Go back to list of current events
| Tuesday, September 4 |
| Event: College Freshmen Service Day Site: Katharine Ordway Natural History Study Area 9550 Inver Grove Trail, Inver Grove Heights Time: 9:00a.m. - 11:45a.m. Supervisors Only: 6 Description: Great River Greening is continuing our annual partnership with local colleges for freshmen orientation projects. This year, seventy students from Macalester College and Hamline University will join Greening Conservation Director Daniel Tix at the Katharine Ordway Natural History Study Area for a morning of seed collection. Located in Inver Grove Heights, the Study Area was founded in 1967 by Macalester College for the purpose of environmental education and is open to the public by appointment only. The site includes tall grass prairie, oak savanna, and oak woodlands, as well as numerous other plant communities. All collected material will be planted at our Pilot Knob Restoration event on Saturday, September 15 in Mendota Heights. Gloves, seed collection bags, and any necessary tools will be provided. |
| Saturday, September 29 |
| Event: Raingarden Planting with Target Corporation Site: Hidden Valley Park, 5000 132nd St, Savage Time: 9:00a.m. - 1p.m. Supervisors Only: 8 Description: This fall, Great River Greening is teaming up with Target Environmental Services and the Target Volunteer Council for ecological action at Hidden Valley Park in Savage. This community park is known for its natural beauty and contains a high quality hill prairie of state significance. A portion of the Credit River, a tributary of the Minnesota River, also flows through western edge of the park. Target employees and their families will plant a large raingarden between the parking lots and the river that will collect and treat stormwater runoff before it flows into the river. Work will include installing native flowers and grasses, mulching and watering, and, if time allows, some invasive species removal. The event will include an educational presentation during lunch and a mallard release by the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota. Tools, work gloves, and fabulous food will be provided! Funding for this event is provided by Target Corporation, the City of Savage, and the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR). |
| Saturday, October 13 |
| Event: ARRM Community Enrichment Week Acorn Planting Site: Como Midway Picnic Pavilion in Como Park 1199 Midway Parkway, Saint Paul Time: 10:00a.m. - Noon Supervisors Only: 10 Description: ARRM is an association of providers who supply community and residential support to people with developmental and physical disabilities, brain injuries, and mental illness. For the past six years, ARRM has hosted Community Enrichment Week, a series of state-wide volunteer projects that bring people of all abilities together in an effort to give back to the community. This year, ARRM is partnering with Saint Paul Parks and Recreation and Great River Greening for their metro area event. A group of 200 volunteers (100 individuals with developmental disabilities and their care-givers) will plant acorns in the Como Park Woodland. The event will kick off with a special program followed by an hour of acorn planting. Bring a lunch for the picnic at noon and be sure to stick around for music by the WCCO Blues Band! Great River Greening's participation in this event is possible through generous support from the City of Saint Paul Division of Parks and Recreation. |
| October | |
| 7 |
Event/Site: Indian Mounds Park Restoration, Earl Street & Mounds Boulevard, Saint Paul
Time: 8:30a.m. - Noon Field Volunteers Needed: 200 NOTE: Registration is currently full. Please sign up and you will be put on our wait list, and you will be contacted if openings become available. Thank you! Supervisors Needed: 20 Description: Great River Greening needs volunteers to help remove invasive buckthorn and plant oak trees in Indian Mounds Park this fall. The park is located within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA) and contains one of the few surviving remnants of native oak savanna in the river valley. This event is the kick-off to Greening’s The Million Acorn Campaign, a five-year community-based effort to restore oak savannas and forests throughout the Twin Cities. Our work in the park will begin the savanna restoration and enhance habitat for rare plant species. Saint Paul Parks and Recreation and the National Park Foundation are event partners. Tools, work gloves, breakfast and lunch will be provided. This event is the largest of the fall season, so don’t miss it! This project is funded by the Mississippi River Fund of the National Park Foundation. . |
| October | |
| 14 |
Event/Site: Flint Hills Resources Acorn Planting & Seed Collection, Pine Bend Bluffs in Rosemount
Time: 8:30a.m. - Noon Field Volunteers Needed: 25 NOTE: Registration is currently full. Please sign up and you will be put on our wait list, and you will be contacted if openings become available. Thank you! Supervisors Needed: 4 Description: Join Great River Greening as we continue restoration work at the Pine Bend Bluffs Natural Area on the Mississippi River. Volunteers will spend the morning planting native acorns on the oak savanna and collecting and distributing prairie seeds. The site, which is owned by Flint Hills Resources, is considered by ecologists to be one of the largest and most diverse native ecosystems left in the metro area. Employees from Flint Hills will also be volunteering, creating a workforce of about 40. For security purposes, photo identification will be required at check-in. Children ages 12 and up are welcome when accompanied by a parent. Tools, work gloves, breakfast and lunch will be provided. Every volunteer will receive a special gift from Flint Hills Resources and there will also be drawings for great prizes! This event is made possible through a partnership with Flint Hills Resources and Friends of the Mississippi River. 
