Friends of the Parks and Trails of St Paul and Ramsey County

Friends of the Parks & Trails (of St. Paul & Ramsey County) is reawakening after an enforced slumber during the worst of the pandemic. With a new executive director and a newly invigorated board, we are engaging with our members, studying important issues such as usage of the now closed Boys Totem Town and the proposed Summit Avenue Regional Trail, and are preparing to continue the advocacy work for which we have been known for nearly 40 years.

We continue this vital work as new pressures — from climate change to short-sighted development — threaten or encroach upon our parks and open spaces and particularly impact low-income and BIPOC communities, who have less access to both tree canopies and green spaces. To that end, Friends of the Parks & Trails has redesigned our strategic plan to embrace equity, inclusivity and accessibility for all who want to enjoy these great public spaces. We educate and encourage our members to take an active role in enhancing and protecting the beautiful public spaces that Horace Cleveland, architect of the Twin Cities parks system, envisioned 150 years ago.

Friends of the Parks & Trail began in 1984 as a grassroots citizen organization that saved Crosby Farm Park from being developed into a high-rise housing complex. The group formally incorporated into a nonprofit in April 1985 with a mission "to assist government in preserving the natural and historic values of our parks and open spaces while promoting increased public appreciation and use of these resources."

Early board members worked tirelessly to protect parkland in two ways that shape our city and county park systems today:

1. Supported landmark legislation for "no net loss" of parkland in urban development.
2. Helped to establish park commissions in the City of St. Paul and in Ramsey County.

Please contact our executive director, Amy Gage (amy@friendsoftheparks.org or 612-381-4110), to become part of reshaping our future. Together, we can preserve and protect the public parks and trails that make our city and county more vital, healthy, peaceful places.