More information is available at the workshop registration website listed above. For additional information, contact System Plan Coordinator Joe Czapiewski at [email protected].
The Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission is soliciting proposals from interested, qualified companies to conduct a camper satisfaction and demographic survey as well as collect and analyze camping expenditures with a goal of identifying a daily economic impact figure. Survey should also provide information on use patterns.
A total of seven (7) campgrounds in Greater Minnesota will be surveyed over the summer of 2022. The full RFP can be found HERE. Proposals are due April 8, 2022 and may be submitted to Renee Mattson, GMRPTC Executive Director, at [email protected]. Contact Renee if you have any questions.
The Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission (GMRPTC) is soliciting proposals from interested, qualified companies to conduct a user count and visitor intercept survey of three (3) of the mountain bike trail systems in Greater Minnesota during the summer of 2022.
1. Lake County Mountain Bike System 2. Tioga Recreation Area - Cohasset 3. Winona Bluffs Traverse - Winona Proposals are due no later than 6pm on Wednesday, March 11, 2022. See the information below for more details. GMRPTC Mountain Bike Survey RFP 2022 GMRPTC Trails Survey Instrument 2022
The Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission coordinated a survey of three mountain bike systems in Greater Minnesota during the summer of 2021. The Parks and Trails Council of Minnesota was hired to conduct a visitor intercept survey and trail user counts at the Cook County Mountain Bike Trails, Duluth Traverse, and Detroit Mountain Recreation Area.
In this report you will find detailed information about the user counts and the visitor profiles for each system. The report begins with a trail county summary that provides a starting point to understand the unique differences and the similarities of the average daily traffic. If you have questions or comments, please contact Renee Mattson, Executive Director at [email protected], or Joe Czapiewski, System Plan Coordinator at [email protected]. 2021 Mountain Bike System Survey Cover Letter 2021 Trail Count Summary Duluth Topline Report Duluth Traverse Visitor Profile 2021 Cook County Topline Report Cook County Visitor Profile 2021 Detroit Mountain Topline Report Detroit Mountain Visitor Profile 2021
The Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission is pleased to announce a special Connecting People to the Outdoors Small Grant Fund.
The CPO grant fund of $212,053 is available to all designated Greater Minnesota facilities with the intent to encourage innovative ideas and nurture creative partnerships across facilities and with community partners. We recognize the hardships the pandemic has caused, and this special grant fund is created to allow our partners to imagine programs and activities they may not have considered due to budget constraints. The impact of creative thinking and partnering can have big results! Please see the attached application materials. For more information, contact System Plan Coordinator Joe Czapiewski at [email protected], or Executive Director Renee Mattson at [email protected]. Funding Announcement and Guidelines Application Official Resolution Template |
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