I honestly cannot believe I am typing this but the deal is finalized and the forest is officially protected for good. My hands are literally shaking because I remember the first time I walked these trails thinking we had no chance at all but here we are. Please keep an …
February 19, 2016
Final supporters
Wilder Forest Acquisition for Conservation, Preservation and Education
Imagine a beautiful forest. Huge oak trees tower above you, and maple trees have trunks so wide you can’t reach your arms around them. These trees have taken root in a 600-acre diverse ecological system, comprised of wetlands, marshlands, hardwood swamps, prairies, and lakes so clear that they still reveal their bottoms at twenty-foot depths. This is also a place with a long agricultural heritage and history, where for years organic farmers, school children and nature lovers have enjoyed and worked to preserve its beauty and value.
The Minnesota Food Association (MFA) is a thirty-year-old organization with a mission to build a sustainable food system based on social, economic and environmental justice through education, training and partnerships. For the past ten years, MFA has operated Big River Farms at Wilder Forest. Big River Farms is a certified organic training farm that offers an array of educational opportunities in sustainable agriculture for beginning farmers and the broader community.
We are seeking to acquire Wilder Forest and to protect this land as a piece of our heritage. Working with partners we will enhance existing programs and expand into agroforestry, pollinator habitat development, environmental education, research and more, while maintaining biodiversity and shore land and water-quality protection.
The forest encompasses critical, highly significant landscapes and is home to a historic schoolhouse, a small office building, three homes and a conference center. Minnesota County Biological Survey acknowledges the property’s extremely high biodiversity, regional significance, and historical/ecological value.
MFA's board of directors has taken action to pursue the purchase of Wilder Forest in order to:
- Save and protect the property from development
- Expand core programing of sustainable organic agriculture
- Create recreation, education and research opportunities for young and old
- Preserve these lands for all Minnesotans.
The Carnelian-Marine-St. Croix Watershed District (CMSCWD) identifies this land as having some of the highest-value natural resources in the watershed district. Washington County has identified Wilder Forest as a top-10 priority conservation area, and May Township has passed a resolution in support of this project. Washington County board is in support of the project too.
We are seeking your support. Working together with you and others we will create a place where people gather to learn ecologically sustainable and regenerative farming practices; where pollinators flourish and food systems are studied; and where human activities support and strengthen biodiversity. We envision a destination where generations will come to learn about sustainable food production, cook and eat locally grown food and discover how ecosystems are connected.
We are asking for your support of this vision. Please consider signing this letter of support endorsing the use of public funding to protect and preserve the Wilder Forest in perpetuity.
I ____________________________ endorse MFA’s effort to purchase the Wilder Forest.
With Gratitude,
Daniel Tilsen, Chair
Minnesota Food Association
Updates
December 31, 2015
I just refreshed the page and saw 250 names on here which is honestly dizzying because I was staring at this screen when it was just me and maybe three people who actually read my emails. It is wild to think about all those folks looking at these trees and the wetlands and just getting it even though it is a lot to take in at once.
Reached 250 supporters
December 29, 2015
November 19, 2015
I was just out by the edge of the property earlier and the light hitting those old oaks was honestly unreal because you really forget how quiet and heavy the air feels in there until you actually stop moving for a second. It is wild reading all your comments about what the forest means to you and some of the stories about how people learned to farm or hike there are just incredible so please keep sending them my way while I juggle these emails with the planning board.
Reached 100 supporters
September 15, 2015
September 13, 2015
I checked the screen and we are almost at one hundred signatures which feels like a real turning point for all these trees and the farmland too. Can you quickly send this link to some folks who care about the forest because I have this feeling that hitting that milestone right now will make the planners actually look up from their paperwork.
70 Comments
AS the long time President of the Gateway Trail Association, I have watched the good stewardship of the MN Food Association. The Gateway trail will adjoin this land as the Trail extends to O'Brien State Park.
I've camped this grounds since I was a child and have brought my children and granddaughter to farm as CSA members. I support protecting these lands.
This is a vital habitat that likely took hundreds of years to develop. We need to maintain these portions of forest, for if not, we lose out on the vital ecosystem services they provide and will not be able to regain over several lifetimes.
I have worked at Wilder Forest and live nearby. It has a Rich human and natural history. It has been dormant to some extent for some years since the 90's. Now is the time to support it's coming alive again for all the above reasons and to be in the hands of stewards that respect and communicate our interconnectedness with nature.
For all the reasons stated in your "Preserve the Forest" letter, this land MUST be saved from development. There is only so much land available, and extremely few pieces of this size and these characteristics, and all within easy reach of 2/3rds of our MN population. - Paul M. Otten
I'll post a link to this petition on the Sustainable Stillwater Mn Facebook Page.
What a good idea to protect this forest.
Share this petition
Share this petition to help it reach more people.
