Rotary Nature Preserve Restoration Projects

Rotary Nature Preserve is a 40-acre city park located north of Birch Lake, between Birch Lake Boulevard North and White Bear Parkway. For the past 30 years, the City and Rotary Club of White Bear Lake have partnered to make improvements to the park for public enjoyment, including a picnic shelter, restroom facility, trails and a boardwalk across the wetland. Each year, Rotary Club hosts a park cleanup day and tree planting event.

Over the years, invasive plants have taken over areas of the park and have displaced native plants. The City and Rotary Club are partnering on a multi-year restoration project to remove the invasive plants and restore the area with native plants. The restoration will occur over numerous phases. The location of the first three phases of restoration is highlighted on the map and described in more detail below.

Phase 1: Completed in 2022

Phase 1 of the restoration is located just south of the parking lot adjacent to the paved trail. The City’s Parks Department prepared the 6,500 square foot planting bed in the summer of 2022. Rotary Club planted a portion of this site with native prairie plant species in the fall. The Parks Department seeded the rest of the site with a native seed mix in the winter of 2022/2023. Once mature, the diverse native plantings will support pollinators and other wildlife. The City and Rotary Club were awarded a cost-share grant from the Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization for this phase of the project.

Phase 2: Completed 2023

Phase 2 of the restoration began in early 2023 with invasive plant removal along the west side of the trail, from the parking lot to the wetland boardwalk, followed by a native plant wetland buffer restoration. Invasive species removal was completed along the east side of the trail in the fall, which makes this area look open and bare until the newly planted native grasses, flowers, trees and shrubs have time to grow. Funding partners for Phase 2 include Rotary Club, Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization, Greater White Bear Lake Community Foundation, Birch Lake Improvement District and the City of White Bear Lake.

Phase 3: Late Fall 2023 through 2024

Phase 3 is a continuation of Phase 2 along the trail, from the wetland boardwalk to Birch Lake Boulevard North. Invasive plant removal on the west side of the trail was completed late fall 2023 with a native plant restoration anticipated in spring/summer of 2024. Invasive tree removal will continue on the west side of the trail as time allows in the fall and winter. The cleared areas will look open and bare until the native grasses, flowers, trees and shrubs that will be planted as part of this project and future Arbor Day projects have time to grow. Funding partners for Phase 3 include Rotary Club, Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization, and the City of White Bear Lake.