Land Conservation

Reconnecting North Mpls to its riverfront

by Alicia Uzarek

June 9, 2016

Currently, the majority of North's residents must make their way over Interstate-94 and through a wall of industry to see and enjoy their riverfront. FMR is working to understand these barriers and identify opportunities to reconnect Northside residents to their Mississippi River. As more of this riverfront transforms from industrial use to parks and trails — changes that FMR has long advocated — we must work hard to ensure that current and future riverfront parks are accessible to area residents.

The desolate West Broadway bridge over I-94

Restoring a floodplain forest, one branch at a time

by Karen Schik

May 13, 2016

by Adam Flett, by Alex Roth, by Amy Kilgore

May 5, 2016

This unique location blends historic renovation with ecological restoration along today's working river. Learn more about its history, ecology and our first public volunteer event at this riverfront site, Saturday, June 4.

Harnessing fire as a conservation tool

by Alex Roth

April 11, 2016

Fire was once commonplace on the American landscape. After nearly a century of suppression, it’s making a comeback. Find out why fires are on the rise, and how FMR uses fire as a tool to restore habitat on many of our restoration sites.

Unpredictable weather, fuzzy eaglets and great horned owls

by Tom Lewanski

March 4, 2016

This time of transition between winter and spring can be a wishy-washy, ambivalent affair. It’s sunny and 50 degrees, then 20 and snowing. Likewise, some bald eagles are still hanging out in their winter homes or migrating along the Mississippi River, while others are nest-bound, feeding fuzzy eaglets. Another impressive hunter, the great horned owl, is also nesting these days. Luckily, there's great local spots to see all of this avian action, both outside along the Mississippi River and online.

Oh, deer. Whitetails and Minnesota's future forests

by Alex Roth

January 11, 2016

Perhaps drinking from the river or bounding through blufflands, deer are a welcome sight on any oudoor excursion. From an ecological perspective, however, an overabundance of deer are creating problems. It turns out many uncommon native plants are especially tasty. But invasive species such as buckthorn and garlic mustard? Not so much. Compounded by earthworms and climate change, our treasured whitetails may play a large role in the future of our forests.

Unfortunately, deer don't enjoy munching on invasive plant species.

The green amidst the gray: the distinctive phenology of non-native shrubs

by Alex Roth

November 9, 2015

It’s finally (or already!) November and the leaves have fallen from the trees. Well, not quite all of them. If you take a close look at a nearby forest, you’ll likely notice a dense layer of green still present in the shrub layer. What are these shrubs and why are they still green when other species have all dropped their leaves? In and around the Twin Cities, it’s a good bet that these shrubs are either common buckthorn or one of a few species of bush honeysuckles, and their “distinctive phenology” actually plays a large part in their success in Minnesota’s forest ecosystems.