Trust for Public Land in Minnesota and the Northwoods - 2024

Minnesota and the Northwoods YOU HELPED US ACCOMPLISH SO MUCH IN 2024, AND THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO COME!

Connecting Everyone to the Outdoors in Minnesota and the Northwoods!

With the many challenges facing our nation, communities in Minnesota and beyond are eager for solutions. YOU are part of the solution. Together, we are not just dreaming of a healthier, more equitable, more climateresilient future—we are actively building it.

Julia Silvis and Sophie Harris Vorhoff.

As parents to young kids, we know how important it is to have great parks and outdoor spaces close to home.

That is why we launched the Minnesota Community Schoolyards® program, working with five schools statewide to transform blighted schoolyards into naturerich spaces open to the community. That is why we created—in partnership with The Nature Conservancy— the Moon Valley Wildlife Management Area just 15 minutes from downtown Rochester, opening 420 acres of forested bluffs and miles of Zumbro River shoreline for all to fish, hike, hunt, and enjoy. That is why, this year, we will open the Keystone Woods Wildlife Management Area—one of the largest pieces of undeveloped land in single ownership in the Twin Cities Metro—where 10 years of dogged commitment enabled us to protect whole lakes, unique wetlands, and rolling grasslands as far as the eye can see.

Transformative projects like these are possible when public and private resources come together. That is why we’re focused on renewing critical conservation and

PHOTO BY CORY RYAN

parks funding from the Minnesota Lottery on the ballot this November.

Connecting to the woods, waters, and prairies of our region is our way of life. Our team is building deep partnership with communities across our region to preserve the Minnesota and Northwoods you love and to close the outdoor equity gap—so that everyone can experience the benefits and joys of the outdoors. This year, we are proud to have advanced new projects with tribal and Indigenous partners to reconnect to their ancestral lands and honor native culture.

As TPL welcomes our new President and CEO, Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser, and develops a new five-year strategy, our organization is continuing on a strong path. Carrie brings a wealth of experience in public policy, philanthropy, the outdoor industry, and community engagement, making her an ideal leader for TPL’s next chapter. Her leadership will be instrumental as we amplify our efforts to expand outdoor access through equity, health, climate, and community commitments.

TPL remains committed to our vision of a world where every person can connect with the outdoors. Thank you for your steadfast support and partnership as we connect everyone to the outdoors.

Sophie Harris Vorhoff, Minnesota & the Northwoods State Director Julia Silvis, Minnesota Advisory Board Chair

Chippewa River, Rusk County, WI. PHOTO BY JOHN SHEPARD

2 |

T R U S T F O R P U B L I C L A N D I N M I N N E S O TA A N D T H E N O R T H W O O D S

Connecting with Open Spaces The bountiful forests, prairies, lakes, and waterways of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan provide a range of critical benefits, from clean air and water to recreation and jobs. Last year, TPL saved 6,076 acres of these iconic landscapes from development through seven land protection projects across the region.

Creating opportunities for everyone to enjoy this land is just as important as protecting it.

This spring, we partnered with the Minnesota Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) to debut a mentored hunting program for people of color. The program culminated with a three-day turkey hunt in the Yucatan Wildlife Management Area, which TPL helped protect.

One of the program leaders and mentors is Keng Yang, a member of the Minnesota BHA board. Keng learned to hunt from his father, a Hmong immigrant. “My dad and uncles brought with them their skills and knowledge of living off the land and applied them here in the United States,” he says. “If it wasn’t for wildlife management areas, we would have lost a part of our heritage and traditions. This knowledge isn’t written in books but is gained only through firsthand experience.”

Mentored Hunt leader Keng Yang. PHOTO BY HANSI JOHNSON

ON THE TRAIL, FOR THE LONG HAUL America’s longest National Scenic Trail, the North Country Trail, extends from North Dakota through the Northwoods and onward to Vermont. However, major segments of the trail currently lie along roads. We are pursuing opportunities in Wisconsin and Michigan to replace on-road segments with over 40 miles of scenic off-road trail and conserve roughly 12,500 acres of forest and watershed.

