Elm Creek
Corridor between Maple Grove
and Plymouth. Photo by
K Squared Photography.
Preface
Advocating for open space in a rapidly growing urban area can be a daunting yet highly rewarding endeavor. With effort, even one person can improve the world for their neighbors and communities. Being an activist has the added appeal of learning about land use law, organizing like-minded people, and working with government officials and landowners to save open places for future generations.
Open space proponents tend to prefer a quiet rather than confrontational approach to their goals. They often prefer to work behind the scenes and not in the spotlight. They see decision-makers as potential allies rather than enemies. They enjoy interaction with elected officials, government employees, developers, and different communities that will be affected by land use policies. And they take pride in knowing they saved land for a park for future generations while having, in most cases, a lot of fun in the process.
Conversations: Interviews with Open Space Activists is about people who battled to save land in the Twin Cities region. It is intended to offer a glimpse of how various local residents became open space activists and how they preserved, or are working to preserve, land in their communities for public use. In each chapter, individuals associated with a campaign to save open space reveal a wide variety of strategies they used to meet their objectives.
One group in Hopkins saved a small forest of enormous oak trees through a grassroots effort; an Eden Prairie activist used media connections while working to save a beautiful piece of land called Birch Island Woods. A strong group of citizens in Dakota County worked for years with local decision-makers in order to gain support for the eventual passage of an open space referendum that has funded many land purchases.
An activist in Mendota Heights built support through a number of coalitions to save a lovely piece of land, highly valued for its historical and spiritual features, from imminent development on a bluff overlooking the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. A former insurance executive who took an early retirement found a new hobby as an open space advocate and is today using an unusual blend of support from government officials and private interests to save a large wetland in Maplewood.
In many of these stories the Sierra Club's North Star Chapter played an important role in helping create public awareness and in training activists. But, these brave souls deserve all the credit for taking on the immense challenge that comes with being an open space advocate — the endless hours of meetings, the writing of letters to the editors and the calling of reporters, the raising money, and the constant use of all tools of persuasion. We applaud their efforts and hope their strategies will serve others well in resolving land debate struggles, and will offer inspiration and hope.
Frank Jossi
Co-Chair
Land Use and Transportation Committee
North Star Chapter, Sierra Club