Minnesota: Feds Buying Thousands Of Acres Along MN River For Wildlife Reserve

A federal agency is quietly spending tens of millions of dollars to lengthen a swath of publicly owned natural areas up and down the Minnesota River. It's possible because of a fund created almost a decade ago when a new airport runway sent flights over a part of the MN Valley Wildlife Refuge for the first time. The Metropolitan Airports Commission agreed to set up the $26 million fund to compensate for its intrusion. Th e result could more than double the number of miles of reverfront included in what is already an unusual asset for any big metro area. Land buys are taking place as far south as Mankato.