The St. Croix National Scenic Riverway (Riverway) has recently been recognized as a Climate Friendly Park by the National Park Service (NPS). This means the park is now part of a group of more than 150 national parks that are working hard to protect the environment and reduce their negative impact on the planet. The Climate Friendly Parks Program supports the NPS in realizing the goals set forth in the Green Parks Plan.

The Climate Friendly Parks program helped the Riverway create a plan to reduce negative impacts on the climate, served as the motivation to identify funding from outside the NPS, and helped establish a framework for modeling good environmental practices. By joining this program, the Riverway is making important efforts to become more eco-friendly and take better care of the environment. The park will work to reduce pollution, cut down on waste, and educate park workers and visitors about climate change and what they can do to help.

Working Toward a Better Future

The plan outlines goals to reach by 2030:

• Cut down on greenhouse gases produced by the park by 50%.
• Reduce pollution from transportation by 50%.
• Decrease the amount of waste sent to landfills by 25%.
• Use energy and water more efficiently in park operations.

Engaging the Community and Visitors

With more than 800,000 visitors each year, the Riverway has a great opportunity to teach people about climate change and sustainability. The park plans to:

• Update signs to encourage recycling and waste reduction.
• Add information to its website on how visitors can lessen their environmental impact.
• Partner with local communities to support the park’s eco-friendly goals.

Achievements and Upcoming Plans

The park has already made progress, such as:

• Improving energy efficiency in park buildings.
• Starting to replace gas-powered vehicles with hybrid or electric vehicles (EVs).
• Installing electric vehicle charging stations to support hybrid and EVs.

Adding electric vehicle charging stations at National Park Service (NPS) facilities along the Riverway is an important step in helping the Climate Action Plan. These charging stations were made possible by a $152,000 grant from the National Park Foundation, help from Wild Rivers Conservancy, and support from Xcel Energy. Several charging stations have been installed at four NPS locations along the Riverway to support a growing fleet of electric vehicles. These stations will not be available for public use. So far, four gas-powered vehicles from the NPS fleet have been or will be replaced with electric vehicles.

“This is one of many actions we are taking on our journey to become a Climate Friendly Park,” said NPS Superintendent Craig Hansen. “Other steps planned include upgrading support equipment, more efficient heating and cooling systems, and adding additional EVs to our fleet of vehicles. We are grateful for the support we’ve received from the National Park Foundation, Wild Rivers Conservancy, and Xcel Energy to make this climate-friendly goal a reality.” 

You can read the Riverway’s full Climate Action Plan at: https://www.nps.gov/sacn/learn/management/sacn-climate-action-plan.htm