News & Articles

At the headwaters of Lake Superior lies the Nation’s largest freshwater estuary, the St. Louis River Estuary. Flowing between Minnesota and Wisconsin, the estuary has a rich history, being home to Ojibwe people for thousands of years.

The estuary was an abundant source of “food that grows on water,” or Manoomin, teeming with fish and a vast variety of birds and mammals.  Ojibwe Chief Biaswa once proclaimed that the estuary was the center of all good things.

Unfortunately, due to eventual unregulated dumping during the boom of industry after settlers came,  the St. Louis River became one of the most polluted waterways in the United States. Now, after decades of work the River is slowly returning to health.

History of the Area of Concern clean-up

In the 1970s when U.S. rivers started to combust and burst into flames, there was a movement to try to stop the destruction of the waterways.  In 1972, the historic Clean Water Act was signed.  And that began a long and tedious fight towards stopping the dumping and starting a process by which the most polluted waterways would be cleaned up. In 1987 the US-Canada Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement was passed.

As a result, the lower 39 miles of the St. Louis River was designated as an Area of Concern (AOC) on the Great Lakes. It is one of 43 AOCs on the Great Lakes in both the US and Canada. T

he Beginning of a Grass-Roots Citizens Action Group

The St. Louis River Alliance was born as a Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) when the Environmental Protection Agency designated the St. Louis River an Area of Concern. It was formed to assist Minnesota and Wisconsin local, state, and federal agencies to develop a remedial action plan (RAP) to clean up the AOC and provide a forum between governmental agencies and citizens. In 1996 the CAC became a non-profit, membership-based organization.

The primary focus was to foster communication between public and tribal agencies, industry groups and community stakeholders in the implementation of the RAP. The CAC also advocated and sponsored stewardship events as well as promoting sound management of the St. Louis River and Lake Superior watersheds, and act as a watch-dog for the process of the AOC.

Along with working with the AOC partners, the organization regularly held public canoe trips, river clean-ups, and citizen science opportunities in the effort to help connect people to the river and foster stewardship. In 2009 the CAC began doing business as the St Louis River Alliance (Alliance).  

Habitat projects such as monitoring for the critically endangered Piping Plover have been on-going, as well as planting wild rice, invasive species removal, and stream monitoring. As the contaminated sediment management actions were being designed in 2016, there were federal funds available to bring these to fruition.  

The Alliance took up the effort to rally the community to secure state bonding money needed to trigger federal funds. The effort galvanized the community once again for the river, and the bonding bill was passed in 2017. $25.4 million was secured to trigger $43.2 in federal funds. These funds are being used to clean up contaminated sediments in the Estuary and help delist the AOC.

As the management actions are being completed by the State of Wisconsin, the State of Minnesota, and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (also assisted by many other partners and organizations) the river has started to move from a severely degraded waterway to a river in recovery.  

Moving From Degradation to Recovery  

In 2017 the Alliance and over 50 stakeholders began working on an application to the National Park Service under the leadership of the City of Duluth to create a St. Louis River Estuary National Water Trail (NWT). After several years the application was approved and finally officially designated by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior in 2020. The Alliance was asked by the City of Duluth to take over management of the National Water Trail. As the work in the AOC is being completed, and we are witnessing the river change and become cleaner. The Alliance has shifted and evolved with time and with the changes of the river.  There is an urgency to reach deep into the river communities that have been negatively affected by the pollution and cut off by industry.  Opportunities to enjoy the river and live from its abundance have been hindered for generations and it is time to help provide better access and resources for people to get back to the river.  

Re-connecting to the River  

There are several projects under way to help re-connect citizens to this wild and abundant treasure.  The focus of the Alliance is to continue to create pathways, provide resources and opportunities for more people to experience the river.  Getting to know the river will enhance lives while also changing hearts and creating stewards to care for the it for generations to come.  Our relationship to our rivers and lakes are a primal, reciprocal agreement.  The more we fall in love with the water, the more we both will thrive.   You can help by becoming a member of the St. Louis River Alliance, participating in public events, following on social media, and helping out with volunteer work.  Find out more at www.stlouisriver.org.   Contact : Kris Eilers Executive Director St. Louis River Alliance kris@stlouisriver.org  

Kris Eilers, Executive Director of the St. Louis River Alliance has been engaged in policy and program delivery in environmental protection, water quality, remediation and habitat restoration, intergovernmental affairs and community engagement/outreach in the Duluth area for more than a decade.  Her strong business and administrative skills, garnered with her 20+ year career in the private corporate sector, have set her and the St. Louis River Alliance (SLRA) up for many successes. Kris has been instrumental in attracting thousands of people to the river through boat tours, volunteer opportunities, canoe/kayak trips and winter hikes.  t is her hope and passion to help rekindle strong relationships to the river through increased access and opportunity. Kris is driven by her life-long passion for water, and a childhood dream of helping to restore the polluted waters of the St. Louis River that runs into Lake Superior.