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| September | |
| 5 |
Event/Site: College Service Day at River Park, 83rd Ave. and West River Rd, Brooklyn Park
Time: 9:00a.m. - Noon Supervisors Needed: 10 Description: One hundred fifty freshmen from Carleton College, Hamline University and Macalester College have volunteered to join Great River Greening at River Park for a morning of restoration work. Students will help construct a decorative rock retaining wall in the interpretive garden and mulch previously planted areas. This is a continuation of the planting we started at the park in October 2005. The natural design of River Park enhances the water quality of the Mississippi River by improving stormwater management. Work gloves and tools will be provided. |
| September | |
| 23 |
Event/Site: Cargill Floodplain Restoration, 12105 Lynn Ave, Savage
Time: 8:30a.m. - Noon Supervisors Needed: 6 Description: Great River Greening is teaming up with Cargill to restore floodplain forest in the Minnesota River Valley! A group of 75 Cargill employees will plant trees and shrubs to close a gap in the forest canopy and insert live stakes to stabilize the stream bank. The site, located on Cargill property in Savage, is home to a rich diversity of plant and animal species. Restoration of the forest will improve wild bird habitat and encourage the return of endangered bird populations to the area. It will also protect the water quality of the nearby Minnesota River. Tools, work gloves and lunch will be provided. This project is funded by a grant from Cargill and by the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCMR).
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Time: 9:00a.m. - 12:30p.m.
Supervisors Needed: 20
Description: Admission Possible is a nonprofit organization that helps promising low-income students obtain admission to college. Over 500 high school juniors and seniors from the program have been invited to plant 4,000 tree seedlings in disturbed box elder stands on the Crosby Park Floodplain. Additional trees will be planted in a clearing near the Watergate Marina. The park contains one of the largest floodplain forest and river backwater remnants within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA). The planting site is formerly cultivated land that is being restored to higher quality floodplain forest. Silver maple, green ash, black walnut, hackberry, basswood, and bur oak are among the species to be planted. Lunch, work gloves, and tools will be provided.
This project is funded by the Mississippi River Fund of the National Park Foundation, the City of Saint Paul, and the MnDNR Metro Conservation Corridors program. The Metro Conservation Corridors program is funded by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCMR).
15987 St. Croix Trail North, Marine on St. Croix
Time: 8:30a.m. - Noon
Field Volunteers Needed: 80
Supervisors Needed: 10
Description: Conservation volunteers are invited to join forces with youth hunters and battle buckthorn in the St. Croix Greenway, an important continuous corridor of 2,300 acres of undeveloped land extending from the St. Croix River toward Big Marine Lake. The long-term health of this ecologically diverse woodland area is threatened by a buckthorn invasion that inhibits native plant growth. This event is part of Bucks & Buckthorn, a conservation program which fosters a year-round connection between youth hunters and habitat restoration activities. It is conducted through a partnership between Great River Greening, St. Croix Watershed Research Station, MN Deer Hunters Association St. Croix Chapter, and Boy Scouts of America. Eighty volunteers are needed for an invigorating morning of cutting, pulling, and hauling invasive buckthorn at the Kiwanis Scout Camp. The 110 acre property is located 10 miles north of Stillwater on the banks of the beautiful St. Croix River. Fun activities have been planned for the morning, and Greening staff will also be on hand to demonstrate buckthorn removal in your own backyard. Lunch, work gloves, and necessary tools will be provided.
The Bucks and Buckthorn conservation program is funded by the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCMR)..
