A great river is the reason why the Twin Cities were founded here. Navigation and mill power anchored St. Paul and Minneapolis. Yesterday that river was the centerpiece of a public meeting in Minneapolis called by the Obama Administration's Great Outdoors initiative.

The Mississippi River was a demonstration zone yesterday for how kids in urban areas can enjoy nature in their back yards. It also was a main artery of interest for citizen after citizen who want more federal, state and local effort to clean it up and get more city residents outside.

One of the ideas Conservation Minnesota and American Rivers raised was a national blue trailways system of river trails. Minnesota has a good contribution to make. The DNR promotes our 31-river, 4,000-mile system of water trails. We also have a state wild and scenic rivers system, although no new rivers have been added since 1980.

A lot of us only have to look out the window or take a walk to remember the Mississippi is at the heart of our lives. We can do a lot more to protect and use it.