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DNR to close Upper Sioux Agency State Park on Feb. 16
Upper Sioux Agency State Park near Granite Falls is being returned to the Upper Sioux Community due to the land’s historic and cultural importance to the tribe.
GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — The gates to a state park in southwestern Minnesota will close for good next month, the last step in a plan to transfer historic land back to the Upper Sioux Community.
Upper Sioux Agency State Park will no longer welcome guests beginning at 8 a.m. on Feb. 16, when the facility is officially closed to the public. Facilities (including restrooms) will be locked, informational and wayfinding signs removed, and trails no longer maintained.
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials say the closure comes after a directive from the 2023 legislature to return the land at the state park to the Upper Sioux Community. The directive is supported by the DNR, Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, as it satisfies a long-standing request by the Upper Sioux Community.
The land where the state park sat has special historic and cultural meaning to the Upper Sioux Community, as it was the site of widespread starvation and death of Dakota people during the summer of 1862. The U.S. Government had promised the tribe food as part of a treaty agreement but failed to do so.
“We look forward to returning this land to the Upper Sioux Community, as continuing to operate it as a recreational use site is inconsistent with its unique and profound history,” said DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen in a released statement. “We will continue to collaborate with the public and partners to expand and improve outdoor recreation options in the area.”
Upper Sioux Agency State Park was established in 1963 and covers nearly 1,300 acres of open prairie knolls, bluffs, wooded slopes and vistas. Visitors for decades enjoyed using a well-established trail system for hiking, horseback riding, hiking, skiing, and snowmobiling.
Tribal Chairman Kevin Jensvold told KARE he looks forward to seeing the land return to the Yellow Medicine People.
“If you look at it in historical context, it’s a 168-year effort to right the historical wrong that was inflicted upon my mother’s people,” Jensvold explained.
“The process that gets us to today is just our faith and belief that we are the caretakers of this river valley and again, that land represents just a portion of who we are.”
He said his community will take its time deciding how best to use the reclaimed acres.
“This was a place of holocaust for our people, if you truly boil it down to a concept that can be understood. So, because of that, there’s a solemnness to the land. There’s healing that needs to take place.”
Throughout the summer and fall of 2023 the DNR has worked with park staff, community groups and conservation organizations to identify land that could be used to provide outdoor recreational opportunities with the closing of the state park. The ideas and possibilities are currently being evaluated.
“I think the Upper Sioux State Park being returned to the Yellow Medicine People is incredibly powerful,” Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan told KARE Thursday.
Flanagan, who is a member of the White Earth Nation, has worked hard on intergovernmental relationships between the State of Minnesota and the 11 federally recognized Indigenous tribal nations.
“Some times we talk about ‘land back’ as a hashtag, but really what it is, is really intentional policy work that the DNR did in partnership with the Yellow Medicine People with the Upper Sioux Community. I think it’s a really moving thing, and it’s the right thing to do.”
The Minnesota Legislature approved the land transfer last session and allocated funding to help remove the park fixtures and restore the land to its natural state. Gov. Walz and Chairman Jensvold still had to gain approval from federal officials, who signed off on the idea after being reassured the DNR will create other recreational opportunities in that part of the Minnesota River Valley.
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At least one of the sites was immediately cleared in response to the shootings.
MINNEAPOLIS — By Monday afternoon, there wasn’t a tent in site along the railroad tracks off of E 44th St between Hiawatha and Snelling Avenues. There was only some leftover crime tape.
Just 24 hours prior, two men were killed and a woman was critically hurt in a triple shooting there.
Sunday, a neighbor told KARE what started with one tent in August grew in recent weeks. Police Chief Brian O’Hara and Mayor Jacob Frey held a press conference that day.
“The Third Precinct, this part of the city, has the greatest concentration of homeless encampments so it remains a very serious public safety issue,” O’Hara said. “As soon as these encampments move in, we have a significant increase in crime in the general area and once we’re able to clear them, crime generally does go down.”
Monday, a City of Minneapolis spokesperson confirmed the encampment was “closed earlier today” and that “debris was cleared” from a smaller encampment where yet another triple shooting occurred early Saturday morning.
This one was near E 21st St and 15th Ave S. Three men were shot and one of them died.
Monday afternoon, there was a small fire going and a couple of adults seated outside. A memorial was also placed beside the fencing. The city says there weren’t any structures to remove from the location.
Frey’s office confirmed the immediate closure of the E 44th St encampment was a result of the shootings. However, there were prior discussions about closing it in the near future.
The Mayor’s Office sent KARE 11 the following statement Monday evening:
“The tragic and unacceptable loss of life at homeless encampments underscores the need for immediate action. Encampments are plagued by fentanyl abuse, drug trafficking, and gun violence, and they do not provide a dignified way to live—not for encampment residents and not for the neighbors in surrounding communities.”
“As new encampments form, we are committed to closing them while continuously offering shelter, addiction recovery resources, and support to our homeless residents.”
– Office of Mayor Jacob Frey
A city spokesperson also sent a statement saying the “Minneapolis Homeless Response Team is working right now with the Minneapolis Police Department, Hennepin County and other service providers to offer unsheltered individuals at both locations the necessary resources, services and shelter.”
“We want to help our residents find suitable arrangements in the most supportive and humane way we can. All of our Minneapolis residents deserve better,” the statement continued.
A police spokesperson confirmed no arrests have been made in either case.
The suspect was 17 at the time of the shooting, but he was charged as an adult.
A St. Paul man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, more than two years after a drive-by shooting left a 17-year-old dead.
Casimir Semlak, of St. Paul, was charged with shooting 17-year-old Anthony Skelley in May 2022 during an apparent drug deal in South St. Paul. Police say a search of Skelley’s cell phone uncovered that the last number he was in communication with was linked to the suspect.
Semlak was also 17 at the time but was charged in the adult court system.
Following his death, family members told KARE 11 in a statement that Skelley was a junior attending St. Paul Public Schools’ Gateway to College program, and had “a beautiful soul with a cheerful presence and a joyful spirit.”
Semlak will be sentenced in January 2025.
The Moorhead Police Department said Paige Reinke was last seen Sunday wearing a blue sweatshirt and gray sweatpants.
MOORHEAD, Minn. — Officials are asking for the public’s help locating a 17-year-old Moorhead girl that is believed to be endangered.
According to the Moorhead Police Department, Paige Reinke was last seen Sunday near the 2600 block of River Drive North wearing a blue sweatshirt and gray sweatpants. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) describes her as 5-foot-4, 155 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Moorhead Police Department at 701-451-7660.
