• Home
  • How We Work
  • Where We Work
  • News Room
  • About Us
  • My Nature Page

The Nature Conservancy in Africa - Conservation in Africa

The Nature Conservancy in Asia Pacific - Conservation in Asia-Pacific

The Nature Conservancy in the Caribbean - Conservation in the Caribbean

The Nature Conservancy in Central America - Conservation in Central America

The Nature Conservancy in North America - Conservation in North America

The Nature Conservancy in the United States - Conservation in the United States

The Nature Conservancy in South America - Conservation in South America

The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota's 50th Anniversary header

Minnesota Milestones

  More:

1950s-1960s
1990s-Present

Katharine Ordway
Katharine Ordway © Wallace Dayton


 

Pembina Trail Preserve
Pembina Trail Preserve © Ron Culter/TNC

 

Canoers at Susie Island Preserve
Canoers at Susie Island Preserve © Julie Muehlberg/TNC

 

prairie chickens
Prairie chickens © Brian Winter/TNC

 

Purple coneflowers at Bluestem Prairie
Purple coneflowers at Bluestem Prairie © Brian Winter/TNC

 

Dunes and sky at Weaver Dunes SNA
Weaver Dunes ©  TNC


1970s
1970: Ordway Prairie in Pope County is purchased, financed with funds provided by Katharine Ordway, who actively supported the preservation of outstanding prairie in Minnesota and throughout the Great Plains. This was the first use of Ordway funding by the Conservancy.

      The first major grant to the Minnesota Chapter is approved—$107,500 from the Ober Foundation.

1971: The Minnesota Chapter loans acquisition money for Hawk Ridge to the Duluth chapter of the Audubon Society. Hawk Ridge later becomes an extremely popular Duluth park and tourist attraction. It is now known as one of the major sites to observe raptor migration. More than 94,000 migrate past Hawk Ridge on average each August through November.

      The Minnesota Chapter hires its first paid staff, Michael Ireland, a chapter representative.

1973: Four prairie preserves are purchased. Anna Gronseth Prairie and Town Hall Prairie in Wilkin County were acquired to preserve greater prairie chicken habitat. Pankratz Memorial Prairie and Pembina Trail Preserve in Polk County are within one of the main cores of the larger Agassiz Beach Ridges landscape.

      The south portion of Susie Island is purchased. Susie Island is the largest of 13 small, rocky islands jutting out of Lake Superior amid the high cliffs and hills of the Pigeon River outlet. The remaining section of the island was purchased in the late 1980s. The preserve is later re-named for Francis Lee Jaques, the Minnesota wildlife artist and conservationist.

1974: The Minnesota Chapter initiates “The Minnesota Prairie Chicken Preserve System,” designed to acquire strategic tracts of prairie throughout the prairie chicken range in northwestern Minnesota.

      Chippewa Prairie in Chippewa and Swift counties is purchased. At 1,143 acres, it is one of the largest Conservancy preserves in Minnesota.

1975: The Conservancy’s Bluestem Prairie in Clay County is established, with an initial purchase of more than 1,000 acres south of the Buffalo River. Today, it is recognized as one of the largest and highest quality northern tallgrass prairies in the U.S.

1976: The first Minnesota Coordinator of Preserve Management, Mark Heitlinger, is hired.

1978: The Minnesota Chapter advocates for the creation of Tettegouche State Park as a protected area of old growth forest, pristine inland lakes and hiking trails on the North Shore of Lake Superior. In 1979, 3,400 acres were acquired by the Conservancy for the state park, and legislation was enacted establishing Tettegouche as a state park on June 29, 1979.

      Hole-In-The-Mountain Prairie in Lincoln County is established with the acquisition of 775 acres. A remnant of what was once a 4,300-acre prairie landscape, the preserve provides excellent habitat for rare prairie-dependent insects—including 25 species of butterflies—nesting waterfowl, passerines and other grassland birds.

1979: The state’s Natural Heritage Program is established. Initially a Conservancy program, it was transferred to Minnesota DNR in 1980.

      Trout Lily Preserve is established in southern Minnesota. This preserve is home to the largest-known population of the Minnesota dwarf trout lily, a federally endangered species found only in Rice, Goodhue and Steele counties. Confined to a mere 600 acres, this delicate lily is the state’s rarest plant.

 

1980s
1980: The first tract of sand prairie at Weaver Dunes in Wabasha County is purchased. The Conservancy was drawn to Weaver Dunes by the opportunity to protect critical habitat used by Blanding’s turtles, a state-listed threatened species.

1981: New legislation is passed to protect endangered species through revision of Minnesota law and the first official list of state endangered species is established.

1986: In western Minnesota, the Conservancy acquires 3,370 acres of high-quality wet and dry mesic prairie in Lac qui Parle County as part of a state wildlife area, and 1,840 acres of wet and upland prairies and wet meadows in Clay County at Bluestem Prairie.

     The Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) critical habitat match program is established with help from the Conservancy and other organizations. Since that time, the Minnesota Legislature has appropriated $23 million and the Critical Habitat Conservation License Plate has generated over $3 million for acquisition and enhancement of critical habitat, and private donors have contributed land and cash totaling over $26 million.

1987: The Minnesota County Biological Survey is established. Started as a two-year pilot project funded jointly by the Conservancy and the state, the Survey provides information that is critical to the identification and protection of Minnesota’s remaining natural areas.


More -->   1950s-1960s     1990s-Present

Back to Minnesota's 50th anniversary page