Friends of Pool 2

Your Mississippi River is a precious & irreplaceable resource.

With your help, Friends of Pool 2 champions safe and accessible on-the-water recreation in our area of the Mississippi River watershed. 

Your River. Your Voice. 

Friends of Pool 2 - Who Are We?

Friends of Pool 2 (FOP2) is a regional, donor-supported nonprofit made up of people like you. Our members enjoy boating, angling, paddling, hunting, water sports, camping, and observing wildlife on or near the Mississippi River.  

Along with river related and waterfront business people and property owners, we collaborate to preserve, restore, and enhance the quality of the recreational river experience in Pool 2 and neighboring watersheds.  

Pool 2 extends from Lock & Dam #2 (Hastings) up the Mississippi River to Lock & Dam #1 (Ford Dam) between St. Paul and Minneapolis. Pool 2 also includes a portion of the Minnesota River from the confluence upriver to Shakopee. 

All of our board members are 100% volunteer, so every dollar you donate directly supports our river-related programs. 

We are passionate about river recreation in our region, we know our stuff, and we know the value of connected relationships.

Here is a sampling of our ongoing & successfully completed projects: 

• In 2026 & 2027 we'll explore new ways to extend our program reach beyond Pool 2, to include watersheds that share challenges similar to those we observe in Pool 2. We installed a new honor-system life jacket loaner station at the boat launch in Hastings, MN (Pool 3). This made a total of (6) locations for our loaner stations (in part supported by grants from the Sea Tow Foundation). We are also actively seeking non-profit & business partnerships in watersheds adjacent to Pool 2.
• In 2025 & 2026 we collaborated with Great River Passage Initiative (now a part of St. Paul Parks Conservancy) to host a series of Recreational River Summits whose goal is to expand access and opportunities for river recreation in St. Paul.
• In 2025, we hosted a free "Pool 2 Fishing Fair" for river anglers of all ages, held in Newport, MN. Participation by "Native Fish 4 Tomorrow", a sister organization, was a bonus for our attendees.
• In 2023, we successfully completed a campaign entitled "Kids Reach the River", which offered free fishing clinics to local Pool 2 kids under the age of 16. They received hands-on instruction in river fishing techniques, fish species identification, knot tying, casting practice, water quality testing, and water safety. We distributed to each of the 60 participants a free rod, reel, line, and starter tackle box. This project was supported in part by a No Child Left Inside grant administered by the MN DNR.
• In 2020, we created a series of (5) fun and educational river safety videos. This initiative was financially supported, in part, by the "One Mississippi" campaign of the Mississippi River Network.  These creative videos can be viewed on our YouTube channel
• In 2019, we sponsored a river cleanup initiative called "Between the Banks", which included distribution of boat trash buckets and fishing nets for scooping up floating bits of litter. The reusable buckets and nets were provided free of charge to boaters for their ongoing use. This initiative was financially supported, in part, by the "One Mississippi" campaign of the Mississippi River Network.
• In 2013, we partnered with students from the School of Environmental Studies on their senior project identifying rare flora growing on the spring-fed banks near Pine Bend.
  
• In 2012, in one of our first actions as a nonprofit, we co-sponsored a floating educational workshop on issues confronting Pool 2 of the Mississippi, including the advance of invasive Carp species from Asia, channel realignment, water level management, island building, and impacts on recreation and habitat.
• FOP2 was founded, in part, to promote safe, courteous use of the river and to educate recreational users about river rules, etiquette and safety. We encourage respect for the river and its environs, cultivating a ‘leave it cleaner than you found it’ ideology. For more info, visit our website at www.friendsofpool2.org and follow us on Facebook & Instagram.  
  
  

And WITH YOUR HELP, here are a few of the things we're planning for the future:

• Develop additional boating and river safety education programs for children and adults. Expand and maintain our system of life jacket loaner stations in Pool 2 and adjacent watersheds.
  
• Support hydrologic surveys of the river channel(s) that will provide baseline data and give us the ability to document changes over time.
  
• Improve existing river islands and beaches and work with agencies such as the Corps of Engineers & MN DNR to create new and better river recreation sites and recreational access points.

Please help us advocate for the river. 

We are active river users, not just observers. We know that the Mississippi River is a precious resource for the recreational community, and we embrace our opportunities to influence thoughtful and intentional stewardship.