Avon Hills Initiative

The Avon Hills landscape, located in Stearns County, encompasses approximately 80 square miles in Avon, Saint Joseph, Collegeville, and Saint Wendel townships. The landscpae contains the hightest concentration of native plant communities in the county, including oak and maple-basswood forests, tamarack and mixed-hardwood swamps, and wet meadows. It harbors several rare plants and amimals, including cerulean warbler, red-shouldered hawk, Blanding's turtle, American ginseng, and least darter. The area has been identified as ecologically significant by The Nature Conservancy's Eco-Regional Plan and the MN DNR's County Biological Survey.

The rolling topography of the Avon Hills landscape originally protected it from agricultural development. Today, this forested landscape, located near Saint Cloud and the I-94 corridor, faces multiple land-use pressures. Land values have increased, as parcels are sold for subdivision and development. There is a threat that new subdivisions will follow a sprawling pattern detrimental to vegetation, wildlife, and other features within the heart of the naturally scenic, hilly Avon Hills landscape. Stearns Co. and townships have proposed a special Conservation Overlay District for the area as they develop their new land-used comprehensive plan, but they need tools, support, coordination, and information to protect the Avon Hills landscape.

The Minnesota Land Trust formed a partnership with St. John’s Arboretum to work on a voluntary basis with individual landowners to establish between six and ten conservation easements in the Avon Hills. The project is funded by a grant from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).