Land protection and restoration

Conservation easements protect natural areas

Conservation easements are one of the most effective tools for permanently protecting natural areas on private property.

A conservation easement is a set of development restrictions that a landowner voluntarily places on their property to permanently protect its natural resources. By selling or donating development rights, the landowner is able to protect thing they value about their land, whether that be the open space, views, rural character, wildlife habitat, mature forest, and more.

Learn more about conservation easements as a land protection tool from our conservation easement partner, the Minnesota Land Trust.

Funding available for land protection and restoration projects

Hennepin County, in partnership with the Minnesota Land Trust, has received more than $4.5 million from the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Fund to acquire conservation easements on the best remaining natural areas in Hennepin County. Funding is also available for habitat restoration projects on protected properties.

Hennepin County will evaluate potential land protection and restoration projects continuously as funds remain. Only properties that are permanently protected are eligible to receive financial assistance for land restoration.

Conservation easement establishment steps and timeline

The entire process of establishing a conservation easement typically takes 1 to 2 years starting from initial conversation and site visit.

To understand the process, see the conservation easement establishment flowchart (PDF) and the description of each step (PDF).

Explore natural resources on your property

The Natural Resources Interactive Map will help you explore natural resources on your property.

In the map, you can select data layers to see existing conservation easements and some land designations including ecologically significant areas and natural resources corridors.

Generally, properties that are the best candidates for protection and restoration are those near other protected property, within or adjacent to one of the land designations, and/or larger properties.

But only you know your property. Let us know what’s special about your property and your goals for its future, and we will connect you to the right resources for protection and restoration.

Contact us to learn more

Complete the interest form to get started

Complete the online land protection interest form, or contact Kristine Maurer at kristine.maurer@hennepin.us or by phone at 612-348-6570 to get started.

Next steps

Next steps after completing the form or contacting Kristine will include:

• Follow up by program staff within one week.
• A field visit to meet you, talk about your goals and motivations for your property, and walk the land.
• Advice about suitability for Hennepin County’s land protection program and potential restoration opportunities (if applicable).
• Advice and assistance related to any specific natural resource or land related questions you have.

If your property seems like a good fit for our program, we will recommend that you:

• Seek advice from your legal and tax professionals to see if land protection seems like a good possibility for your property.
• Request that you submit an application to be formally considered for protection and/or restoration through our program.

Hennepin County will evaluate potential habitat improvement projects continuously as funds remain. Only properties that are permanently protected are eligible to receive financial assistance for habitat improvement.

Habitat improvement steps and timeline

The process of implementing a habitat improvement project on permanently protected lands takes a few months to a year. Establishment and long-term maintenance of the investment could last multiple years.

For partner organizations

Partner organizations include cities, watershed organizations, state or federal agencies, tribes, or nonprofit entities with conservation easement or fee-title ownership of conservation lands and waters.

Complete the partner interest form to indicate your organization's interest in a habitat improvement project with Hennepin County.

To understand the process, see the habitat improvement process map for partners (PDF) and the description of each step (PDF).

For private landowners

Are you interested in protecting land, water, habitat or open space you own? Are you interested in restoring or enhancing habitat like forests, woodlands, prairie, or wetlands on your property? Do you have open space on your property you would like to improve for wildlife? If so, please complete the private landowner interest form to indicate your interest in habitat improvement projects with Hennepin County.

To understand the process, see the habitat improvement process map for private landowners (PDF) and the description of each step (PDF).

Eligible and non-eligible project types

Please review the eligible and non-eligible project types in the list below. Contact program staff for more information or to inquire about the eligibility of your project.

