River Quest!

St. Louis River Quest is an educational, volunteer staffed not for profit organization operating under the auspices of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.

The program was created in 1993 and is designed to instill the spirit of environmental stewardship in sixth-grade students in the Twin Ports area while helping them understand the industrial, commercial and recreational activities in the St. Louis Harbor. The goal of River Quest is to increase the students’ awareness of how the harbor is used, why it is important to them and how its unique environment must be protected.

Each year during a three-day period, River Quest takes more than 600 sixth-grade students on a harbor tour aboard the Vista Star. The program turns the excursion vessel into a floating classroom as students tour through 10 learning stations that give them hands-on experiences. (See accompanying photos.)

More than 7,500 students have participated in River Quest since its inception. Schools participating in River Quest 2006 were Hermantown, Superior, Morgan Park, Washburn Edison, North Shore Elementary, Lincoln and Ordean.

The Duluth Seaway Port Authority’s station features a model of a laker that allows students to understand ballast water and the loading of iron ore onto a vessel.