The City of Minnetonka's Natural Resources division manages the planning, development and stewardship of the community's natural resources, including

    Natural resource conservation and protection

    Enforcement of natural resource ordinances

    Environmental education and community engagement through volunteerism, public events and technical assistance

Minnetonka Natural Resources

Minnehaha Creek meanders through Big Willow Park, in the early stretches of a 22.5-mile journey from its headwaters at Gray's Bay to confluence with the Mississippi River. This natural ecological corridor provides year-round resources for all types of insects, birds and other wildlife - and it forms the heart of the park's broader ecology, supporting wetland, floodplain forest, oak savanna and woodland.

Watch this space for changes as restoration increases plant diversity and habitat alongside the creek and helps to stabilize the shoreline during periods of high flow or drought.

Big Willow Park shoreland restoration

Ford Park is small but sensational, with rolling hills blanketed in woodland and wetlands tucked into the lowlands. Until recently, though, the park’s true potential – especially its stately mature oak trees – lay hidden in a dense overgrowth of invasive buckthorn shrubs that limited plant diversity and created too much shade for oak seedlings to grow.

Natural Resources staff have undertaken a multi-year project, clearing vast amounts of buckthorn and working with volunteers to plant in more than 10,000 diverse young trees. As you stand at the photo station and walk along the park loop, look for tall white tubes in the woodland – these protect some of the delicate seedlings from browsing deer and rabbits and giving the trees a better chance to thrive. 

Ford Park woodland restoration

Hilloway is a small park full of big surprises. Natural Resources staff, with the help of contractors and volunteers, are controlling invasive plants at Hilloway to make room for aspen woodland, prairie and other native plant communities while enhancing the park’s trail network with new footpaths to encourage locals to enjoy more time outdoors.  

Minnetonka Natural Resources

Minnesota

3 chronologs managed by Minnetonka Natural Resources

Ford Park woodland restoration

Big Willow Park shoreland restoration

Hilloway Park prairie restoration

About Minnetonka Natural Resources

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