Eligible projects

• Planning and contractors
  • Engineering designs
  • Habitat Management Plans
  • Restoration or management permitting assistance
• Wetland projects
  • Cattail management
  • Hydrologic restoration
  • Non-native phragmites management
  • Reed canary grass management
  • Sandbar willow management
  • Sediment removal
  • Shoreline vegetation
  • Tree and shrub planting
  • Wet meadow with a focus on improving diversity
• Prairie projects
  • Cool season grass management
  • Integrated pest management for noxious weeds treatment
  • Pioneer woody vegetation removal
  • Pollinator diversity improvement or enhancement
  • Prescribed burns
  • Prescribed grazing
  • Prescribed haying
  • Red cedar removal
• Oak savanna projects
  • Cool season grass management
  • Forestry management or selective tree thinning
  • Integrated pest management for noxious weeds treatment
  • Pollinator diversity improvement or enhancement
  • Pioneer woody vegetation removal
  • Planting oaks
  • Prescribed burns
  • Prescribed grazing
  • Prescribed haying
  • Red cedar removal
• Forest projects
  • Exclusion fencing to prevent deer herbivory
  • Ground floor diversity (FERNs – Forest Ephemeral Restoration Nodules)
  • Herbaceous vegetation removal and management
  • Integrated pest management for noxious weeds treatment
  • Pioneering woody vegetation removal and management
  • Prescribed burns
  • Prescribed grazing
  • Reforestation
  • Successional diversity and stand thinning
  • Tree protection
  • Tree-stand transition to native habitat
• Stream and riverbank projects
  • Bank stabilization
  • Benches and flow mitigation
  • Hydrologic restoration (tile removal, etc.)
  • Integrated pest management for noxious weeds treatment
  • Reconnecting floodplain
  • Re-meander
  • Revegetation and streambed restoration
  • Stream bed sedimentation removal
  • Target species habitat improvement (Blanding’s turtle, etc.)

Non-eligible projects

These are examples of projects that are not eligible for funding.

• Agricultural best management practices
• Alum treatments
• Culling of deer
• Duckweed removal
• Food plots for wildlife
• Individual diseased tree management
• Management of agricultural lands for production
• Management of tree stands for production
• Pond excavations
• Rain gardens and boulevard plantings
• Riprap
• Stormwater best management practices
• Vegetable gardens
• Wetland mitigation

Biological monitoring evaluates the health of ecosystems by studying animals and plants within those environments. By monitoring how plant and animal communities change over time, we can measure our successes and tailor conservation management efforts to create healthier ecosystems that are home to a diversity of species and resilient to climate change.

Using biological monitoring to track ecosystem health

In 2022, the county started biological monitoring efforts on county properties and conservation easements. The initial year of data collection was vital to inventorying the species present in the county and establishing a baseline of what species are using permanently protected lands. This data will be used to inform our habitat restoration and management decisions in the future.

Through our biological monitoring program, we are better able to:

• Identify potential habitat improvement projects and address habitat problems earlier
• Inform future priorities and resource allocation
• Evaluate the success of investments in conservation
• Contribute to local and national monitoring efforts
• Connect with landowners in the county about unique species using protected habitat

Long-term biological monitoring reveals climate change trends

One of the strengths of biological monitoring is how it can be used to track the distribution and behavior of species over time. Monitoring these changes over multiple years can provide insights into how changing temperatures, weather patterns, and other climate impacts are leading to shifts in the distribution and behavior of our local plants and animals.

Biological monitoring also provides valuable data on the impacts of human activities, pollution, and other environmental stressors in an ecosystem.

What plants and animals call Hennepin County home?

In 2022, surveys of birds, reptiles, amphibians, small and large mammals, butterflies, and dragonflies were conducted on five different properties. County staff observed 197 different species of animals across all five sites, including:

• 97 species of birds
• 38 species of dragonflies
• 32 species of butterflies
• 19 species of mammals
• 11 species of reptiles and amphibians

Several of the species observed, such as bobolinks and black-billed cuckoos, have been identified by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources as rare or declining in population.

In 2023, our wildlife biologists began monitoring plants and pollinators as well. As part of this monitoring, staff documented finding the endangered Minnesota state bee, the rusty-patched bumble bee! Finding rare and endangered animals and plants on permanently protected land in the county is a huge success story for our conservation efforts.

How to get involved in biological monitoring efforts

Getting involved in biological monitoring efforts can be a rewarding way to contribute to countywide conservation efforts.

Provide a home for songbirds, owls, and bats

Support our flying friends by leaving nesting and foraging habitat, such as dead trees, brush piles, and logs intact. Do even more by providing high-quality habitat and nesting sites - our winged friends could use a helping hand!

Download and print the bird BINGO card (PDF) to get to know the birds living in your neighborhood.

Learn more about how to support backyard bird populations (PDF), provide habitat for birds (PDF), and build and maintain a bat house (PDF).

These and other print materials covering a wide variety of environmental topics are available to order for free. See what's available and place an order.

Make your own bird or bat houses

Contact us for tips and plans on how to make the perfect home for birds or bats. The county also has a variety of bird and bat houses available to conservation easement holders at no cost. Email wildlife biologist Nicole Witzel at Nicole.Witzel@hennepin.us with your interest.

