Ramsey County is grappling with a big question: Is responding to both our climate crisis and affordable housing crisis a zero-sum game? How can we create the housing the Twin Cities needs, while also preserving the homes of other species whose populations are collapsing? >>
Conservation and Restoration Blog
FMR works with landowners, government agencies and concerned residents — including hundreds of volunteers — to protect and restore bluffs, prairies, forests and other lands important to our communities and the health of our metro Mississippi.
Here's what our conservation staff are currently working on and encountering in the field.
A map of our protection and restoration sites is available here, as well as more information about our approach and program.
Conservation updates are also shared on social media (Facebook and Twitter) and in our Mississippi Messages newsletter.
July 13, 2021
Allie Carroll, our summer field ecology intern, has a great eye for insects. We're all looking a little closer now that she’s on our team. Here's a guest post from Allie in which she gives us a tour of some of the coolest finds from her fieldwork so far. >>
July 10, 2021
Since 2012, we've been restoring the woods, savanna, and remnant prairie still growing on the sandstone bluffs of Camel's Hump Park and Open Space, a 60-acre Cottage Grove park with a vantage that gives expansive views of the Mississippi River Valley. >>
June 25, 2021
If you mow your lawn, you can support a long-term study on pollinator habitat by the University of Minnesota, University of St. Thomas and the U.S. Forest Service. Learn how it works and fill out the form to offer your yard as a survey site. >>
June 7, 2021
Looking to get out on the river to help beat the heat? Pair your paddle with a visit to FMR's Settler's Island restoration and enjoy a respite in the shade of the island's canopy as you take in the quietude of the Mississippi River's back channels. >>
May 15, 2021
The only forest among miles of farmland in all directions, Hampton Woods WMA is a 200-acre haven for wood thrush and other woodland wildlife near the Vermillion River in Dakota County. We helped permanently protect this area in 2017, and now we're working to restore its red oak forest. >>
May 7, 2021
At the recent Pollinator Summit, our ecologists picked up a few new ideas about how to restore land with pollinators in mind, and learned more about how pollinators restore the land themselves. Read on for our take-aways on soil scouting, goat grazing, our tiniest SuperVolunteers, and the 5,000 invertebrates under your feet at every step. >>
May 6, 2021
Forested limestone bluffs make up the only gorge on the entire length of the Mississippi River as it flows through the heart of the Twin Cities, flanked by beloved recreational parkways. Our restoration projects improve habitat in this urban oasis. >>
April 12, 2021
At Vermillion River Linear Park in Hastings, the cedars we removed from our prairie restoration became the armor of a streambank stabilization project. This revetment not only stops erosion, but will also rebuild the riverbank, creating habitat for trout and other aquatic wildlife. >>
March 31, 2021
For Randy Miranda, volunteering every week to tend FMR's prairie restoration at Ole Olson Park near his home was a meditative way to give back and get through the pandemic. Here are Randy's reflections on why he volunteers and what we've accomplished together. >>