Time: 8:30a.m. - Noon
Field Volunteers Needed: 250
Supervisors Needed: 16
Description: This summer, Great River Greening will partner with the City of Saint Paul, Xcel Energy, and the West Side Citizens Organization Bluff Task Force to plant native prairie grasses and woodland flowers along the West Side Bluffs in Saint Paul. This planting is a continuation of past Great River Greening restoration work along the bluff. It is designed to control erosion by serving a buffer at the bluff edge and it will also create wildlife habitat. Volunteers will be distributed among three different planting sites and shuttle buses will be provided to transport volunteers from the main event area at the scenic overlook near Cherokee and Ohio. One site runs the length of Prospect Boulevard; the second is near the intersection of Cherokee Avenue and Ohio Street; the third site starts near Cherokee Heights Boulevard and Baker Street. Species such as little bluestem and sideoats grama grass will be planted at these unique sites. Lunch, work gloves, and tools will be provided. Come join your neighbors and help restore the bluffs!
| October | |
| 15 |
Event/Site: River Park Phase II, 83rd Ave. and West River Rd,
Brooklyn Park
Time: 8:30 a.m. to Noon Field Volunteers Needed: 500 Supervisors Needed: 50 Description: We return to this beautiful site on the Mississippi River to install the second and final phase of one of the few naturally designed parks in the metro area. The design guided by Greening Landscape Ecologist and Designer Dan Shaw, provides natural prairie, savanna and wetland space as well as an interpretive garden for park patrons to enjoy while at the same time improving stormwater management and enhancing the water quality of the Mississippi River. The inlet for Saint Paul's drinking water happens to be across the river from the park. Volunteers will plant grasses, flowers, trees and shrubs in a seven-acre area and provide some maintenance for the tree and shrub planting done last May. Greening's largest event of the year, River Park II is family and group friendly, so sign up now! This project is funded by the City of Brooklyn Park and the Metro Wildlife Corridors program. The Metro Wildlife Corridors program is funded by the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCMR) |
| October | |
| 22 |
Event/Site: Flint Hills Resources - Pine Bend Bluffs
Rosemount
Time: 8:30 a.m. to Noon Field Volunteers Needed: 20 Supervisors Needed: 4 Description: Restoration work continues on the oak savanna at the Flint Hills Resources property that is part of Pine Bend Bluffs Natural Area on the Mississippi River. During this event, volunteers will collect and distribute native grass seed on the savanna and, as time allows, will haul and stack previously cut brush. This site is considered by ecologists to be one of the largest and most diverse native ecosystems left in the metro area. Flint Hills Resources and Friends of the Mississippi River are event partners with Greening. Employees from Flint Hill Resources will also be volunteering, creating a workforce of about 40. |
| May | |
| 21 |
Event/Site: Warner Nature Center - Bucks and Buckthorn, 15375 Norell Ave, Marine on St Croix Time: 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Field Volunteers Needed: 500 Supervisors Needed: 40 Description: You will be part of a large group removing invasive buckthorn from this beautiful outdoor education facility in northern Washington County about 30 miles northeast of Saint Paul. Buckthorn spreads rapidly and crowds out native vegetation, upsetting the ecological balance of plants and animals. We need 500 volunteers to lop, cut, haul and stack this invasive woody species. Warner Nature Center is in the "St. Croix Greenway," an important continuous corridor of 2,300 acres of undeveloped land from Warner east to the St. Croix River. The ecologically diverse prairie and savanna habitats of the "St. Croix Greenway" are reduced to less than one-percent of their original distribution across the state. The "St. Croix Greenway" is being preserved through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Metro Greenways program with the help of Bucks and Buckthorn. Bucks and Buckthorn is a conservation program partnership of the St. Croix Watershed Research Station, Great River Greening and the MN Deer Hunters Association that links bow deer hunting and habitat restoration training and experience for youth and mentors. Youth participants and mentors remove invasive buckthorn from land in exchange for the privilege of hunting on the restored land. The program also provides hunters and conservation volunteers the opportunity to work together for a common goal-critical habitat restoration. This is a great event for groups and families (young children must be supervised). Get a backyard buckthorn busting lesson, too! We will provide tools, training, free food and beverages. Warner Nature Center offers a wide range of programs and services to the community but it is not open for walk-in visitors, so this is also an opportunity to see the Nature Center. Come early and you could be part of the bird-watching group, searching for warblers! (7:00 - 9:00 a.m.)To register for the bird-watching, contact LIBBY JOHNSTON at: 651-665-9500 x 23 or ljohnston@greatrivergreening.org. The Bucks and Buckthorn program is funded by the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCMR) and a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation matching grant. |
