Maplewood: Fish Creek Greenway funds secured

[h2ofwlr]

Maplewood: Fish Creek Greenway funds secured; trail building can begin

By Sarah Horner
shorner@pioneerpress.com
Posted: 12/21/2013 12:01:00 AM CST
Updated: 12/21/2013 05:33:18 PM CST


Maplewood's decades-long effort to acquire Fish Creek Greenway is over.

The city announced last week it secured the funding to buy the 70-acre swath of rolling hills and woodlands from the Conservation Fund, according to information provided by the city.

The Conservation Fund purchased the land in 2011 for $2.2 million and agreed to hold it for two years to give the city and its partners -- Ramsey County and the Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District -- time to raise enough money to cover the cost.

Friends of the Mississippi River and 3M Foundation were among the contributors. The city also secured grants from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund and the Department of Natural Resources.

The land stretches from the Mississippi River in St. Paul through Maplewood and in to Woodbury's Carver Park. With Fish Creek running through it, the former farmland includes rolling hills, woodlands, grasslands and views across the Mississippi River Valley.

The site has been on Maplewood's wish list for more than 25 years.

Fish Creek Greenway is located next to Fish Creek Open Space, 130 acres of natural preserve owned by Ramsey County.

The acquisition enables the city and county to begin building Fish Creek Trail, which will run along the creek and connect Point Douglas Road in St. Paul to Carver Lake Park in Woodbury.

The county and city will jointly manage the property.

Sarah Horner can be reached at 651-228-5539. Follow her at twitter.com/hornsarah.