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Park Notes : : 3 • zations, serving as the DNR liaison with the State Bicycle Advisory Board. He served five years on the City of Shoreview's Trail and Bikeway Committee. Osip is the Lead Psychologist with the St. Paul Schools. She served on the Metro- politan Parks and Open Space Commission representing St. Paul and is currently on the St. Paul Park Commission. She has worked to acquire critical park links and promoted greater park usage. Vote yes for "Shall the Ramsey County Home Rule Charter be amended to require the county charter Board to maintain a policy which provides for no net loss of park, recreation or open space land and facilities?" Bottom line? NO NET LOSS Ramsey County voters will have an opportunity to guarantee park lands now and OF PARK LAND into the future with a yes vote on the charter amendment in the November election. The charter is really the county's constitution. Placing this protection in the charter would make it very difficulty for your favorite park to become a fire station,jail or shopping mall some time in the future. The current practice and policy of the County Board is"no net loss", in other words, if an acre is sold or used for a purpose other than parks, it must be replaced. Since it is just a policy, a different board could adopt an entirely different policy, one which provided substantially less protection for park lands. Ramsey County is largely developed and those casting about for a place to build often spy wide open spaces and conclude that this would be a great space for a school, strip mall,town house complex, or manufacturing plant. When times are good and money is easy, elected • officials are not very likely to fall for that. When budgets are tight and demand for services increase, expanded tax rolls look inviting. Vote yes November 8 The charter amendment is supported by the Ramsey County Charter Commission. the Friends of the Parks,and most assuredly, your grand children. When you vote in the general election November 8, please vote YES for the charter amendment. If you have questions or would like more information, call the Friends at 698-4543. MNRRA Action The Minnesota National River and Recreation Area Comprehensive Management Plan is on Governor Carlsson's desk awaiting his acceptance. Powerful lobbying forces are expected to continue to oppose the proposal. Citizens who support river protection can influence the outcome. Write to Governor Arne Carlson urging him to accept the plan submitted by the MNRRA Commission and forward the plan to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt for final approval. Carlson's address is State Capitol, St. Paul, MN 55155. Want to help but are unsure just what to say in your letter? Call the Friends and we would be happy to help you. Parks workshop Reserve Saturday, October 8 on your calendar and plan to attend a workshop for citizens to learn how to access local open space resources and organize a local bond campaign. The workshop is sponsored by the Trust for Public Land(TPL) and at the Earle Brown Center, St.Paul Campus, U of M, 8:30 - 12:30. For more informa- tion, call TPL at 338-8494. Catalog supports The Minnesota State Parks Nature Store Catalog is hot off the press. Merchandise parks includes t-shirts, mugs,jewelry, stuffed animals, and more. Catalog profits help support state parks and proceeds have funded children's educational program. To receive a free catalog, call 1-800-324-8261.