May 14, 2026
Staff at Minnesota’s Whitewater State Park have a problem: one of the most popular trails in the park crosses a stream. As flooding becomes more frequent due to climate change, the trail is often unsafe for hikers. They need to implement a stream crossing solution that won’t wash away in the next flood or harm the ecosystem around it, but making the right choice requires careful consideration.
In March 2026, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (CASC) co-hosted a workshop to increase the DNR’s capacity to address challenges like these.
As trusted natural resource stewards, Minnesota DNR staff are well-positioned to implement appropriately scaled, responsive climate adaptation solutions, said Olivia LeDee, Regional Administrator for the Midwest CASC. At the same time, they must balance the differing needs of many stakeholders as they make management decisions for the state’s land, water, fish and wildlife. To date, climate adaptation has not been consistently integrated in such decisions.
An Action-Oriented Workshop
The workshop aimed to advance the DNR’s organizational capacity to embed climate adaptation into planning and operations – and ultimately to accelerate action on the department’s highest‑priority climate challenges. More than 35 DNR staff and partners participated, identifying potential adaptation strategies and discussing relevant case studies from the CASC network and beyond.
Midwest CASC staff began the workshop by presenting resources to guide adaptation planning and decision-making, including the latest science on climate impacts in Minnesota and tools like the Resist-Accept-Direct framework. The information they shared helped set participants up for success when they broke into smaller working groups in the afternoon, said Dean Paron, Habitat Program Manager for the DNR’s Fish and Wildlife Division. “We were all not on the same page as far as climate familiarity, background and experiences,” Paron explained. “The people in my group are going to be leaders in revisiting and revising the state’s strategic habitat plan, so they need to be prepared to bring the rest of our program up to speed. The morning presentations helped give us a common language.”
Meredith Cornett, Peatland Resilience Project Planner with the DNR, said, “The climate experts from the Midwest CASC that provided relevant, current scientific information customized for each small group gave us a head start on the action planning as well as a framework that can be applied to future projects.”
The small working groups focused on specific DNR projects, each of which is incorporating climate resilience into different management contexts: watersheds, lakes, the Mississippi River, terrestrial wildlife, snowmobile and ATV recreation, fish habitat, and park infrastructure. Through discussion and exercises facilitated by members of the Midwest CASC and DNR teams, each group developed preliminary, near-term action plans to advance implementation of adaptation projects.
For many participants, having dedicated time to think about incorporating climate adaptation strategies into existing, on-the-ground projects was the most valuable part of the workshop. “Our group facilitator, Holly Embke of the Midwest CASC, did an amazing job,” Paron said. “She kept us on track and guided us through a valuable discussion. We came out of the workshop with a good outline of how we want to structure our strategic plan document, and how we want climate change incorporated into the bigger challenges. We still have a lot of work to do, but it was a great initial step.”
Building a Better Stream Crossing
One of the small groups exploring on-the-ground solutions focused on state park trails with stream crossings. While participants were from several different parks, they decided to use the situation in Whitewater State Park as a case study. “Many parks are facing similar challenges with flooding,” said Mariel Jones, the group facilitator. “Participants got a chance to learn from one another. People shared the solutions they’ve already tried – what worked and what didn’t.” Jones is an ORISE participant and Climate Adaptation Consultant with the Midwest CASC.
Before the workshop, the Whitewater team was considering building a pedestrian bridge over the problematic stream crossing, but construction would be costly and may not hold up to flooding. The small group began by brainstorming other possible solutions – everything from closing the trail to installing a zipline. “We generated a great range of ideas. I was impressed by how open the group was to out-of-the-box thinking,” Jones said. They moved on to evaluating the many different possibilities, weighing pros and cons. The group ended up developing an action plan that checked all the right boxes in terms of the park’s goals.
In addition to addressing the specific problem at that park, the workshop provided tools and information intended to be broadly relevant to the DNR’s work. “Hopefully, after going through the adaptation framework process, people will be able to apply it in other places and contexts,” Jones said.
Preparing for Next Steps
Before wrapping up, each of the teams had the opportunity to present their projects to relevant DNR leadership for approval. Getting that immediate buy-in was critical to moving the work forward, said Emily Peters, Resource Management Program Supervisor in the Parks and Trails Division of the DNR. “Hopefully that was a key benefit of the workshop. Having DNR leadership participate will help hold groups accountable for making progress on the implementation.”
Strong participation across different levels of the agency also demonstrated a broader commitment to addressing climate change. Paron said, “Without true adoption into our culture, we couldn’t get very far on climate. It needs to be incorporated into our everyday work. All the participants volunteered to invest their time to increase their climate knowledge and to work on this process. And having leadership at the table showed how far we’ve come in terms of there being an understanding of and support for action.”
As the workshop came to a close, Pat Rivers, DNR Fish and Wildlife Deputy Director, encouraged participants to sustain momentum for the action plans when they return to their day-to-day roles. The small group facilitators will continue to serve as technical resources for their teams to help support implementation.
The Whitewater team, at least, has already started putting their plan into action. They’ve shifted the park’s designated Hiking Club Trail from the one with the problematic stream crossing to another popular, more resilient trail. In the future, they’re planning to study a redesigned crossing that would incorporate local rock to create a curved structure – something that would be more flood resilient and improve anglers’ access to the trout stream.