Voyageurs National Park Association

Voyageurs National Park Association (VNPA) was organized in 1965 to establish Minnesota's only national park. Since its creation, we have served as the leading voice for Voyageurs National Park, advocating on behalf of the wild, irreplaceable resources found in voyageur country.

Your contribution will help to support these immediate priorities for Voyageurs National Park:

Land Preservation

We work with willing sellers to complete public ownership of private lands within the boundaries of Voyageurs National Park, with the goals to restore developed acreage to a pristine natural state, improve scenic views, and open the spaces for all Park visitors to enjoy.

Environmental Protection

We advocate on behalf of the Park’s resources, because we believe: visitors and wildlife deserve clean air and clean waters in a National Park…scenic views should not be marred by blinking cell towers…each new generation has the right to experience large tracts of natural spaces.

Volunteer Engagement

Each year, we organize volunteers to participate in a weekend-long conservation event—in 2011, our group donated more than 300 hours of labor to build the Park’s new ethnobotanical gardens at the Rainy Lake Visitor Center.

Science & Youth Education

Voyageurs is a hub for scientific research—current studies are being conducted on moose, deer ticks, and water quality, just to name a few. VNPA sponsored a ground-breaking conference on moose and climate change, and sponsors boat tours for 4th-grade field trips to the Kabetogama Peninsula for pond studies.

Local Economic Development

In October, VNPA was a key catalyst for a four-day conference with the Heart of the Continent Partnership on public lands, tourism and local economic development in northern Minnesota and Ontario. We partnered to develop an on-the-ground strategy for driving more visitors to the Park to support gateway communities.