Belwin Conservancy and Great River Greening
Partner on Oak Savanna Restoration
April 15, 2010
To Partners and Friends of Great River Greening:
Great River Greening will lend a hand to an ongoing oak savanna restoration at Belwin Conservancy at the scenic Lake Edith site in Afton, Minnesota. The Belwin Conservancy’s 1,300 acre preserve in the St. Croix Valley includes oak savanna and woodlands, tallgrass prairie, wetlands and fens. It is home to numerous rare and threatened plants and animals.
The Lake Edith area was first cleared of woody debris through woody biomass project funded by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in 2009, when over 4,000 tons of woody debris, produced as by-product of the restoration, was ground up and hauled away. The material was chipped and shipped to the District Energy St. Paul facility, then turned into energy to heat and cool downtown.
Great River Greening and Belwin will now work together on the restoration of the 60 acres of prairie and oak savanna, focusing on the understory native grasses and flowers. Together, Belwin and Greening will handle all aspects of the understory reconstruction including site preparation, seeding, plug planting, prescribed burning, and invasive species control.
The Belwin Outdoor Educational Center hosts over 10,000 students a year, keeping them in touch with the natural world. Funding for Lake Edith Restoration is in part by the Minnesota Environmental Trust Fund and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Want to party and also benefit Greening?
Join us for THE networking party of the season
Great River Greening is honored to be the beneficiary of LEAD’s spring benefit, a Green Party Friday, April 23, in the Metropolitan Club at Target Field. The Leadership Emergence and Development Project (LEAD) engages young professionals in the charitable and philanthropic communities of the Twin Cities.
Be the first to enjoy the spectacular views from the Metropolitan Club at Target Field! And remember all net event proceeds go to Great River Greening! Visit www.theleadproject.org for more information and to purchase tickets.
Download the free iPhone app, Toodalu to your iPhone and the company will donate $5 to Great River Greening for the first 100 people; $1 for every person thereafter.
Pull out your iPhones, download the FREE app to register, write GRG or LEAD in the organizational/club field, and then get ready to go! Toodalu creates a real time map to let you and your friends find each other when you're going out or just hanging out. Use this link to find out more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIuZNrpBOoM
For more information about Great River Greening, visit our website www.greatrivergreening.org.
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Major operating support for all Great River Greening programs is provided by The McKnight Foundation.