PROTECTING PUBLICLY-OWNED OPEN SPACES -
THE BIRCH ISLAND WOODS EXAMPLE
 INTRODUCTION
The following is a discussion of issues related to the transfer of the
Birch island Woods from Hennepin County to the City of Eden Prairie before
the agreement to that effect was reached in December 2001. An up to date
perspective reflecting the position of the Hennepin County Board will
be posted during the coming months
As a result of conservation efforts for the Birch Island Woods in Eden
Prairie, Spirit Mountain in Duluth and Patrick Eagan Park in Eagan, the
North Star Chapter of the Sierra Club is exploring new legislation which
would facilitate the future protection of important, publicly-owned green
space.
For more information Contact Sierra Club volunteer Deb Alper via e-mail
at debalper@yahoo.com or Sharon
Stevens at ssteph2659@msn.com.
BACKGROUND
In 1999, approximately 37 acres of the Birch Island Woods owned
by Hennepin County were readied to be bid on by developers - the starting
price: $1,230,000. The County had no use for the land and had classified
it as surplus land to be sold for profit. Responding to citizen pressure
to protect the area from development, the County gave Eden Prairie first
chance to purchase the woods and waived several deadlines for it to find
financing and work out a deal. After two detached parcels were removed
from consideration, the price for the main 29 acre part was reduced to
$650,000. Even so, a number of officials, and citizens contended that
public land like the Birch Island Woods ought to be conveyed for little
or no cost since it would remain public.
As a legislative safety net for the woods neared passage in May 2001,
the County again provided more time for the City and County to work out
an agreement. Shortly thereafter, the Minnesota DNR disqualified Eden
Prairie's requests for grants to help purchase the woods -- the DNR belatedly
pointed to a policy of not granting money to a local government to buy
land from another local government. But the City hit a home run for the
sanctuary in September 2001 when it agreed during its budget discussions
to pay the County for the woods from its capitol improvement program.
The $600,000 purchase/sale agreement was approved by both Eden Prairie
and Hennepin County in December 2001. (See the news section for details.)
THE ISSUES
(as identified by the Friends of Birch Island Woods and posted on this
website early in 2001)
If the Birch Island Woods is exploited by developers, one of the last,
unprotected public woods in the metro area will be destroyed -- the recreational,
environmental, scenic, historic and social service resources that it anchors
will be put in harms way.
Forgotten by the County for some 70 years, the woods has become far more
valuable as an urban natural sanctuary than it ever could be as taxable
land for a government.
With less than 1/10 of 1% of Hennepin County's forests still extant and
with older cities recreating natural areas at great expense from decaying
strip malls, the only prudent course of action is protection.
Discussion: A no-cost conveyance is in the public interest
Even though the Birch Island Woods would remain public land and would
not be sold for profit, Hennepin County and the City of Eden Prairie have
proceeded to negotiate with the understanding that the County would be
compensated at a market rate -- an understanding forced on the City by
the threat of losing the woods.
The County has made clear its concern that a no-cost conveyance of the
woods could establish a worrisome precedent; that a no-cost conveyance
would spark a rush for free County land. With this concern firmly in mind,
the Friends of Birch Island Woods (FBIW) carefully reviewed pertinent
State law, Hennepin County policy and examples of comparable County surplus
land transactions. We can now demonstrate that fears of future land grabs
are unfounded and that the County Board can feel comfortable with a conveyance
for no or nominal consideration.
The FBIW and State, regional and local officials and organizations assert
that a no-cost conveyance of qualifying public land, like the Birch Island
Woods, between units of government is legal. Indeed, a no-cost conveyance
is in the best interest of citizens, and is desirable when it serves an
overriding public purpose.
The Hennepin County Board itself has found merit in no-cost conveyances
twice -- once for a portion of Birch Island Park in Eden Prairie and secondly
for a baseball field in Minnetonka. No-cost conveyances, of course, occur
elsewhere. In May 2000, Washington County conveyed, for no-cost, 5.5 acres
to Stillwater for the expansion of Brown's Creek Park.
An array of citizens, community organizations and public entities have
demonstrated that protection of the Birch Island Woods is critical to
the nurturing of a whole list of resources -- environmental, social service,
recreational and historic assets that will benefit a wide public.
To argue any longer that Hennepin County must profit from the sale of
the Birch Island Woods would be officious and harmful to the public good.
A PROMPT NO-COST CONVEYANCE WOULD:
- Enable Eden Prairie to get on with the work of stewarding and enhancing
the area
- End the absurdity of forcing Eden Prairie to compete with other Hennepin
County Cities such as Minnetrista, Medina, Dayton and Minneapolis for
funding from under-funded DNR land acquisition programs as Metro Greenways
and Natural and Scenic Areas.
- Dismiss the odd situation of proposing that one public entity (The
State) grant money to another public entity (the City of Eden Prairie)
so it can cut a check for third public entity (Hennepin County) for
public land that would remain in the public trust, to better serve the
public.
Copies of the full FBIW report on no-cost conveyances
and its packet can be requested via e-mail at
Discussion: Funding alternatives
For nearly a decade, the Birch Island Woods area has been identified
in Eden Prairie's guide plan as public open space to be acquired for the
expansion of Birch Island Park. A recent City survey ranked protection
of open space among the top three concerns of its residents, just behind
the perennial concerns of high taxes and congested roads. The Birch Island
Woods remains the premier and urgent open space issue.
If the County cannot agree to a no-cost conveyance and the city fails
to win grant assistance, the Birch Island Woods should not be put at risk.
The Eden Prairie City Council will be asked to pursue other funding options
including a bonding referendum for purchase of the woods.
Discussion: Birch Island Woods legislation -- a safety net
State Representative Tom Workman, Senator Ed Oliver and Representative
Betty Folliard authored various forms of legislation this past session
which would have provided a "safety net " for the Birch Island
Woods. Check this site's news section
for details. .
 A
VISION FOR THE FUTURE
Although the immediate goal is to acquire and protect the Birch Island
Woods, the long term vision for the whole area would dynamically link
its internal hiking and skiing trails, the heritage farm, the historic
sites, the Eden Wood Center, bird watching and maple sap collecting areas,
and its incredible viewshed to the wider community via the LRT Bike Trail,
the Glen Lake golf complex and the highway system. In doing so we will
have protected and restored stressed out wildlife habitats, lakes, wetlands
and aquifers. We will have created a permanent sanctuary for Old Minnesota
in the middle of the western suburbs.
The FBIW has asked the City's Historic Preservation Commission to evaluate
the benefits of a special Historic and Natural Heritage Conservancy District.
A schematic concept plan intended
to spark interest in such a district and the potential of the Birch Island
Woods area can be viewed by clicking
here.
Broad community support for the Birch Island Woods sends a strong signal
that developing any part of it is unthinkable. Partnering between the
City of Eden Prairie and other entities such as the DNR, Hennepin Parks,
The Hennepin Conservation District, the Trust for Public Land and the
Minnesota Land Trust may be critical in defining exactly how such protection
can be achieved.
Discussion: Your Turn
The FBIW has provided an e-mail discussion group to foster discussion
among those with questions or concerns about Birch Island Woods. To join
the group send an e-mail with the words "subscribe forum" in
the body of the message to "majordomo@www.birchislandwoods.org".
Then, whenever you want to participate in the discussion on the woods,
simply e-mail your message to "forum@birchislandwoods.org".
Your message will go out to all other people who have signed up on the
Birch Island Woods forum.
If you wish to remove yourself from the list, send an e-mail with the
words "unsubscribe forum" in the body of the message to "majordomo@www.birchislandwoods.org".
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