As I meet with people around the district these days, there are two issues being moved forward by Minnesota House Democrats that have most of them fired up: increasing the gas tax by 20-cents per gallon and renaming the St. Croix State Park after former Vice President Walter Mondale.
There’s good news to report on one of these topics, as I have reached an agreement with House leadership on keeping the name St. Croix State Park in place.
The change is this: the bill’s author will now propose renaming a section of the St. Croix River as the “Walter F. Mondale Scenic Riverway,” and renaming existing structures after the former Vice President, including the visitors’ center at St. Croix State Park.
To me this the best of both worlds.
Nearly 2,000 residents signed a petition asking that the name of our state park be left alone, and the reasons why are not a surprise. Generations of local families have made St. Croix State Park a part of their lives. This is a very personal issue for them, especially considering they weren’t consulted on a name change in the first place.
Without the input of concerned citizens, there is little doubt this name would have changed – likely with little publicity. Instead, the name St. Croix State Park will remain.
We can and should honor the work that Vice President Mondale has done, but we should also honor and preserve the name St. Croix State Park. This agreement will accomplish both of these goals, and my thanks go out to everyone in our area who spoke out against this proposal and made their voices heard. You made a difference.