Birds, trout, school kids, paddlers. That’s just the start of the list of those that benefit from the Root River watershed.
And now 86 acres of forest, wetlands and open water are protected forever by Root River landowners Monica and Geoff Griffin, and the Minnesota Land Trust.
“If I could choose a single spot for a conservation easement,” mused Program Manager Nick Bancks, “this tract of land would be in my top five for sure.”
Location, Location, Location
The Land Trust prioritizes the protection of lands that are connected to other conservation easements, state or federal land, or other open spaces like camps and nature centers. Targeting these lands builds critical buffered edges around forests, wetlands, and prairies, and has an outsized impact on wildlife that relies on the habitat for food, shelter, and safe movement.
This newly protected project on the Root River is all that and more. Located just two miles north of Lanesboro in southeastern Minnesota, the land is located next to Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center, which subsequently protected 125 acres of their land in 2022. And the Griffins support educational programming at Eagle Bluff by providing access to the Root River, a state-designated water recreation trail.
The Griffin’s property is also directly adjacent to a 900-acre management unit of the Richard J. Dorer Memorial Hardwood State Forest and it’s within a five-mile radius of two other Minnesota Land Trust conservation easements as well as a DNR Aquatic Management Area.
By protecting large swaths of land, certain species that require a large range, such as the red-shouldered hawk pictured above, continue to thrive.
On top of all that, the land is within the Audubon Society’s Blufflands-Root River Important Bird Area, providing an important stopover for migrators in a landscape that’s becoming less and less hospitable.
A River Runs Through it
The Root River, while beautiful, is listed as an impaired river because it has high turbidity—that means it’s dirty, which is a problem if you’re a trout.
Trout need cold, high quality water and a conservation easement helps with both of those things.
First, a natural, undeveloped shoreline lets far less runoff into the water. And second, a preserved upland forest, maintains the cool temperature of the water.
The beneficiaries go beyond fish. The Root River Watershed area is located in the Driftless Area, a landscape rich in sinkholes, caves, and springs. These fractures in the soluble bedrock create direct conduits to the groundwater making it more susceptible to pollution. However, when the water flows over forested land, contaminants are filtered out much more effectively.
The Griffin’s conservation easement, which is held into perpetuity by the Land Trust, prohibits future industrial, residential and agricultural development.
Funding was provided by supporters of the Minnesota Land Trust and the Outdoor Heritage Fund for the Root River Protection and Restoration Program that is jointly managed by the Minnesota Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy and the Minnesota DNR.