| September | |
| 7 |
Event/Site: North Mississippi Regional Park, I 94 & 49th Avenue, Mpls Time: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ONLY Supervisors Needed: 5 for the 8:30 a.m. to noon shift and 2 for the noon to 3:30 p.m. shift Description: 180 Macalester and Hamline college students will plant prairie flowers. While there, plan to visit the unique interpretive center on-site made of shells of sunflower seeds, recycled woods, wheat and plastics. |
| September | |
| 18 |
Event/Site: South St. Paul, Just north of 494 in South St. Paul Time: 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Volunteers Needed: 100 Volunteer Duties: Field: 100 Supervisors: 10 Description: Volunteers will plant trees, shrubs & small plants in a new park along the Mississippi River. The park was designed by Greening and will add wildlife habitat, storm water filtering and erosion control along the river. This event is a continuation of the project begun in June and will take place near the South St. Paul DNR Boat Launch. |
| October | |
| 9 |
Event/Site: MN Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Louisville Swamp Unit,
Shakopee Time: 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Volunteers Needed: 200 Volunteer Duties: Field: 200 Supervisors: 15 Description: Restoration work continues in the Louisville Swamp Unit of the Refuge in Shakopee. Volunteers will haul and stack precut buckthorn in preparation for later burning. The work area is a former oak savanna/woodland on top of a flat upland terrace and supports a significant population of the rare and threatened Kittentail plant. |
| October | |
| 16 |
Event/Site: Emerson Process Management, Eden Prairie Time: 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Volunteers Needed: 60 Volunteer Duties: Field: 60 Supervisors: 6 Description: This is a corporate site with lake front property on Idlewild Lake. Volunteers will plant and mulch a variety of grasses, forbs, shrubs and flowers. The project purpose is to restore a wetland area adjacent to the lake and the work site is a gently sloping hillside. |
| October | |
| 23 |
Event/Site: Flint Hills Resources, Rosemount Time: 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Volunteers Needed: 0 - EVENT IS FULL Volunteer Duties: Field: 50 Supervisors: 5 Description: Work continues in this on-going project to restore and reconstruct prairie, savanna and woodland on the FHR property. Volunteers will plant acorns, oak seedlings and native prairie plugs. The event will also involved collecting native grass seed and then raking it into locations of old burn piles throughout the savanna restoration area. |
| November | |
| 9 |
Event/Site: The Process of Restoration Course, U of MN-St. Paul Campus Time: 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Description: "The Process of Restoration" is a presentation and interactive group exercise on plant communities, types of disturbances and their consequences, and a discussion of restorations vs. reclamation/reconstruction. Participants will "restore" a theoretical piece of land based on information learned in the presentation. Fee: $10 at the door. **CLASS IS FULL AS OF 10/26/04** |
| April 2004 | |
| 17 |
Event/Site: Bucks and Buckthorn, St. Croix Research Center, Marine-on-St.
Croix** Description: In a continuation of the Bucks and Buckthorn project begun January 31, 2004 30 volunteers hauled and stacked buckthorn cut by the Greening crew. |
| May 2004 | |
| 14 |
Event/Site: Heritage Park, West of Downtown
Minneapolis Description: 180 children from neighborhood schools led by 20 supervisors planted 725 perennials along Lyndale Avenue. This event was a continuation of a Greening project begun in spring of 2003 in the new multi-income development in north Minneapolis. |
| May 2004 | |
| 22 |
Event/Site: Prospect Crest, Above Wabasha Caves in Saint Paul Description: 75 volunteers together planted 2500 forbes and grasses in an event as part of the Grand Excursion celebration in Saint Paul. The steep bluff face was planted by trained climber volunteers. The plantings will help reduce erosion and restore a viewing area historically important to the neighborhood. |
| June 2004 | |
| 5 |
Event/Site: Mississippi River Gorge, West River Parkway, Minneapolis Description: 110 volunteers planted over 4,500 prairie plants on natural parkland in the Longfellow community along the only true gorge on the Mississippi River. This project was done in partnership with the Minneapolis Park Board, Friends of the Mississippi River, the Longfellow Community Council and Great River Greening. |
| June 2004 | |
| 12 |
Event/Site: South St. Paul Levee, Just north of Highway 494 in South
St. Paul** Description: 140 volunteers planted over 4,400 trees, shrubs and small plants in a beautiful park along the Mississippi River. The park was designed by Greening and adds wildlife habitat, stormwater filtering and erosion control along the river. |
| ** This project is funded by the Environment and
Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative
Comission on Minnesota Resources. |
| June 2003 | |
| 21 |
