Minnesota

The Trust for Public Land worked with the state Department of Natural Resources to protect 128 acres of Blakeley Bluffs as an addition to the Ney Wildlife Management Area.

The Trust for Public Land led the effort to transform a 27-acre industrial site located in St. Paul's East Side into a park and nature sanctuary in honor of late Congressman Bruce Vento.

TPL helped project Camp Ojiketa, a popular camp area, as a regional park, owned and managed by Chisago City.

Artists Anthony and Cheryl Caponi created a unique "art park" on their 60 acres of rolling meadows and woodlands in the Twin Cities suburb of Eagan, Minnesota.

Over the years, the Cannon River Watershed, south of the Twin Cities, has lost significant wildlife habitat to agriculture and development. The Trust for Public Land’s acquisition and conveyance of 160-acres to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) of the new Circle Lake State Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is part of a larger effort to protect wildlife habitat in the watershed while creating new opportunities for public recreation. Located on the north shore of Circle Lake, the WMA includes high-quality marshlands, rolling upland forests, and grassy knolls with views of the lake. Less than an hours’ drive from the Twin Cities, Circle Lake WMA provides new public access to the lakeshore and adjacent lands for fishing, waterfowl hunting, and exploration.

The Trust for Public Land works with communities large and small to put a park, trail, or natural area within a 10-minute walk of every Twin Cities resident. At The Trust for Public Land we work to ensure that everyone has equitable access to the multiple benefits of parks and natural space.

This state wildlife management area (WMA) along the Crow Wing River offers exceptional public recreation while providing significant water-quality benefits. Extending more than three miles along this major Mississippi River tributary, the WMA's mixed pine and hardwood forest is a great place to hunt, fish, observe wildlife, or go canoeing.

Located only 30 miles northeast of the Twin Cities, Crystal Spring Scientific and Natural Area (SNA) offers the region's 3.3 million residents a close-to-home opportunity to experience unique flora and fauna. Acquired with help from The Trust for Public Land in 2015, this 38-acre, state-owned SNA encompasses significant biodiversity, thriving communities of native plants, and habitat for several rare species of birds and plants. The SNA's dramatic geologic features include a scenic waterfall, steep rocky cliffs, a winding cold-water stream, thick old forests, and panoramic views of the National Wild and Scenic St. Croix River.

In fall of 2011, The Trust for Public Land conveyed 510 acres near the headwaters of the Cannon River to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, which will be managed as the new Dora Lake Wildlife Management Area.

Located in Le Sueur County between Gorman Lake and Lake Olney, Factor State Wildlife Management Area (WMA) provides rich habitat for waterfowl, deer, pheasant and turkeys. The Trust for Public Land acquired and conveyed 53 acres to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to enlarge the WMA.

Conservationists had been keeping a close watch on the nearly 50 acres overlooking the St. Croix River valley and the village of Franconia, when TPL stepped in to work with partners in the Metro Conservation Corridors program, which protects natural areas and water quality in the rapidly developing metro region in Chisago County.

In 2013 The Trust for Public Land protected Gaul Island as an addition to the Burntside Islands Scientific and Natural Area. Like Long Island, which we helped protect in 2008, the island is part of the viewshed from Sigurd Olson's historic Listening Point.

In 2018, The Trust for Public Land added 116 acres near Howard Lake to the Grass Lake Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Wright County, Minnesota, within an hour’s drive of Twin Cities’ residents. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources manages WMAs for wildlife habitat and public recreation.

The Trust for Public Land is leading a collaborative effort to integrate new parks and green space into the communities along the Green Line, an 11-mile light-rail corridor that will run between Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

This property is situated within the artic watershed just a few miles south of the Canadian border and surrounded by the Boundary Waters, the most visited wilderness area in the country. After more than a decade of work with The Trust for Public Land, and with funding from the Leuthold Wilderness Foundation, Jim and Judy Brandenburg created an iconic place for all when they protected this unbroken stretch of hundreds of acres of wild land surrounding beautiful Judd Lake.

