North Dakota is a place unlike any other, unique in the truest sense of the word. Garrison Diversion stands positioned to preserve and enhance this special place where people and nature can still exist side by side. Building on this vision is a prime component in Garrison Diversion's commitment to improving the state's development.
Outside of North Dakota, people continue to look for opportunities to experience something from life that a city can't provide: an encounter with the open prairie that touches the human spirit. Built into the natural landscape and history of North Dakota is a chance for people everywhere to experience a sensation that hasn't changed since people touched the same piece of earth countless years ago.
As a part of its program to replace and enhance wildlife habitat, Garrison Diversion has been careful to set aside land for wildlife refuges and management areas accessible to people with a wide variety of recreational interests. Many of these are hunters and fishermen who help manage the population of North Dakota herds and flocks. But other are "non-consumptive users." They come to appreciate and enjoy what the land and wildlife of North Dakota offer from another perspective.
When Garrison Diversion was young and the plan looked very different from today, the shadow of Garrison's modern commitment to North Dakota's parks and wildlife areas was already being seen. A variety of recreational areas have been developed with the help of the state and local residents.
These areas repeat themselves all over North Dakota: Hoge Island in Burleigh County near Bismarck, Grand Rapids Park, Jamestown Reservoir, Belmont Park and the Devils Lake Park system as well as Centennial Park and Golden Lake all speak the same line. Garrison Diversion has a history of helping North Dakota grow.
Recreation Grant Program
A major portion of the Garrison Diversion project is an investment in recreation development. For this reason, Garrison Diversion has dedicated two-tenths of its one-mill levy to the recreation program. District funding is used as a matching grant for the development of new facilities and enhancement of others. Management of these facilities are by the North Dakota State Parks and Recreation Department, local park boards or other local agencies dedicated to recreation.
Grants may be requested for new recreations facilities or enhancement, renovation or expansion of existing facilities.
Applications must be submitted to the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District's Recreation Committee for their review and consideration. The committee meets twice a year to disburse funds. The spring meeting is held the end of April each year. Grant applications should be submitted by April 1. Grant applications are due by September 1 for the fall meeting.
To download a recreation grant application in pdf format [click here].
The North Country Trail
Administered by the National Parks Service, this hiking and horseback riding trail begins in North Dakota and stretches 3,200 miles across the country to New York. It begins at Lake Sakakawea near the Garrison Dam and winds its way along the waterways of the Garrison Diversion Project. Brekken-Holmes, Hofer Lake and the Lonetree Wildlife Management Area are only three of the Garrison Diversion recreational facilities that hikers and horseback riders will travel through on the North Dakota segment of the North Country Trail. More than a dozen other wildlife refuges and management areas are scattered along the McClusky and New Rockford Canals alone.
By providing land and maintaining sections of this National Scenic Trail, the benefits of Garrison Diversion's recreation component are felt across the country.
Devils Lake
After Congress re-authorized the Garrison Diversion project in 1965, Garrison Diversion officials set to work to establish recreational opportunities to accompany the canals that would bring water to North Dakotans for agriculture and municipal, rural and industrial use. Several prime recreation areas associated with construction of a canal route were identified, including those on Devils Lake. Four facilities were established on Devils Lake that today make up Devils Lake State Parks. These parks, together with other recreational sites, stand as a testimony to Garrison Diversion commitment to make full use of North Dakota's water.
Grahams Island and Shelvers Grove combine to offer more than 1,200 acres of recreation on land and all of Devils Lake for water sports. These full service facilities include summer camping, hiking, playgrounds and year-round day-long opportunities for recreation. The North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department manages these sites. For more information, visit ndparks.com/parks/dlsp.htm.
Brekken-Holmes and Hofer
Lake Brekken-Holmes and Hofer Lake recreation areas are examples of community facilities that have improved the economic health as well as the emotional and physical well-being of the people of Turtle Lake and McClusky.
These two parks are the result of a collaboration between the Bureau of Reclamation, Garrison Diversion and local communities that identified areas in need of developed recreation areas. Managed by local parks commissions, these parks include boat access, swimming beaches, playground and campgrounds for vacationers and local residents alike. Ballparks host area teams and local families fish in the McClusky Canal and the lakes along its path.
Nature-Based Tourism Report
North Dakota has a spectacular and diverse array of wildlife and nature-based tourism opportunities. Garrison Diversion has taken the lead in the state to develop a model of this potential using the Lonetree Wildlife Management Area (LWMA). [read more]