An official website of the POLICY 1: System Plan
This policy states:
Maintain a robust and current set of data, maps, plans, processes, and applications to support regional parks and trails planning.
System Plan policy performance measure(s): To be developed.
The Met Council is responsible for preparing a system plan for the Regional Parks and Trails System. The system is made up of the current regional parks and trails that are open to the public, planned components of the system, and search areas and search corridors for new components to the system. For a regional unit to be deemed “open to the public" it must be substantially open for use. Planned units have Met Council-approved long-range plans and are eligible to enter into the acquisition and development stage. Search units are proposals for regional parks and trails that will be developed through the long-range planning process.
The Regional Parks and Trails System is an interconnected network of large nature-based, recreational open space parks and trails in the metropolitan area. The system primarily consists of lands located in high-quality natural settings that provide close-to-home recreation and protect continuous habitat, plant and animal communities, as well as clean water, air, and soil. Typically, these areas are contiguous to lakes, rivers, or other water bodies. Restoration and protection of natural areas is a key objective in the Regional Parks and Trails System. Regional parks and park reserves include large areas of land or water that often intersect multiple political jurisdictions. Regional trails may traverse several communities and provide connections between regional parks, park reserves, population centers, and the greater trail network in the region. Regional parks and trails draw visitors from across the region and beyond.
The Regional Parks and Trails System is part of the overarching outdoor recreation system in the region consisting of lands owned or managed by federal, state, and local governments, as well as lands privately owned by nonprofit conservancies or for-profit organizations. All play an important role in supporting and protecting the outdoor recreation system. The system is designed to meet the recreational needs and natural resources protection goals of the region. The outdoor recreation system consists of a wide range of facilities, from state parks to regional trails to neighborhood playgrounds to private nature centers. The Regional Parks and Trails System is a critical part of this well-rounded system of outdoor recreation.
As a part of Minnesota's outdoor recreation system, the Twin Cities Regional Parks and Trails System fills a special niche that distinguishes it from local and state recreation opportunities. Criteria outlined in the 25-Year Parks and Trails Legacy Plan help determine what makes a unit "regionally significant."13 The following criteria provide the key considerations for regional significance for the Regional Parks and Trails System:
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Comprises a nature-based setting and substantial acreage (100-acre minimum, but usually significantly larger)
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Offers a range of high-quality activities and experiences
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Serves multiple communities
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Is consistent with the Regional Parks and Trails Policy Plan, a chapter of Imagine 2050
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Provides recreational opportunities in areas that currently lack these amenities
Publicly owned lands and open space areas administered by the federal and state government play an important and complementary role to the Regional Parks and Trails System. In general, local recreational open space facilities provide active recreation, such as athletic fields, courts, and aquatic centers. Private operations also make substantial contributions to the development of facilities and the provision of services and include golf courses, riding facilities, marinas, day camps, and downhill ski areas, as well as privately owned public spaces.
Desired outcomes for maintaining the system plan
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Meet the recreational needs and the natural systems protection goals of the region.
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Support and protect the regional outdoor recreation system in coordination with federal, state, and local governments, as well as with lands privately owned by nonprofit or for-profit agencies Refer to the Regional Parks and Trails Planning Handbook for more information about Minnesota’s outdoor recreation system.
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Provide timely and accurate decision making related to comprehensive planning, regional park and trail long-range plans and amendments, and other system protection activities.
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Determine eligibility for regional funding through the Met Council for planned and existing regional parks and trails.
Maintaining the system plan is critical to a number of Met Council responsibilities, including system protection, planning for the future, and funding eligibility.
Actions
The Met Council reviews and updates the system plan and evaluates the regional park and trail classifications every four years, in partnership with the regional park implementing agencies, to determine what is relevant and necessary.
The Met Council reviews the system plan portion of the Regional Parks and Trails Policy Chapter in partnership with the regional park implementing agencies every four years as part of the policy plan revision process and may add, modify, or delete planned elements to the system. Additions, including major boundary adjustments, or deletions to the system proposed outside the regular plan review process are substantial revisions to the policy plan, and as such require an amendment to the policy plan. Identification of specific boundaries and detailed planning for individual units of the system are addressed in long-range plans for each unit. The long-range plans are prepared and implemented by the regional parks implementing agencies. As circumstances or public expectations change, implementing agencies may need to update their plans through a long-range plan amendment. Refer to the Regional Parks and Trails Planning Handbook, Section Five Planning, to learn more about the amendment process.
Identify and conduct research to inform park policy, funding, and operations. Study results will contribute to understanding visitors' needs, systems additions criteria, estimated visitation, equitable use, natural systems, and emerging issues.
