Sign the petition: '1% for Ecosystems' in Minneapolis
This spring, Minneapolis residents have an opportunity to advocate for natural areas stewardship.
FMR is proud of the habitat we've restored at many parks and natural areas in Minneapolis, with flagship projects at Ole Olson Park (pictured above) and Nicollet Island, and throughout Mississippi River Gorge Regional Park, where we've been working with volunteers and community groups for over 20 years.
But most Minneapolis natural areas remain ecologically degraded, with many untouched by restoration efforts. This is, in part, due to staffing. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board's Natural Resources department is one of its smallest, with just three permanent, full-time staff.
The park board prioritizes 19 managed natural areas where staff devote their time and resources to restoring and enhancing habitat. Through a combination of volunteers and partner orgs like FMR, a number of additional sites get attention. (Over the years, FMR has brought hundreds of thousands of dollars to planning and restoration efforts, overseen contractors restoring over 50 acres, and, just since 2020, engaged 3,620 local and metro-area volunteers who have dedicated almost 8,300 hours at these sites.)
Still, this accounts for just a small fraction of the roughly 2,800 acres of natural areas in the city park system. There's much more to be done for wildlife, water quality and climate resilience.
That's why FMR enthusiastically supports efforts to increase staffing of the park board's natural resources department. More staff wouldn't just mean more positions. More staff would mean much more capacity to access and manage grants, contract for restoration and engage additional partners and volunteers.
Now is the time
As we enter the upcoming two-year budget cycle, this is a key moment to call on park board commissioners to make that investment.
As the Minneapolis Natural Areas Alliance explains, despite making up only one-half of 1% of the staff, the three Natural Resources staff "are responsible for managing nearly one-quarter of the land in the Minneapolis park system — its natural areas." Doubling that to 1% of staff (six total workers) "will [help] fix an imbalance that is severely limiting our progress towards a better future," the group continues, adding: "We need 1% for Ecosystems."
Many commissioners seek to protect and restore natural areas, but they need to hear from residents and park users that better caring for the park system's habitat and natural areas should be a top priority.