An Overview

You may wonder why so many people have devoted so much time to our campaign to "Save Anwatin Woods". We are not fanatics. We are not "environmental wackos". We are an entire neighborhood of caring people who realize what a precious resource we have in our back yards.

Minneapolis is a city of parks, and yet, the percentage of land in the metro area that remains unpaved, undeveloped and untamed is surprisingly small. The norm, by far, is residential and commercial land, sculpted and paved, trimmed, manicured and plastic coated, a veritable sea of border-to-border Taco Bells and SuperAmericas. Not that there's anything so wrong with that - we do live in a major urban area. But what makes OUR major urban area different is that nestled in amongst the freeways and high-rises you will find the occasional oasis of unbridled nature. The Mississippi River. The Chain of Lakes. Wirth Park.

Our land adjoins Wirth Park and reaches out to the city forming a gateway to the larger park, and serving as a connection to Bassett's Creek and Chestnut Park a few hundred feet from its eastern end. Wildlife abounds in this relatively small parcel of land. Deer, raccoons, squirrels, fox, wild turkeys, woodchucks, geese, ducks and scores of songbirds call this wild area home. And so do the neighbors living in Bryn Mawr. Area children from nearby Bryn Mawr Elementary and Anwatin Middle School use the woods as an extended classroom. Walk along the paths with us and imagine you are miles from civilization...it's not hard to do.

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We will not stand by and see this precious jewel bulldozed and battered in the name of expanded housing. According to an article published in the StarTribune, in the next ten years Minneapolis will add more new housing by far than any of its suburbs. The city does not suffer from a housing crunch. We need AFFORDABLE housing, but this land will be far too expensive to develop to be "affordable". A handful of potential developers have reached that same conclusion over the last decade. But as market pressure and property values continue to climb, one day it will reach the point where money talks and the trees, the birds and deer, and this little slice of the North Woods will be gone. Forever. We are not anti-housing. We support building in appropriate areas, in a community-sensitive way, such as the Qwest property only a few blocks from Anwatin Woods.

The second reason we want to purchase this land is to remedy the water problems the neighborhood has suffered as a result of the City of Minneapolis landfilling the eastern half of the property in the 40s and 50s. Under those trees to the right of the large house lie tons and tons of asphalt, concrete, iron and who knows what else. Protruding chunks of concrete and voids caused by uneven fill create a hazard to anyone walking through the area. Groundwater flows rapidly through the porous fill on its way to Bassett's Creek, causing headaches for area residents and creating potential pollution problems for the creek. This whole section of the woods is a former wetland, and it's not wise to build on wetlands. Just ask the residents of wetland-destroying homes near Cedar Lake who now face problems created by building on that unstable ground.

The entire pond on the right in this 1939 photo is now buried under tons of rubble.

The FBPW can't save this land alone. We need your help to realize our vision. We need volunteers. We need expertise. We need donations. If this is a cause you believe in please join us. If you would like more information, contact us.

Join us as we strive to Save Anwatin Woods as an Environmental Learning Center.