Play in Our Backyard Traditional Cache
GISP: The contest is over. Thanks to all that participated.
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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This cache is part of the ND Parks & Rec. Department's "Play in Our Backyard Geocaching Contest." The cache is located along the hiking trail. All ND State Parks require entrance fees in the amount of $5/vehicle/day or $25 for the annual pass. Both can be purchased at the bait shop along the entrance road to the park. Parking for the trails is located in front of the Sivert Thompson Center.
The cache is a small, green ammo can.
The cache and the trailhead can both be located near the Sivert Thompson Activity Center. The center is named after Sivert Thompson, a local lawyer, who in the early 1920's turned his attention to the then nearly empty Devils Lake basin!
In 1924, Sivert Thompson and other in Devils Lake, ND, formed the Missouri River Diversion Association to promote schemes to raise the lake level and supply eastern ND with water. By 1927, the Dean of the engineering program at UND proposed routing water from the Missouri River system. By the late 1930's and into the 40's, congress passed plans to dam the Missouri River at Garrison, ND. This dam would create Lake Sakakawea. Also in the plan was a canal to route water from Lake Sakakawea to Devils Lake in order to save the fishery. Construction on the canal was started in the late 1960's and was only 22 miles from completion when enrivonmental concerns from both the US and Canada halted construction. Over the next several decades, the $212 million project gained and lost support in congress. To this date, not a single drop of water has traveled from the Missouri River system to Devils Lake via the Garrison Diversion.
Sivert Thompson's dream was to fill Devils Lake and see the recreation and fishery blossom. Although the Garrison Diversion was halted, Devils Lake has risen over 40 feet since 1933. The fishery and recreational activities are flourishing, but sadly the lake is taking land as it grows. Flood related construction costs in the Devils Lake area are now over $1 billion and are increasing.
Additional Hints
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