All News
Parks & Trails Fun Quiz – June
2021 June - Fun Quiz 1 / 4 What percent of visitors participate in birdwatching while at a state park (based on a 2017 Visitor Survey by the MnDNR)? 57% 37% 17% 7% Four years ago, about 17% of state park visitors who were surveyed ...
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Securing the missing link to extend the Goodhue Pioneer State Trail
For years, the northern segment of this trail came to an abrupt end at a dirt road in Hay Creek Township. Across the road lay an overgrown field marked with a private property sign.
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Grantees begin restoring habitat with in-person events
Grantees have begun restoring habitat at parks across Minnesota. Under P&TC's habitat restoration grant program, friends groups are planting trees, removing invasive species, and helping to establish native woodland species. See the albums below for a sneak peak into some of these projects. Friends of ...
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Amidst COVID, friends group launches new grant program and recruits board members
Grants for Interpretive Activities Schools, youth groups, and individuals can now apply for funds to carry out interpretive activities at Wild River State Park. The grants would cover a wide variety of activities—they just need to focus on learning and take place in the park. ...
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Olmsted County breaks ground on new nature center at Oxbow Park
From Friends of Oxbow Plans and fundraising are underway for developing a new nature center at Oxbow Park. Read the update on Olmsted County's website: "Olmsted County breaks ground on a new nature center at Oxbow Park" Watch project videoMore about the friends
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Where Gretchen the Lion once roared, park visitors will soon stroll
You wouldn’t guess it by strolling the grounds today, but the property Parks & Trails Council acquired for Charles A. Lindbergh State Park in 2020 was once famous for the menagerie of wild animals that lived there when it was the home of the Smuda Zoo.
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Volunteers support bluebirds on Gateway State Trail
Bluebirds along the Gateway State Trail enjoy a helping hand from volunteers with the Gateway Brown’s Creek Trail Association (GBCTA). Since 2014, the friends group has maintained 16 houses each year, installing them in spring, monitoring the nests throughout summer, and cleaning and storing the ...
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Redwood County announces new camper cabins
Redwood County’s one and only park, Plum Creek Park, is proud to announce the addition of camper cabins for the 2021 camping season.
House Legislative committee hears our case for state trail rehab
On Tuesday, our staff presented at the House Capital Investment Committee to share our State of the Trails report.
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Parks & Trails Fun Quiz – March
March 2021 Fun Quiz 1 / 4 What is the largest source of fine particle pollution in Minnesota? Personal wood burning (wood stoves, boilers and campfires) Road transporation (cars, trucks, buses) Factory emissions (point source) According to the MnPCA, wood burning for campfires, stoves and ...
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2019-2020 Youth Engagement Grant Projects In Review
In 2019, Parks & Trails Council launched a grant program designed as a partnership with friends groups to engage youth in parks and trails. In this first year of the program we began working with eight friends groups who identified innovative ways to engage youth ...
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Special Places Newsletter Winter 2021
From the president | Gov. proposes park permit increase | Lake Shetek State Park | Nature prescriptions | 5 ways nature makes us healthy | Adapting with friends groups | State Park project updates | Places & Friends: Chester Woods Park
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History of Lake Shetek State Park
1862 Tensions escalate between the Dakota and white settlers leading to a group of Dakota attacking the Lake Shetek settlement in the early days of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. 1863 The bodies of the 15 white settlers who were killed in the attack are ...
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Saving a rare forested peninsula for Lake Shetek State Park
Parks & Trails Council secured a treasured landscape for Lake Shetek State Park during a live auction on Oct. 24, 2020. The sale is expected to be finalized by May. The 24.5-acre property, with 3,000 feet of lakeshore along Lake Shetek, was put up for ...
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Meet the Friends of Chester Woods Park
This is a park that wholeheartedly welcomes volunteers. “There’s a whole culture of embracing volunteers within all Olmstead County Parks,” says Joel Dunette, one of the founding members of the friends group. In fact, the number of hours that volunteers contribute toward the park is equal to the staff hours.