But land protection involves much more than just a purchase. For each new parcel along the trail, TPL Senior Project Manager Will Cooksey manages not only acquisition, but also due diligence, appraisal, boundary survey, environmental assessment, and title investigation. And each land deal represents the fruition of Will’s long-term relationship-building with landowners, communities, and partner organizations, including the National Park Service and the North Country Trail Association. These relationships enable TPL to conserve land as opportunities arise.

TPL Senior Project Manager Will Cooksey hiking the North Countr y Trail. PHOTO BY TPL STAFF

“TPL’s greatest strength is our stability, our longevity, and our reputation for closing deals for land protection and overcoming the hurdles and challenges along the way,” Will says. “Philanthropic support is a key ingredient in our staying power, allowing us to pursue long-term projects.”

T R U S T F O R P U B L I C L A N D I N M I N N E S O TA A N D T H E N O R T H W O O D S

| 3

Text

Endazhi-Nitaawiging Charter School Red Lake, MN TPL and the community of Red Lake Nation are designing the first Tribal Community Schoolyard in Minnesota at Endazhi-Nitaawiging Charter School.

The schoolyard will provide outdoor spaces that support the curriculum's focus on Ojibwe language, culture, and restorative justice. Design ideas include edible and medicinal gardens and spaces for archery, bow and arrow preparation, and tanning animal hides.

CANADA

Endazhi-Nitaawiging Charter School NORTH DAKOTA

Sheep Ranch DULUTH

§ ¦ ¨

§ ¦ ¨

94

35

Lake Superior Falls

BRAINERD

MINNESOTA ALEXANDRIA

SOUTH DAKOTA

Stanchfield Creek Two Inlets at Bde Hehaka - Two Inlets at Bde Hehaka Omashkooz Zaaga'igaans Omashkooz Zaaga'igaans - Phase II Keystone Woods WMA Keystone Woods WMA Phase II MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL Brooklyn Center Elementary STEAM WISCONSIN Maxfield FAIR School Crystal Elementary Horseshoe Lake WMA

Jefferson Elementary

Medford WMA Yeager WMA Addition Moon Valley WMA ROCHESTER Franklin Elementary

§ ¦ ¨

A Schoolyard and Two WMAs Rochester, MN 90 The Franklin Elementary Community Schoolyard will give 2,461 city residents a vibrant green space and garden within a 10-minute walk of home. On the east side of town, we are acquiring 40 acres to join two separate units of the Gordon W. Yeager Wildlife Management Area (WMA), creating a 400-acre contiguous block of protected habitat and increasing access to recreation. In 2023, we helped acquire and establish the 420-acre Moon Valley WMA 15 minutes north of downtown.

IOWA

MARQUETTE

Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Mich CURRENT AND COMPLETED PROJECTS

September 12, 2024. Copyright © Trust for Public Land. Trust for Public Land and Trust for Public Land logo are federally registered marks of Trust for Public La Information on this map is provided for purposes of discussion and visualization only. Photo credits: TPL staff, Will Cooksey, Bob McGillivray, Hansi Johnson www

Since 1986, Trust for Public Land has protected more than 275 special places encompassing almost 250,000 acres in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

In the past year alone, we preserved 6,076 acres. Our projects in these states have connected hundreds of thousands of people to the outdoors.

LAKE

ONTONAGON

SUPERIOR

NCT UP Traverse

Trust for Public Land

MARQUETTE

FY24 completed project

Munising Bay

Current land protection project Current schoolyard project Other completed project

North Country National Scenic Trail National Park Service land Other government-owned or protected land Tribal land

§ ¦ ¨ 75

LA

N IGA MICH LAKE

MILWAUKEE

41

39

KENOSHA

ILLINOIS

N

§ ¦ ¨

§ ¦ ¨

RO

MADISON

HU

GREEN BAY

KE

TRAVERSE CITY

higan

and. w.tpl.org

North Country National Scenic Trail MI and WI Nearly half of the North Country National Scenic Trail— 2,254 miles—winds through Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. For almost 500 miles, hikers must walk along roadways. TPL and partners, including the National Park Service and the North Country Trail Association, are working on land protection projects that will enable onroad segments to be rerouted to new off-road trails at Lake Superior Falls, the Upper Peninsula Traverse, and Munising Bay.

