Eagan Core Greenway
STATUS: PROTECTED
Map to Eagan Core Greenway
Regional developers are attempting to carve out critical sections of the Greenway — both through heavy-handed buy-out tactics and in the courts — to place up-market homes into the remaining five percent of Eagan that is still undeveloped.
HOW TO GET THERE
Sections of the Greenway can be viewed along Wescott Road (between Lexington and Denmark), from Patrick Eagan Park (west side of Lexington just north of Diffley), and further south, on both sides of Lexington Road and along Wilderness Run Road (heading east). To get to the intersection of Lexington and Wescott Roads in Eagan, take the first exit south of I-494 on I-35E (Lone Oak Road). Head east over the overpass to the first light beyond the freeway. This is Lexington Road. Turn right heading south to the fifth light. Maps of the area can be found on the group's website (listed below), under "Location." Three private land owners who have significant properties along Patrick Eagan Park wish to have their land preserved. But the area is ecologically sensitive. With the exception of Patrick Eagan Park and other city parks further south, landowners should be contacted before hiking on their land.
WHAT YOU CAN DO WITHIN THE EAGAN CORE GREENWAY
Viewshed from one of six lakes
in the Eagan Core Greenway
Many nature lovers enjoy outdoor activities within the Eagan Core Greenway, particularly in and around Patrick Eagan Park. The park contains two miles of hiking trails, and neighboring Caponi Art Park adds two additional miles of trails. In summer, Patrick Eagan Park is very popular with local bird enthusiasts, while in winter, the park can be used for cross-country skiing. Descending into the park beside McCarthy Lake permits one to leave behind practically all sights and sounds of the city. The park also boasts the areas oldest oak tree, just north of the gravel parking area. In addition, Caponi Art Park now has a Theater in the Woods that hosts limited drama, music, and dance performances in a rustic setting from June through September.
DESCRIPTION
The Eagan Core Greenway consists of approximately 500 acres of preserved nature area and parkland distributed over a continuous two-mile stretch of central Eagan. The historic 130-acre McCarthy Farm serves as the northern bookend of the greenway, while the 2,000-acre Lebanon Hills County Park represents the southern bookend. Between these two extremities is situated a series of Eagan city parks (Trapp Farm, Walnut Hill, Goat Hill), the 60-acre Caponi Art Park, the 110-acre Patrick Eagan Park, and finally the McCarthy Farm and a number of smaller neighboring parks (Barbara Curry, Fish Lake, O'Leary). The significance of this greenway comes in the form of its large contiguous green space.
Dakota County has many fine examples
of birch, maple-basswood forests
The McCarthy Farm, Patrick Eagan Park, Caponi Art Park, and the wooded sections of adjoining city parkland possess a glacial topography that is characterized by oak and pine forest, dramatic hillscapes, non-native grassland, wetlands, and six moderate-sized lakes. The development rights on the northwestern 34 acres of the McCarthy farm were recently donated to the Dakota County Farmland and Natural Areas Program (the program's first). This land presently supports a family of coyote and several adult deer, including three mature bucks.
THREAT AND RESPONSE
In mid-2001, Eagan's then mayor and City Council wanted to explore the possibility of constructing a "championship" golf course on the McCarthy Farm and neighboring Patrick Eagan Park (about 240 acres). An exploratory committee was formed consisting of 75 citizen volunteers (thus side-stepping the City's Advisory Parks Commission). Because Federal LAWCON funds were initially used by the community to secure portions of Patrick Eagan Park, the City was restricted from changing the charter of the park into an exclusive golf course. Although it could amend it to create a public golf course, the exploratory committee determined that this alternative would not be financially viable and the City's initial investment of $20 million would not be recouped any time soon.
At the time of this threat, a citizens group of more than 600 local families was launched, called Save Patrick Eagan Park. The group obtained more than 1,000 signatures on a petition to preserve the park and was responsible for placing hundreds of lawn signs objecting to the proposal and for orchestrating dozens of protest pieces printed in several local papers as letters to the editor. It reached out to several local environmental groups, most notably the Sierra Club North Star Chapter and, later, the Trust for Public Land.
Dappled sunlight filters
through the canopy of oaks
In early 2002, once the threat to the park dissipated, the citizens' group renamed itself Friends of Patrick Eagan Park and changed its mission to focus on ensuring that similar threats are not permitted to endanger the park in the future. The group gradually came to realize that what makes the region's green space so invaluable is the connectivity of the lands in and around the park. "Friends" began to champion a bold new initiative to acknowledge this unique ecological corridor as the "Eagan Core Greenway."
The next year, the Eagan Core Greenway was recognized by the McKnight Foundation's metro-wide "Embrace Open Space" campaign as one of the Twin Cities' top ten natural treasures. The group applied for, and secured, $100,000 from the Minnesota DNR's Metro Greenways Program to leverage other funds to preserve the Anderson property (ten acres at the entrance to Patrick McCarthy's Farm). Since then, the group has partnered with the Trust for Public Land for funding for three local properties neighboring Patrick Eagan Park. In late 2003, the group again expanded its mission and changed its name to Friends of the Eagan Core Greenway.
Partially in response to advocacy of this group and partially in response to the city's own citizen survey on open space, Eagan's City Council listed among their top 2003 goals the preservation of open space, particularly that within the Eagan Core Greenway. The battle to preserve these sensitive properties is not yet over. The Caponi parcel and especially the McCarthy parcel have regular developmental pressures exerted on them.
CURRENT SITUATION
Thanks to the golf course threat in 2001-02, Eagan now has a strong, active citizen-based environmental group, Friends of the Eagan Core Greenway, that is dedicated to preserving the community's green space assets, and ensuring that threats like the golf course never again endanger the crown jewels of Eagan's parks and natural areas. Successful applications to the State DNR's Metro Greenways Program, the Natural and Scenic Areas Program, the Dakota County Farmland and Natural Areas Program, and effective partnerships with regional organizations like the Trust for Public Land and West Group have been instrumental in helping to protect the three remaining privately owned properties in proximity to Patrick Eagan Park [Anderson property (10 acres), Caponi Art Park (60 acres), and the McCarthy Farm (130 acres)].
Yet time is running out. If decisive funding for the Art Park and the McCarthy Farm is not found within the next two years, portions of Eagan's most environmentally sensitive and expansive parcels will surely be lost to development.
Patrick Eagan Park contains
two miles of hiking trails
IF YOU WANT TO GET INVOLVED
Monitoring community development proposals is one important way to stay informed of existing and new threats to the Greenway. These plans are generally documented in the community's local papers — Eagan This Week and the Eagan Sun-Current — as well as on the Friends of the Eagan Core Greenway website, www.EaganCoreGreenway.org, under "E-group Postings." Writing letters of support for the Eagan Core Greenway to local authorities as well as to the local papers is also very helpful. Telephone numbers and e-mail addresses for each of these entities can be found on the "Friends" website, under "What You Can Do." The group also hosts a private e-mail distribution list for updates to its network of members. To join, send a request to .
The Embrace Open Space campaign has more information on the Eagan Core Greenway and other open space treasures around the Twin Cities.