Join us in celebrating the incredible impact the Swedish Immigrant Regional Trail has had on Minnesota’s Chisago Lakes area!

National Park Service- Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance

June 22, 2024

This project focused on raising awareness about pollinators while providing pollinator-friendly gardens for everyone in the community to enjoy. The Swedish Immigrant Regional Trail is a hard surface, multi-use trail connecting the cities of Taylors Falls and Wyoming.
In collaboration with the National Park Service – Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program (NPS-RTCA), the Chisago Lakes Rotary determined locations for installing and maintaining pollinator habitats, selected pollinator plant species, created a planting design, and identified and applied for applicable funding sources. The project brought together several towns and organizations within the Chisago Lakes area to create pollinator gardens and educational opportunities along 12 miles of the trail, from Chisago City to Taylors Falls, Minnesota.
“The communities really came together. This whole thing was planned and planted within a year,” said Barett Steenrod, an NPS-RTCA community planner who collaborated with partners on the project. Partners include: Lindstrom Park Board, Chisago Lakes Middle School, Chisago Lakes Rotary, Chisago County Parks, The Bee and Butterfly Habitat Fund, and Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota.

Since the project started in 2021, the community has:
* Installed vibrant pollinator gardens which now thrive in Lindstrom, Center City, Shafer, and along the trail, from Tern Avenue to the Taylors Falls trailhead.
* Planted and cared for butterfly milkweed, goldenrod, and fragrant hyssop which are helping keep bees, butterflies, and other pollinator populations happy and healthy!
* Raised awareness and local participation in pollinator conservation, inspiring people of all ages to get involved!
* Installed educational resources along the trail which offer fascinating insights into the plants, environmental sustainability, and local history of the area.

It doesn’t stop there! The impact of this project reaches far beyond Minnesota, with the Rotary Club of Clearwater in Tampa Bay, Florida now exploring ways to create pollinator gardens along their own greenbelt parkway.
As we wrap up #PollinatorWeek, we hope you’re inspired by the success of our partners who are taking care of the pollinators in their community! Learn more about pollinators, why they are important, and how we can help them: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/pollinators/index.htm
Image 1: A bed of wildflowers grows next to a large, grassy park.
Image 2: Raised metal container beds are filled with wildflowers.
Image 3: A large bed of wildflowers grows next to a paved path. On the other side of the paved path is a signage pavilion and bike rack.
Image 4: Wildflowers grow along a paved path.