MICHIGAN 0

50

Keystone Woods WMA Twin Cities Metro Area, MN In 2023, we purchased one of the largest undeveloped tracts of land in the Twin Cities, encompassing 1,834 acres of woodlands, grasslands, wetlands, and lakes—all once part of a single cattle ranch. Keystone Woods will provide 3.5 million residents living in the Twin Cities with access to outdoor recreation. We are now removing dilapidated buildings and restoring prairie as we DETROIT prepare the property for permanent stewardship by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

100

Miles

±

Connecting with Schoolyards MIN N E SOTA CO M M U NIT Y SCH OO LYA RDS

BY THE NUMBERS

5

schools in our first cohort

2,356 S T U D E N T S AT T E N D THE SCHOOLS

PHOTO BY CORY RYAN

16,551

Across the country, too many children are growing up without access to the outdoors. More than 100 million people, including 28 million kids, do not have a park within a 10-minute walk of home. Neighborhoods with a majority of residents of color typically have much less park space per person than predominantly white neighborhoods.

Our Community Schoolyards® program provides a uniquely strategic solution to this “park equity gap.”

Nationally, TPL has already transformed over 300 underutilized schoolyards into vibrant green parks with inspiring nature play and outdoor learning spaces for students. After school hours, these Community Schoolyards open to the whole community—creating more resilient, climate-smart neighborhoods.

In August 2023, we launched the Minnesota Community Schoolyards program with an initial cohort of five schools: Brooklyn Center Elementary STEAM in Brooklyn Center, Maxfield Elementary School in St. Paul, Endazhi-Nitaawiging Charter School in Red Lake, Franklin Elementary School in Rochester, and FAIR School in Crystal.

We selected this cohort through a data-driven process that assessed schools across the state through equity, health, and climate lenses to identify those with the highest need and potential for the greatest impact.

Meanwhile, we completed a proof-of-concept project at Jefferson Elementary in Faribault and inaugurated its improved, nature-rich schoolyard in fall 2023.

6 |

residents live within a 10-minute walk

Each school embarked on an extensive participatory design process. Students, teachers, and community members have played a leading role in identifying priority features and developing a vision for their schoolyard.

Next, TPL will engage design and construction firms to turn each community’s unique vision into reality. Our goal is to substantively complete all five schoolyards by 2026.

Zoroba Ross, principal of FAIR School in Crystal, says: “Working with TPL is an incredible opportunity to create a community schoolyard that will enhance STEAM learning, foster problem-solving skills, help to increase academic achievement, and promote health and wellness.”

$4 MILLION TO GO We need your help to complete our pilot Community Schoolyards! Our goal is to raise $6 million; so far, we have received $2.1 million in public and private contributions, including a $1.68 million grant from the State of Minnesota Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund.

T R U S T F O R P U B L I C L A N D I N M I N N E S O TA A N D T H E N O R T H W O O D S

Connecting with Tribal and Indigenous Lands Tribal and Indigenous communities have deep and abiding relationships with their traditional homelands, where they farmed, fished, hunted, and gathered edible, medicinal, and ceremonial plants. Contact with these places is essential to Indigenous culture, sovereignty, and history—and to the physical and spiritual well-being of tribal communities.

TPL’s national Tribal and Indigenous Lands Initiative seeks to return access, stewardship, and ownership of important lands to Native communities and to advance their language and culture. Our Minnesota office has a rich history of tribal partnerships, and we are bringing renewed energy to working with partners to protect land and create parks and Community Schoolyards.

Sherburne County, southeast of St. Cloud, is the site of our most recent project to protect tribal land. For thousands of years, Ojibwe and Dakota peoples gathered and held ceremonies at what is known today as Two Inlets at Bdé Heháka–Omashkooz Zaaga’igaans Regional Park. Two years ago, through a land purchase, we helped protect these 430 acres of biodiverse prairie, forest, wetland, and lake shoreline. We are continuing to expand the park by purchasing a critical addition.

