A pen used by President Lyndon Johnson to sign an important wildlife act into law has been donated to the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway in northwestern Wisconsin. Monte Stewart has the story.

This pen now sits on display at the St. Croix River Visitor. At the time Johnson had given the pen to then-Senator Walter Mondale who gave the pen to James Dunn of the Minnesota Historical Society. Dunn donated his cabin on the St. Croix, which included the pen, to the St. Croix Watershed Research Station back in 1999.

On December 5, the pen was returned to former Vice President Mondale who in turn presented it to the St. Croix Riverway. St. Croix Riverway Interpretation Chief Julie Galonska says the ceremony was nice and simple.

“It was wonderful to have Vice President Mondale here to be part of that as well as a lot of our park partners.”

Galonska says the pen had been housed at the Research Station, which is part of the science museum of Minnesota. She says the Research Station Director decided it would be fitting for the pen to be stored at the St. Croix River Visitor Center.

“Not only because it helped establish the Riverway, but also because it’s nice for people to be able to see a piece of history like that. And the Watershed Research Station isn’t really open to the public.”

“The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act really marked the turning point for river protection in the United States. And so it was sort of this moment where we saw a shift from using rivers for industrial reasons and as highways. And really taking a look and saying well a lot of our rivers need to be used for those reasons, but we also really value free flowing rivers and rivers for recreation and rivers in their natural state.”

Galonska says the St. Croix and Namekagon Rivers are both protected under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and are also part of the National Park System. They are the only one of the original eight designated in 1968 that became a National Park at the same time.

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