Hello All,

Dear Friends of the Eagan Core Greenway,

The following is a description of Friends' most meaningful preservation efforts regarding three significant Eagan Core Greenway properties that have remained in private hands. In each case, the land owners have expressed an interest in seeing their properties preserved in their present natural state.

1. McCarthy Farm, September 2003---Friends of the Eagan Core Greenway facilitated an informal dialogue between local farmer Patrick McCarthy and the acting Administrator of the Dakota County Farmland and Natural Areas Program (FNAP). In a series of several private visits and phone conversations, the group served as a liaison between the two parties, which not long afterwards involved the legal representatives of each side. Result: 34 acres in the northwest corner of the McCarthy Farm were permanently preserved via a conservation easement, representing a full one-quarter of the McCarthy Farm.
2. Anderson Property, May 2004---The City of Eagan signed a purchase agreement with the Trust for Public Land, working on behalf of the Andersons, in order to protect 9 acres of the Anderson's property. Five major partners participated in funding the successful land acquisition project. Nearly two years before, Friends of the Eagan Core Greenway initiated the project by successfully applying for a $100,000 funding grant from the MN DNR's Metro Greenways Program. Since that time, additional funds were secured from the City of Eagan, Dakota County (FNAP), and the MN DNR's Natural & Scenic Areas Program. Result: 9 acres of land immediately south of the Eagan Art House at the east entrance to Patrick Eagan Park will be permanently preserved and annexed to the Park. Not long before, this property had been eyed as a driving range for a proposed golf course in Patrick Eagan Park and the McCarthy Farm.
3. Caponi Art Park, May 2004---Friends of the Eagan Core Greenway who work at Eagan-based West Group collected over $3,000 from employees for the Caponi Art Park Acquisition Fund, in order to demonstrate the Art Park's importance to West employees. After this informal campaign, representatives of these employees met with company officials and West agreed to match this funding with a corporate gift of $10,000. The Friends group has also found a company vice president who is willing to volunteer to serve on the Art Park Board. Result: Future grant applications for the Caponi Art Park, which consists of 60 acres, will be considerably more competitive because the Art Park has the support of this large local corporation.

These successes could not have been accomplished without the on-going support of numerous community members like yourselves, support that goes back to the original efforts of the "Save Patrick Eagan Park" organization. On behalf of the Friends leadership circle, we thank you, and ask for your continued interest, involvement, and support--whether by attending City Council meetings or phoning local City representatives, signing petitions, writing letters, distributing fliers, manning tables, or other efforts. These actions are all critical to our continued success.

Thank you for being there!

We look forward to your future support.

---Jack Conrad

Friends of the Eagan Core Greenway

www.EaganCoreGreenway.org