Messages from the Council Chair

As spring starts to burst open and we celebrate Earth Month, I’d like to focus on how our region is addressing one of the five key goals of our regional development guide, Imagine 2050: We protect and restore natural systems.

The American Indian Advisory Council reminds us that air, water, soil, plants, and wildlife are all our kin. Our health and theirs are interdependent.  We humans are not separate from the rest of the natural world.

It’s a good month to celebrate some of the great work we and our regional partners have done and will continue in the coming decades to protect and restore land and water in this beautiful region we all love.

I’d like to call out Three Rivers Park District for their restoration work for more than 55 years, at Crow-Hassan Regional Park Reserve, located near the far northwestern border of Hennepin County. Starting with less than 20 acres in 1969, the district has restored 850 acres from plowed fields back to prairie. From the seven bird species that nested on that land in 1970, now 23 species breed there. Native reptiles and butterflies have been successfully reintroduced.

In the coming decade, we will assist Three Rivers to add land to the park reserve, which borders the Crow River in the northwest part of the region. This will further protect the area as the region’s population grows. It will also make possible the extension of the Crow River Regional Trail, allowing people to enjoy more of this awe-inspiring place.

At the edge of downtown Saint Paul, the Dakota-led Wakan Tipi Awanyankapi is restoring the land at a site sacred to the Dakota people within the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary in Indian Mounds Regional Park. Thanks to their ongoing efforts – with funding support from a variety of public and private sources – a proliferation of native plant and animal life is returning to the site. Indigenous people are reinforcing their relationships with the land and their culture through a variety of activities, and all people are welcome to discover and enjoy the park.

But it isn’t just regional parks and trails. Our 2025 community tree planting grants will help cities plant more trees in historically disadvantaged neighborhoods so residents can enjoy the shade and health benefits trees provide. 
At the Met Council’s water resource recovery facilities, lift stations, and along our transitways we are stewarding the land to support water quality and pollinator-friendly landscapes. Along with a variety of partners, we monitor water quality in scores of lakes, streams, and rivers to track their health.  

Watershed districts across the region are restoring lakes and streams to improve water quality for wildlife and recreation. From Trout Brook in Afton to Elm Creek in Maple Grove, and with the support of Minnesota voters through the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment, our region is committed to protecting and restoring the land and water we all depend on.

These are just a few examples of the great work being done. As partners in achieving our shared goals, we face many challenges – not the least of which is our changing climate. But by working together to protect and restore the landscape and waters that Minnesotans cherish, we are much stronger.

By Charlie Zelle, Met Council Chair