Jessica Stölen
Editor
jstolen-jacobson@cherryroad.com
Saturday, September 28th was National Public Lands Day – the largest single-day volunteer event for public lands in the United States. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz also proclaimed the day as Minnesota Public Lands Day to recognize the importance of stewardship.
“Minnesota’s unique and spectacular public lands are deeply intertwined with the state’s identity,” Walz said in the proclamation. “The state’s public lands are an essential part of the solution to mitigate the impacts of climate change, providing clean water and air, habitat for pollinators and other wildlife, and protection of space for rare plants, animals and geologic features, while playing important roles in carbon absorption and storage.”
Locally, an event was held through the Minnesota Master Naturalist Program, organized by Ryan Meehan, at Memorial Park. Those who signed up to volunteer for the day gathered at the park Saturday morning to gather native prairie grass seeds.
Meehan has been working on prairie and oak savannah restoration projects throughout Memorial Park, and provided volunteers education in identifying four of the grass varieties and how to harvest the seed. Volunteers were also given field guides to identify the grasses in the park and Meehan guided the volunteers through areas of the park where the grasses are most prolific.
After collection, the volunteers were shown the next area in the park where prairie restoration work will take place, including utilization of the seed collected by the volunteers. Volunteers gathered approximately 20 pounds of seed at the three-hour gathering.
Meehan hopes to organize more events in the future for volunteers to participate in similar activities in Memorial Park.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources expressed the importance of Public Lands Day, and the help of volunteers to support public lands. “We’re grateful that Minnesotans are deeply committed to conservation and outdoor recreation in our state. We couldn’t do this work without them,” said DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen.
National Public Lands Day has been held since 1994 annually on the fourth Saturday of September. Last year, 7,600 volunteers donated 41,500 of service in over 130 parks. The day is organized and led by the National Environmental Education Foundation in partnership with local organizations.