Event/Site: Heritage Park Planting, Minneapolis Description: We involved 110 volunteers from the Heritage Park neighborhood and from throughout the Twin Cities. Volunteers planted around storm-water ponds as the first step in a plan for creating new parkland and open space in the neighborhood. |
| May 2003 | |
| 17 |
Event/Site: Eagle Creek Invasives Removal, Savage Description: Help restore land along Eagle Creek, habitat to the last self-producing brown trout population in the Twin Cities metro area. We will be removing buckthorn and other invasive species, as well as hauling and stacking already-cut larger brush and trees. The site is in Savage, 20 miles southwest of Minneapolis. |
| May 2003 | |
| 3 |
Event/Site: Mounds Park East Overlook Planting, Saint Paul Volunteers enjoyed a beautiful view of the Mississippi River while spending a spring morning planting native rose bushes, shrubs, and a few trees at the overlook near the indian mounds at the Mounds Park East Overlook. |
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| November 2002 | |
| 2 |
Event/Site: Cherokee Park, Saint Paul Great River Greening, Saint Paul Parks and Recreation, the West Side Bluff Task Force and the National Park Service led 30 volunteers in removing invasive and nuisance vegetation that is threatening remnant native plant communities in Cherokee Park on Saint Paul's West Side Bluff. |
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| October 2002 | |
| 19 |
Event/Site: Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge Two hundred volunteers spent a beautiful fall afternoon at the Louisville Swamp area of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge south of Shakopee. This 2,600-acre area has a unique mix of old fields, prairie remnants, oak savanna, floodplain forest and stone farmsteads. Volunteers helped cut, haul and stack brush and buckthorn in the morning, enjoyed a barbecue lunch and educational exhibits in the afternoon. The refuge project received funding from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, as recommended by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources. |
| September 2002 | |
| 21 |
Event/Site: River Gorge South Park, Longfellow neighborhood, Minneapolis Volunteers began implementing a Great River Greening plan for restoring natural plant communities to the Mississippi River Gorge near 44th Street and West River Parkway in Minneapolis's Longfellow neighborhood. The Mississippi River Gorge Ecological Inventory and Restoration Management Plan evaluates the land cover and plant species, soil types, erosion-prone areas, trail networks and location of overlooks. It also describes short- and long-term restoration goals for key areas of the site, including planting native species, reducing erosion and removing invasive plants that are threatening the natural landscape. Volunteers removed buckthorn and tartarian honeysuckle, non-native species that have invaded an area along West River Parkway from the Ford Dam at the north end of Minnehaha Park to the railroad bridge at 27th Street. Volunteers hauled the brush to a site where it was chipped then hauled away. Lunch, entertainment and a prize drawing concluded this event led by Great River Greening, the Longfellow Community Council, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and Friends of the Mississippi River. |
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| June 2002 | |
| 8 |
Event/Site: Barge Terminal 1 Native Planting, Saint Paul's East Side Native plant communities got their start at Barge Terminal 1 on the east side of Saint Paul thanks to the Saint Paul Port Authority and more than 30 volunteers. River birch, gro-lo sumac and little bluestem were some of the species planted in this industrial area. Thanks to Aetna and the Single Volunteers of the Twin Cities for sending volunteer groups to plant! The project received a Five-Star Restoration Partnership grant funded by the EPA and administered through the Wildlife Habitat Council. |
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| May 2002 | |
| 11 |
Event/Site: Smith Avenue Overlook native planting, Saint Paul's West Side Bluff More than 140 volunteers helped to recreate an oak savanna plant community and open up a spectacular view of downtown Saint Paul. Trash and exotic/invasive species were removed from the site before the planting. Thanks to the partners involved: Saint Paul Division of Parks and Recreation, West Side Bluff Task Force, Mississippi National River and Recreation Area-National Park Service, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. |
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| May 2002 | |
| 4 |
Event/Site: Desnoyer Park native planting, Saint Paul's Mississippi River Bluff More than 30 volunteers helped plant native trees, shrubs, prairie grasses and wildflowers along degraded areas of the river bluffs in the Desnoyer Park neighborhood of Saint Paul. Thanks to the partners involved: Saint Paul Division of Parks and Recreation, Mississippi National River and Recreation Area-National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The West Side Bluff and Desnoyer projects received funding from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, as recommended by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources. |
