Field Note - Champions Honored

They probably won’t be on the front of a Wheaties box anytime soon. But in the eyes of about two dozen people huddled against the damp chill of an early spring day in Eagan, the local residents being honored were champions just the same–champions of open space.

In April The McKnight Foundation presented four Dakota County citizens with its first Champions of Open Space awards. Rick Hansen, Joe Harris, Nancy Schouweiler, and Beverly Topp were recognized for their work on behalf of the Dakota County Farmland and Natural Areas referendum, which passed Nov. 5, 2002. Minnesota’s first countywide initiative aimed at protecting open space is expected to raise $20 million in property taxes to protect some 10,000 acres over the next 10 years. Protected lands will include natural areas identified by the DNR Minnesota County Biological Survey, valued farmlands, and other open spaces.

The awards are the latest component in McKnight’s Embrace Open Space campaign. Long recognized for its philanthropic work on behalf of social issues, housing, and the arts, The McKnight Foundation has become interested in the role of healthy natural resources in maintaining the metro region’s quality of life.

Two years ago the Minneapolis-based foundation began exploring how to help nonprofits and government agencies preserve natural areas in the face of rapid metro growth. It found a need for more links among conservation efforts and a need to better engage a public that feels troubled by the loss of open space but uncertain of what to do about it. McKnight gathered representatives from the DNR, Trust for Public Land, Friends of the Mississippi River, University of Minnesota, Metropolitan Council, and other groups to devise strategies to activate citizen support for conservation.

With an estimated 60 acres of metro open space lost to development each day, McKnight hopes its recognition of noteworthy efforts such as the Dakota County referendum will encourage more citizens to champion open space.

"Unlike many urban areas, we can still enjoy open spaces close to home," says Rip Rapson, president of The McKnight Foundation. "But if we want to keep this Minnesota way of life, we have to develop a public conservation ethic that counterbalances our rate of development.

"Whether it’s joining a local open-space protection advocacy group, writing a letter to your elected officials, or protecting your own back 40 acres . . . pick one thing and do it. It will make a difference."

To learn more about the Twin Cities’ remaining natural areas and how you can help save them, visit www.EmbraceOpenSpace.org.

Harland Hiemstra

DNR public affairs officer