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Our speaker today was Mark McCabe, Director of Ramsey County Parks and Recreation. This department covers a wide scope within our county - both county and regional parks, trails, beaches, golf courses, nature centers, and ice arenas. There are also organized activities at some locations such as log rolling at Tony Schmidt Park and "Cops and Bobbers" at Long Lake Regional Park. And, of course, more traditional activities such as cross-country skiing, bird watching, geocaching and orienteering. In total there are about 5 million visitors to these locations each year. McCabe addressed audience questions about the local problem of the flooded/closed Snail Lake beach and trails. He acknowledged the community frustration this situation has caused but noted that the past 10 years have been the wettest in recorded history. The high water mark on Snail Lake just keeps getting higher. He noted that there are a number of parties studying this issue and predicted that, within two years, there will be action of some sort taken to allow the beach to re-open.