Share photos of wildlife with us

Share wildlife photos or any trail camera photos of wildlife taken in Hennepin County with Nicole Witzel at Nicole.Witzel@hennepin.us. Include the date, time, and place that the photo was taken. Let us know whether we can share your photos or post them on our Hennepin County website, social media, or other conservation platforms. We’ll use these images to track wildlife occurrences as part of our biological monitoring program. Follow Hennepin Environment on Instagram to see photos from our biological monitoring work.

Join online conservation communities

Join the conversation online to record and share your nature observations. There are many apps designed to help track species sightings and contribute to biological monitoring databases.

• eBird is one of the best websites to keep track of your bird list. To share your bird checklists with us, share it with our username: Hennepin Biomonitoring.
• iNaturalist is a nature app that helps you identify the plants and animals around you. Thousands of experts around the world aid in identification of the species you come across. Download the app to your phone or create an account online. Tag your photos with #HennepinBiomonitoring to help document the plants and animals in the county.

Land protection option for agricultural landowners

The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program is another option for land protection. The program is available to agricultural landowners in Hennepin County to permanently remove certain environmentally sensitive lands from production in order to protect surface water and groundwater.

The program focuses on increasing the width of buffer strips along waterways beyond required buffers, restoring wetlands, increasing floodplain storage, and creating wildlife habitat.

Funding for this program is provided through a partnership between the USDA and the State of Minnesota. Hennepin County conservation staff assist landowners with the application process.

To request assistance, contact Matt Stasica at matt.stasica@hennepin.us or by phone at 612-348-4659.

The following conservations easements have successfully protected ecologically significant natural areas and improved connections among natural areas.

15,000 trees planted to protect habitat and fight climate change

Check out this video of our tree planting project at a conservation easement in Independence. We planted 15,000 seedling trees to protect habitat and enhance our tree canopy. This is one of the many projects we’re doing to act boldly on climate change. We have committed to planting 1 million trees by 2030 and acquiring 6,000 acres of conservation easements by 2040.

Learn more about forestry.

Easement fulfills landowners’ vision of permanent habitat protection

When the Clark's bought a 38-acre parcel of pastureland 25 years ago in western Hennepin County, their goal was to create a home for themselves while restoring the diverse and natural lands that had once thrived on the property. With a conservation easement, their decades of hard work will be protected forever.

The Clark property is part of a larger joint effort between Hennepin County and the Minnesota Land Trust to protect 500 acres of habitat within Hennepin County and restore 250 acres to a more natural state. Natural lands like the Clark property play an important role in filtering surface and groundwater, maintaining wildlife corridors, and creating opportunities for outdoor recreation.

Read the Minnesota Land Trust's story about the Clark easement.

Reforestation project adds to permanently protected habitat

This property in Independence lies on the edge of the Twin Cities metro, in an area rich with lakes and wetlands. The 13-acre easement was one of the last remaining unprotected parcels in a habitat corridor connecting Lake Rebecca Regional Park to Lake Sarah. Learn more about the protected habitat corridor established between Lake Rebecca and Lake Sarah (PDF).

The easement contains old-growth maple-basswood forest, a tamarack bog, wetlands, and grasslands and provides important habitat to Trumpeter swans and other unique wildlife.

Read the Minnesota Land Trust's story about the Slavec easement.

After the easement was established, a reforestation project planted 1,200 trees on 3.5 acres of former farm field. The reforestation will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by sequestering an estimated 3,600 tons of carbon dioxide over the next 25 years and improve water quality by infiltrating nearly 2.5 million gallons of rainfall annually.

Watch a time lapse of the reforestation (YouTube).

Protecting Hennepin County’s most pristine lake

Little Long Lake in Minnetrista consistently has the best water quality in the metro area. Between existing conservation easements and property owned by the Three Rivers Park District, more than 550 acres of habitat are already permanently protected in this area. These habitats contain high-quality upland forest, ephemeral forest wetlands, wet meadows, marshland, and streams.

Hennepin County and the Minnesota Land Trust have been working with landowners to protect and restore habitats adjacent to Little Long Lake to ensure the lake remains ideal for fishing and swimming forever.

Learn more about efforts to project Hennepin County's most pristine lake (PDF).