The Trust for Public Land is working to protect 43 acres wedged between Kremer Lake and the Edge of the Wilderness Scenic Byway in the heart of northern Minnesota's Chippewa National Forest.

Located just north of the town of Franconia, the new Lawrence Creek Scientific and Natural Area (SNA) protects natural features and rare resources of exceptional scientific and educational value. Created with The Trust for Public Land's help in 2017, the new 72-acre SNA features a mature hardwood forest of maples and oaks along a crystalline creek that flows, less than a mile downstream, into the Wild & Scenic Lower St. Croix River. The new SNA will provide excellent opportunities for nature study, outdoor education, scientific research, and other non-motorized recreation. Visitors are welcome to hike, ski, or snowshoe on the land. Limited hunting is allowed.

For years volunteers in Minnesota's Scientific Natural Area program hoped to see this 120-acre "botanist's delight" in Washington County protected.

In partnership with several other conservation organizations, The Trust for Public Land is working to permanently protect high-quality habitat for fish and wildlife along the Mississippi, Minnesota, and St. Croix rivers and their tributaries in the Twin Cities region.

The Trust for Public Land worked with two local nonprofits—The Sustainable Resources Center and The Green Institute—to permanently protect these gardens.

In the 400 miles below its origin at Lake Itasca, the Mississippi River provides habitat for fish and other wildlife, hosts annual waves of migratory waterfowl, and is a favorite destination for hunting, fishing, birding, boating, and hiking. Much of the land along this stretch of the river is privately owned and subject to development or conversion to agriculture.

TPL helped protect Nisswa Lake, part of the 13,000-acre Gull Lake Chain, a popular fishing, boating, and swimming destination in the central part of the state.

When we asked people who live, work, and play in Northside Minneapolis what kind of fitness area they might like, they told us: something unique that could be used by neighbors of different ages, and that was social, encouraging interaction with others. They also wanted it to look and feel like it had been made in the community, rather than on an assembly line. The result is the People-powered carousel, a merry-go-round driven by the people who pedal it.

Native Dakota people once performed ceremonies on this hill overlooking the junction of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers in the Twin Cities suburb of Mendota Heights.

TPL helped add land to the Pipestone National Monument, a unit of the National Park Service that protects archaeological resources and natural features such as Winnewissa Falls on Pipestone Creek.

To ensure that everyone can their property as a wildlife haven, the Koester family worked with The Trust for Public Land and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to transform 460 acres of their land into the Prairie Creek Wildlife Management Area.

This Olmsted County park protects a section of the historic Root River stagecoach trail, preserves a biologically significant area, and creates new recreation opportunities.

Thirty minutes southwest of the Twin Cities, Savage Fen Scientific and Natural Area (SNA) is an ecological treasury that became almost 70 acres richer in late 2010.

In 1960, the Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict purchased a rolling glacial moraine in Maplewood as site for a college and retirement home. For four decades the land remained open as Maplewood expanded and developers sought to purchase the property. 

TPL helped protect the Sugar Hills property, which contains a popular ski trail system, clear water creeks, a 14-acre lake, and "Big Thunder Peak," one of the state's highest named summits.

Looking for a new area to explore? Lace up your hiking boots, grab your fishing pole, and head to beautiful Upper Cullen Lake, a favorite outdoor destination only a few hours northwest of the Twin Cities. The Trust for Public Land helped Crow Wing County conserve 146 acres at Upper Cullen Lake, including 2600 feet of lakeshore and a cold-water stream—land now open to public hiking, fishing, and hunting.

Victoria Lake, along the Wild and Scenic Ontonagon River on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, is a favored destination for hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, and boating. Much of the land in this outdoor paradise is protected in Ottawa National Forest, but in other places, private parcels block public access, threaten water pollution, and complicate management of the national forest.

The Trust for Public Land helped protect this now-rare remnant of the Big Woods ecosystem that once dominated the southeastern third of Minnesota.

A 60-acre gem located in Lake Vermilion's Wolf Bay, Wolf Island is a place of legend and lore, with historical ties to both Native Americans and Voyageurs.