P&TC awards $5,000 grants to Friends Groups for restoration projects in state parks

Five volunteer-led Friends Groups have each received a $5,000 grant from Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota to spearhead habitat restoration projects within state parks. Parks & Trails Council worked with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to identify potential projects and overlap them with active Friends Groups.

The awardees and their projects are listed below.

• Friends of Itasca State Park: Construct and install tree cages on young pine trees to keep deer from eating the buds, allowing for quicker and healthier growth.
• Friends of Maplewood State Park: Plant new trees of various species to replace vulnerable ash trees and to provide sustainable shade trees and forest canopy.
• Friends of Nerstrand Big Woods State Park: Plant native prairie species in an area currently overgrown with reed canary grass and other non-native species.
• Friends of Wild River State Park: Construct and install tree cages to protect natural regeneration of native tree species in forest and savanna reconstruction zones.
• Frontenac State Park Association: Restore oak savanna habitat and tree canopy by planting trees and forbs throughout the park.

Projects will be completed in 2018 through a series of volunteer engagement events. These restoration projects complement long-term, natural resource management goals of the park and fit into the wide variety of activities of Friends Groups. Friends Groups support state parks in various ways, from raising money and promotion, to advocacy and programming.

This restoration project grant program from the Parks & Trails Council is made possible by the Henry S. Crosby Foundation, which issued grant money to Parks & Trails Council to advance protection of State Parks through land acquisition and restoration projects.