Restoring native prairie along the Minnesota River Valley

Hennepin County, the City of Eden Prairie, the Metropolitan Airports Commission, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been partnering to restore habitat in three zones along the Minnesota River Valley corridor. This work contributes to protecting and restoring some of the last native prairie remnants in Hennepin County.

These habitat areas are home to eight species of special concern. Protecting and restoring these areas creates a larger corridor of protected habitat as they are adjacent to City of Eden Prairie conservation areas and the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, creating a larger corridor of protect habitat.

Prairie restoration work underway include cover crops to improve soil health and reseeding with native prairie plants.

Learn more about this project to restore one of the last native prairie remnants in Hennepin County (PDF).

Protecting shoreline and teaching traditional Indigenous practices

A 40-acre conservation easement along the shore of Lake Independence and Pioneer Creek protects maple-basswood forests and oak woodlands. The property owner uses the forest and sugar camp to make syrup and teach traditional practices to Indigenous youth.

This project capitalizes on the strong conservation ethic of the landowner and offers opportunities for meaningful outreach, restoration, and shoreline protection. Learn more about the conservation easement on the shores of Lake Independence (PDF).

Preserving Legacy publication

This publication is for Hennepin County residents who own property that is protected by a conservation easement. Included are updates on conservation programming, connections to resources, and new opportunities to get involved. We hope the information provided will help support your conservation goals, build connections to your easement and conservation community, and facilitate a deeper understanding of how conservation benefits everyone in Hennepin County.

Read the inaugural edition of Preserving Legacy (PDF)

Create habitat for pollinators

Pollinators like bees and butterflies are essential for the food we eat, the health of our environment and the beauty of our world.

We rely on native bees and other pollinators to pollinate fruits and vegetables like apples, tomatoes, pumpkins, and strawberries. Pollination is also critical for the production of oils, fibers, biofuels, and dairy and meat products.

Unfortunately, pollinator populations are declining. But we can all help — residential yards have huge potential as pollinator habitat.

Ways to create habitat for pollinators:

Plant a bee lawn

• Provide habitat for pollinators (and cut down on yard work!) by replacing your turfgrass with low-growing native plants.
• Be a champion of pollinator habitat: Plant native pollinator friendly flowers at home and encourage landlords, neighbors, and local businesses to join in too!
• Leave your gardens messy: Last year’s plants, leaves, seedheads and stems provide important winter and nesting habitat.
• Keep flowers clean: Do not treat flowers with pesticides.

Learn more:

• Pollinator habitat flyer (PDF)
• University of Minnesota Extension growing landscapes to help bees and other pollinators
• Blue Thumb planting for clean water and pollinators
• Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources lawns to legumes program and pollinator resources
• Minnesota Department of Natural Resources pollinator resources

Provide habitat for birds and bats

The 300 bird species and at least seven bat species that call Hennepin County home play a vital role in our ecosystems. Birds spread seeds, pollinate flowers and trees, and create places for other animals to nest. Bats control pests and provide fertilizer. Birds and bats also give us entertainment, inspiration, and connections to nature!

Unfortunately, bird and bat populations are threatened by habitat loss, cat predation, collisions with buildings and cars, pesticides, plastics, diseases, and climate change. The good news: there are many actions we can take to work against these threats and help our flying friends!

Learn more about how to maintain bird baths and feeders (PDF), build and maintain a bird house (PDF), and build and maintain a bat house (PDF).

These and other print materials covering a wide variety of environmental topics are available to individuals, community groups, municipalities and schools in Hennepin County at no charge.

See what's available and place an order.

Download the providing habitat for birds and bats media kit (DOCX).

Protecting natural resources in your community

From lakes and rivers to urban parks, forests and prairies, Hennepin County has an abundance of diverse landscapes and natural resources. These natural resources provide critical habitat for wildlife, protect water quality, offer recreational opportunities, and enhance our collective quality of life.

We all play a role in protecting our natural resources. Learn actions you can take at home and ways to get involved in your community.

Managing rural and agricultural land

Hennepin County, in coordination with state agencies and programs, provides funding and technical assistance to landowners managing agricultural, large lot, and rural land.

Learn more about project funding and assistance for rural and agricultural land.

Learn about Hennepin County’s role in protecting natural resources

Hennepin County protects natural resources by restoring habitat, protecting wetlands, planting trees, supporting rural landowners, providing grants, managing invasive species, and engaging the community. Watch a playlist of videos on YouTube to learn more about Hennepin County's role in protecting natural resources (YouTube).