In conjunction with Sherburne County, we are working with tribal historic preservation officers from the Upper Sioux Community, the Lower Sioux Indian Community, and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe to preserve their

The new Community Schoolyard at Endazhi-Nitaawiging will be more than just a place to play— it will be an outdoor classroom where students can deeply connect with Ojibwe traditions and the natural world around them for generations to come.”

Two Inlets at Bdé He h áka – Omashkooz Zaaga’igaans Regional Park, Sherburne County, MN. PHOTO BY TPL STAFF

ancestors’ burial mounds. We are prioritizing their input in the development, interpretation, and use of this parkland, respecting and honoring their perspectives and wisdom. We are also supporting the tribes in collecting oral histories and documenting the past of this sacred place to apply for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

OJIBWE CULTURE IN THE SCHOOLYARD At the Endazhi-Nitaawiging Charter School in northern Minnesota, we are helping the Red Lake Nation create a Community Schoolyard that will support a curriculum grounded in Ojibwe language, culture, and connection to the natural world. The schoolyard will also serve as a park for the broader Red Lake community after school hours and on weekends.

Through our signature participatory design process, students, teachers, and members of the Red Lake Nation have proposed distinctive design ideas inspired by Ojibwe culture, including gardens of edible and medicinal native plants, an outdoor kitchen, and spaces for archery, bow and arrow preparation, and tanning animal hides.

— Sylvia Fred, Co-Founder and Head of School T R U S T F O R P U B L I C L A N D I N M I N N E S O TA A N D T H E N O R T H W O O D S

| 7

MINNESOTA ADVISORY BOARD Julia Silvis* (Chair), GREATER MSP: Minneapolis Saint Paul Regional Economic Partnership Susan Haigh* (Vice Chair), retired, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity Cheryl Appeldorn*, Conservation Minnesota Andrew Brown*, retired, Dorsey & Whitney LLP Toni Carter, retired, Ramsey County Commissioner Page Knudsen Cowles, Knudsen Vineyards Paul Durkee, retired, Antea Group Paul Fate, PFate & Associates LLC Peter Gove, retired, St. Jude Medical, Inc. Shubha Harris, Fresh Energy John Herman, Herman Real Estate Advisors LLC Doug Kelley, Kelley, Wolter & Scott, P.A.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

There are so many ways you can make an impact by supporting TPL’s work in Minnesota and the Northwoods!

Land Protection Initiative: Your gift can safeguard priority lands in the face of increasing threats to fragile and essential landscapes.

Community Schoolyards Initiative: Donate today to create schoolyards that strengthen communities, improve health and education outcomes, and provide nature-based climate solutions.

Tribal and Indigenous Lands Initiative: Help tribal and Indigenous communities reconnect with ancestral lands and maintain their culture, sovereignty, and traditions.

General Support: Make a gift to increase climate resilience, close the park equity gap, and connect everyone to the outdoors in Minnesota and the Northwoods and beyond.

Planned Giving: Create an even bigger impact by giving through your will, trust, charitable gift annuity, charitable remainder trust, beneficiary designation, or appreciated assets. Make your legacy one of hope, humanity, and love of nature—for generations to come.

Steve King, Landscape Structures, Inc.

THANK YOU

Sungduck Lee, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities

for helping improve the health, equity, and climate outcomes for communities in Minnesota and the Northwoods and beyond.

Mary Merrill, retired, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board Steven Meyer*, retired, Fox Rothschild LLP Andrew Rosen, National Ataxia Foundation John Shepard, Hamline University and Cascade Communications, Inc.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO OUR LONGTIME FUNDING PARTNERS

* Denotes Executive Committee

Sara Shaw Meyer Minnesota Director of Philanthropy 651.583.5339 sara.meyer@tpl.org

Join us Help ensure everyone has access to the outdoors. Every park we create, schoolyard we transform, trail we extend, and landscape we protect is thanks to supporters like you.

2610 University Avenue Suite 300 St. Paul, MN 55114 651.760.0179 minnesota@tpl.org

tpl.org/donate/mn

COVER PHOTOS BY, TOP AND MIDDLE: AWA MALLY; TOP RIGHT AND L ARGE: HANSI JOHNSON; THIS PAGE: HANSI JOHNSON