Apple Valley, Minn. – October 06, 2026 -- Great River Greening, GF and the Minnesota Twins are expanding their multi-year water restoration partnership to a 31-acre site at Wood Lake Nature Center in Richfield, Minnesota, marking the second year of a joint sustainability initiative targeting high-impact locations across the Twin Cities metro.
Volunteers target 31 acres of buckthorn-degraded forest at Wood Lake Nature Center
On Oct. 7, volunteers from the three organizations will plant native forbs into a moist prairie within the 150-acre nature reserve, which features three miles of trails and boardwalk used for wildlife observation and environmental education. The restoration addresses forb diversity loss and buckthorn encroachment that has crowded out native shrubs and threatens the forest's understory layer, a condition partners say puts local water quality at risk.
Partnership's first-year work stabilized streambanks and planted 153 shrubs
The initiative launched in October 2025 at Creekside Park in Carver County, where volunteers planted 153 shrubs along eroding riverbanks to reduce pollution flowing into the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers and installed wildlife-protective fencing around the new plantings. Carver Mayor Courtney Johnson participated in the inaugural event, which partners describe as setting the template for subsequent restoration sites.
GF brings global Flow Solutions expertise to sustainability push
GF, parent company of the Uponor brand, posted CHF 3 billion in Flow Solutions sales in 2025 and employs roughly 13,300 people across 46 countries. John Reutter, president of GF Building Flow Solutions Americas, said the Creekside Park project set the tone for the partnership's broader scope.
Kateri Routh, Executive Director at Great River Greening, said the scale of environmental challenges facing Minnesota communities requires combined organizational strengths to deliver lasting benefits for natural resources and the populations dependent on them.
Minnesota Twins frame water stewardship as extension of Target Field sustainability efforts
Nancy O'Brien, Minnesota Twins Senior Vice President of Community Engagement, tied the restoration work to the organization's broader environmental stewardship commitments centered at Target Field, citing the strategic importance of protecting the state's lakes and rivers.