About 250 acres on the Sauk River Chain of Lakes in central Minnesota will be preserved as a new public park and wildlife preserve. The property borders the popular chain it narrows into the Sauk River, just south of Cold Spring. It includes about a half-mile of shoreline, rolling hills and old-growth oak forest, said Ben Anderson, Stearns County parks director.
“It’s just a really unique property located in an area of the county and on a lake that doesn’t have a lot of public access,” Anderson said. Several organizations partnered to acquire the property, including conservation groups Pheasants Forever and Dakota Ringnecks. The project also received private donations — including $500,000 from an anonymous donor — and a grant from the state’s Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Fund.
The county also used about $333,000 in unused COVID-19 relief funds for the purchase. The property’s proximity to the city of Cold Spring makes it unusual, said Sabin Adams, state coordinator with Pheasants Forever. “It was likely slated for development at some point in the future,” he said.
“Now we can ensure that it will be maintained as wildlife habitat and as a recreation spot for people.” Plans are to restore wetlands and native prairie that had been farmed, which will help protect and improve the water quality of the Sauk River and chain of lakes, Anderson said. “This area serves as a big catch for rainfall that’s coming through there, and we want to treat that water b.