Marge Beard, a commissioner with the 3 Rivers Park District, told the Mound City Council Oct. 28 that the district operates 25 parks and about 27,000 acres — roughly 42 square miles — and maintains an extensive trail network and natural‑resource programs across suburban Hennepin County.

Beard said the park district records about 16 million visits a year and manages roughly 175 miles of regional trail plus another 300 miles of trail inside parks. She highlighted recent and ongoing work: the Mississippi Gateway Regional Park ribbon cutting (formerly known as Rapids Regional Park), a new Gateway Center with classrooms and river access, and family‑friendly features such as the elevated Treetops Trail and a "Mini Mississippi" water feature. She also described habitat work including alum treatments at Whaletail Lake (a project with the City of Minnetrista and the Pioneer Creek Watershed) intended to bind phosphorus and improve lake water quality; Beard said the treatment’s success must be sustained for two years before a lake can be removed from Minnesota’s impaired waters list.

Beard described other district programs in the region: a younger‑skier fourth‑grade pass program, a winter "try it" ice‑fishing outreach event with the DNR, and a new photo‑station citizen‑science partnership (Chronolog) to track seasonal changes. She noted local facilities run by the district under contract with other counties, including golf courses and driving ranges.

Council members asked about winter maintenance of the Dakota Rail Trail; Beard said the park district signs multiyear maintenance agreements with cities, and cities decide whether and how often to plow trails and typically reimburse the district for costs. She also described how acquisitions adjacent to Gale Woods and other properties proceed with municipal consent.

Beard closed by inviting the city to contact the district for help with natural‑resource planning, trail connections and other park matters.

Why it matters: The update underscores how regional park operations, maintenance agreements and lake‑health work intersect with city planning and trail connections that affect Mound residents and visitors.