Research provides evidence to guide high-quality decisions through statutory efforts such as the Annual Use Estimates and the twice-per-decade Park and Trail Visitor Survey. Additionally, research findings are valuable information to guide decisions around parks policy (including systems additions), funding, and supporting agency partners in their operations, programming, and natural systems care. Emerging issues identified by park agency and Met Council staff, as well as external trends, can be more effectively addressed through spatial data, quantitative analysis, and qualitative research.
Purpose: Evidence-based decision making is central to the Regional Parks and Trails System. The following research activities have been identified to occur between 2024 to 2030:
Annual Use Estimates. This annual study is mandated by state statute and completed in partnership with the regional park implementing agencies. This product estimates the number of visits to parks and trails in each implementing agency based on a methodology relying on sample counts. The results are used in formulas to calculate each agency’s share of Met Council-awarded grant program dollars. The estimates also allow monitoring of trends over time.
Park and Trail Visitor Surveys. These studies are mandated by state statute and are conducted every five years. A sample of visitors respond to survey questions as they visit a park or trail during the summer of the study. The results provide information about visitor satisfaction, preferred activities, suggestions for improvement, barriers to visiting, information seeking, new visitor experiences, and visitor demographics. The study identifies the proportion of local vs. nonlocal visitors, the mean number of people visiting per vehicle, and the ratio of summer visits to other seasons. These three findings are used in the annual use estimates. The next Visitor Study will be done in 2025. The Met Council will continue to explore the possibility of data collection across four seasons as well as at the park and trail level within funding constraints.
Climate and natural systems. The Met Council will provide research in response to needs identified by implementing agencies regarding identification of regionally significant ecological areas and data regarding climate resilience and risk mitigation. Implementing agencies identified the following priorities: (1) analysis of return on investment of natural systems inventories, (2) climate resiliency mapping and strategy planning, (3) demonstration of systemwide linkages of species/habitat (for example, wildlife corridors), (4) calculation of total regional numbers for prairie and oak savanna restoration, (5) comparison of our regional park system with other systems nationwide, and (6) estimation of carbon footprint from park operations. Additionally, qualitative and survey research could be planned to identify how communities of color, youth, and other key populations frame climate change for better inclusion of perspectives and activities.
Use of relevant Met Council and external research. Met Council staff will respond to requests to support their work. This includes technical assistance in applying existing research findings to policy, funding, and other key topics. The Met Council has completed research projects dedicated to building a more equitable system in response to the goals articulated in Thrive 2040 and Imagine 2050. The 2021 Youth and Parks study identified obstacles to visitation, developed a model for welcoming new users, showed the most desired areas of skills-learning, and explored the activities young people, predominantly youth of color, want to do in the parks.
The Young Leaders Collaboration (2023-2024) brought recommendations from young people across the region regarding the ways parks and trails mattered in their lives and their recommendations for protecting natural systems. Analysis of engagement with agency staff around climate actions and visitor study results provide in-depth understanding of how implementing agencies approach these topics and what they need from the Met Council. This research continues to have vital importance in creating evidence-based policy and funding decisions.
New research in response to emerging topics. Research is needed to support the needs of implementing agency partners and the goals outlined in Imagine 2050. Implementing agencies continue to need quantitative data about nonusers in the general regional population and more extensive visitor data valid at the park and trail level. The Met Council will continue to explore options within funding constraints and identify emerging issues requiring additional research.
The Met Council will annually update map datasets to reflect the most current status of the system in coordination with the data “owners” - our 10 regional park implementing agency partners.
Regional Parks and Trails System geographic information systems (GIS) data is housed within the Met Council for implementing agency and Met Council processes. The implementing agencies and the Met Council have been working in partnership to establish an annual update process for regional parks and trails GIS data for timely and accurate information. The Met Council initiates a data request that is updated when needs arise collaboratively with the regional park implementing agencies. The desired outcomes are:
- Accurate GIS data that is consistent with Met Council’s Regional Parks and Trails System Plan and regional parks and trails long-range plans from implementing agencies
- Use of the GIS data for operations and maintenance funding requests. Use of the GIS data as the ‘document of record’ for regional park and trails with old or no long-range plans on file. These regional parks and trails existed within the system at its inception in 1974, making them eligible for investment in their current state and use.
13 Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. (2011). Parks and trails legacy plan, parks and trails of state and regional significance: A 25-year long-range plan for Minnesota. www.legacy.mn.gov/minnesota-state-and-regional-parks-and-trails-legacy-plan
