John Helland: The "Right" Name for a New Park

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02/08/10 - A Star Tribune newspaper article recently caught my eye and piqued my interest.  It seems that the Dakota County board cannot agree on naming a new park.  I once wrote a little summary when I worked for the legislature called, "The Law of Naming Names in Minnesota."  The Commissioner of Natural Resources must eventually approve all names of geographic features in the state.

The new park in Dakota County is south of the UMore Park, which is being developed by the county and the University of Minnesota, and adjacent to two existing wildlife management areas.  It's 456 acres, contains a 30-acre lake never named, and a 80-foot

John Helland

ridgetop.  It is near the Vermillion River, but the river, which is known as a trout stream, does not run through it. 

The two WMA's have rather unique names, being the Vermillion River Aquatic and Wildlife Management Area, and the Vermillion Highlands Modified (?) Wildlife Management Area.  Somc county commissioners said the new park should "stand out" from other public areas in its name because, if it contained the word "Vermillion," it could "...make it hard...to get people pointed in the right direction" in order to find.  So they punted on the issue, saying they were going to ask the public for ideas, and make a final decision later in the year when they do a master plan for the park.

These kind of names usually do indicate a geographic feature on the landscape...river, lake, hill, woods...and these features are known by the local people, and help others find a public park or natural area.  But without an existing local name, and with the county commissioners not wanting to confuse it with other named areas nearby, I'm sure the Dakota County citizens can choose a logical name for the county to approve before it is passed up to the DNR commissioner.

John Helland worked on environment and natural resource issues for the legislature, and now writes, blogs and enjoys leisure while watching from afar.

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