Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary

A fresh spring-fed stream meanders into wetlands. An ancient cave offers a window into rich Native American history. A backdrop of 450-million-year-old limestone and sandstone bluffs and St. Paul’s city skyline reveals how urban areas and natural settings harmonized to create Minnesota’s cherished Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary.

Between 2001 and 2006, Trust for Public Land led the effort to transform this industrial site on St. Paul’s East Side into a park and nature sanctuary honoring the late Congressman Bruce Vento, a champion for environmental causes in Minnesota and across the nation.

The 27-acre preserve along the Mississippi River has an immense impact on the surrounding wildlife and community.

Once an industrial hot spot as a railyard and home to a Jacob Schmidt brewery, the sanctuary needed a lot of TLC before it could serve the community. Numerous restoration efforts have transformed this once heavily polluted area into a nature haven by replacing vacant industrial land with native plants and flowers.

Restoring areas of the Mississippi Valley to a natural condition helps sustain songbirds, waterfowl, and other wildlife. Forty percent of North America’s migrating birds and waterfowl use the Mississippi River flyway, and the sanctuary has even attracted bald eagles.

The sanctuary also serves as an educational resource. School groups and other programs help nurture the area. Teens pulled invasive plant species, restored habitats, and learned job skills and the importance of community involvement.

The interpretive center on the property educates visitors about the sanctuary’s natural and human history. This area is sacred to the Dakota Tribe, who consider a cave in the area “wakan tipi,” a sacred “house of the spirit.”

A nature sanctuary close to a major city’s downtown provides an urban conservation model for other cities nationwide.

“This new facility [made] the sanctuary even more accessible to a wide variety of Minnesotans, from inner-city families to downtown office workers to schoolkids on field trips to recreation enthusiasts and nature lovers from around the state,” says Becca Nash of Trust for Public Land.

Visitors enjoy hiking, biking, and walking on various trails interconnecting with the Sanctuary loop. These trails offer easy access to downtown St. Paul, surrounding neighborhoods, and the state Gateway Trail leading to the St. Croix River.