A small property has recently been acquired by Parks & Trails Council (P&TC), which will reconnect a segment of the Minnesota Valley State Trail that is falling into the Minnesota River. This state trail in the metro area faces growing safety concerns due to an eroding riverbank and flooding from the nearby river. Each spring, parts of the trail must be closed due to water levels and unsafe conditions. As the next flood could shut down part of the trail for potentially a decade or longer, it was incredibly important to find a solution.
One option was to fix the current trail, which would require filling in the riverbank and would be immensely expensive to accomplish. Alternatively, a parcel adjacent to the Minnesota Valley State Trail was identified as an adequate option to move the trail to higher ground. Long ago, this property was used as a rail line, but it had been closed and not operational for quite some time.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR) enlisted P&TC’s assistance to locate the landowner and negotiate a deal. However, determining exactly who owned this parcel proved more difficult than anticipated. Not only did the county not know the ownership, but the property lacked a tax ID and did not appear in any records.
After digging deeper into the title, P&TC discovered that the owner was a company called Hawkeye Land II Co. Based in Iowa, Hawkeye had previously acquired a company that owned several rail lines in Minnesota. During the acquisition, Hawkeye did not receive a complete list of properties owned by their acquired company, so they were unaware of this parcel. With P&TC’s research, we were able to make a deal to acquire the property before the MN Valley State Trail became severed into two unconnected parts.
P&TC was able to add value to this acquisition process in ways the MNDNR didn’t have bandwidth for. P&TC leveraged its relationships with existing railroad companies, spent money on necessary title research and surveys to identify the true order of the property, and negotiated with them directly. As the trail was incredibly close to being shut down, it was important to act quickly. If P&TC didn’t step in, it’s likely that land for this trail would not be acquired anytime soon.
With the plans to re-route the broken trail, this acquisition provides incredible recreational value. It will not only save the trail from being severed, but it will also allow people to use the trail year-round. In its current state with flooding occurring each spring, segments of the trail close annually because they are underwater. When the trail is reconnected on higher ground, people can enjoy the Minnesota Valley State Trail in any season.