Your share link
I honestly cannot believe I am typing this but the deal is finalized and the forest is officially protected for good. My hands are literally shaking because I remember the first time I walked these trails thinking we had no chance at all but here we are. Please keep an …
February 19, 2016
Final supporters
Wilder Forest Acquisition for Conservation, Preservation and Education
Imagine a beautiful forest. Huge oak trees tower above you, and maple trees have trunks so wide you can’t reach your arms around them. These trees have taken root in a 600-acre diverse ecological system, comprised of wetlands, marshlands, hardwood swamps, prairies, and lakes so clear that they still reveal their bottoms at twenty-foot depths. This is also a place with a long agricultural heritage and history, where for years organic farmers, school children and nature lovers have enjoyed and worked to preserve its beauty and value.
The Minnesota Food Association (MFA) is a thirty-year-old organization with a mission to build a sustainable food system based on social, economic and environmental justice through education, training and partnerships. For the past ten years, MFA has operated Big River Farms at Wilder Forest. Big River Farms is a certified organic training farm that offers an array of educational opportunities in sustainable agriculture for beginning farmers and the broader community.
We are seeking to acquire Wilder Forest and to protect this land as a piece of our heritage. Working with partners we will enhance existing programs and expand into agroforestry, pollinator habitat development, environmental education, research and more, while maintaining biodiversity and shore land and water-quality protection.
The forest encompasses critical, highly significant landscapes and is home to a historic schoolhouse, a small office building, three homes and a conference center. Minnesota County Biological Survey acknowledges the property’s extremely high biodiversity, regional significance, and historical/ecological value.
MFA's board of directors has taken action to pursue the purchase of Wilder Forest in order to:
- Save and protect the property from development
- Expand core programing of sustainable organic agriculture
- Create recreation, education and research opportunities for young and old
- Preserve these lands for all Minnesotans.
The Carnelian-Marine-St. Croix Watershed District (CMSCWD) identifies this land as having some of the highest-value natural resources in the watershed district. Washington County has identified Wilder Forest as a top-10 priority conservation area, and May Township has passed a resolution in support of this project. Washington County board is in support of the project too.
We are seeking your support. Working together with you and others we will create a place where people gather to learn ecologically sustainable and regenerative farming practices; where pollinators flourish and food systems are studied; and where human activities support and strengthen biodiversity. We envision a destination where generations will come to learn about sustainable food production, cook and eat locally grown food and discover how ecosystems are connected.
We are asking for your support of this vision. Please consider signing this letter of support endorsing the use of public funding to protect and preserve the Wilder Forest in perpetuity.
I ____________________________ endorse MFA’s effort to purchase the Wilder Forest.
With Gratitude,
Daniel Tilsen, Chair
Minnesota Food Association
Updates
December 31, 2015
I just refreshed the page and saw 250 names on here which is honestly dizzying because I was staring at this screen when it was just me and maybe three people who actually read my emails. It is wild to think about all those folks looking at these trees and the wetlands and just getting it even though it is a lot to take in at once.
Reached 250 supporters
December 29, 2015
November 19, 2015
I was just out by the edge of the property earlier and the light hitting those old oaks was honestly unreal because you really forget how quiet and heavy the air feels in there until you actually stop moving for a second. It is wild reading all your comments about what the forest means to you and some of the stories about how people learned to farm or hike there are just incredible so please keep sending them my way while I juggle these emails with the planning board.
Reached 100 supporters
September 15, 2015
September 13, 2015
I checked the screen and we are almost at one hundred signatures which feels like a real turning point for all these trees and the farmland too. Can you quickly send this link to some folks who care about the forest because I have this feeling that hitting that milestone right now will make the planners actually look up from their paperwork.
70 Comments
As part of a group of volunteers who started and worked our church organic food shelf garden for 21 years, I appreciate MFA's efforts to educate immigrant farmers in the methods of organic farming. I support their effort to purchase the Wilder Forest.
AS the long time President of the Gateway Trail Association, I have watched the good stewardship of the MN Food Association. The Gateway trail will adjoin this land as the Trail extends to O'Brien State Park.
I've camped this grounds since I was a child and have brought my children and granddaughter to farm as CSA members. I support protecting these lands.
This is a vital habitat that likely took hundreds of years to develop. We need to maintain these portions of forest, for if not, we lose out on the vital ecosystem services they provide and will not be able to regain over several lifetimes.
I have worked at Wilder Forest and live nearby. It has a Rich human and natural history. It has been dormant to some extent for some years since the 90's. Now is the time to support it's coming alive again for all the above reasons and to be in the hands of stewards that respect and communicate our interconnectedness with nature.
For all the reasons stated in your "Preserve the Forest" letter, this land MUST be saved from development. There is only so much land available, and extremely few pieces of this size and these characteristics, and all within easy reach of 2/3rds of our MN population. - Paul M. Otten
I'll post a link to this petition on the Sustainable Stillwater Mn Facebook Page.
What a good idea to protect this forest.
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As part of a group of volunteers who started and worked our church organic food shelf garden for 21 years, I appreciate MFA's efforts to educate immigrant farmers in the methods of organic farming. I support their effort to purchase the Wilder Forest.