From the Pioneer Press, by Nancy Ngo
hree years ago, large three-story homes started popping up past the dirt road that led to Aina Wiklund's one-story cottage in Rosemount.
For many years, she, too, has received offers from developers to purchase her 25-acre property, but she has refused.
In 40 years, Wiklund says, she has formed strong bonds with the plants and animals that are part of the forest in her yard. Birds and deer pass by her windows daily. Wild turkeys, foxes and coyotes make appearances.
"I think it's wrong that we just cut up the land to make a profit," she said. "We don't care how the land is being destroyed and think nothing of the animals."
Last week, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Dakota County and Rosemount closed a deal with Wiklund to purchase a conservation easement for $500,000 under a program that allows landowners to maintain nature preserves on their land. It was the most recent example of land conservation for a Dakota County program that earlier this month won a national award from the Trust for Public Land and the National Association of Counties.
Under the easement, Wiklund can still live on her land. New owners would not be able to build a home larger than the existing one. The state, county and city will help maintain the property. Work is under way to remove buckthorn and restore prairie grass.
"This gives her a peace of mind that 200 years from now, whoever owns the property, it will remain the way it is," said Tom Lewanski, conservation director at Friends of the Mississippi River, which helped work out details of the agreement. "The only options landowners know about are to keep it in the family and never sell it or sell it to a developer. There are other alternatives."
Wiklund also wants the city to be caretaker of most of the land. Next month, she plans to donate 15 acres to Rosemount, while the remaining 10 acres, which includes her home, will remain under her name.
The easement purchase was made possible in part because of Dakota County's Farmland and Natural Area Program. In 2002, the county passed a $20 million bond referendum to purchase parks, woods and conservation land, including farmland.
Wiklund's property is part of a larger area that the county wants to preserve called the Northern Dakota County Greenway project, which would run from northern Rosemount through Inver Grove Heights, Eagan, Sunfish Lake and Lilydale.
Since the Dakota County preservation program began, two other landowners, both in Eagan, have participated.
In order to purchase the conservation easement for Wiklund's land, the county chipped in $250,000, the DNR $150,000 and the city $100,000.
The sale was a significant cut from what Wiklund could have received had she sold to a developer. According to Wiklund, developers are offering $75,000 to $80,000 an acre for land in the area, a rate that could bring her nearly $2 million.
But Wiklund says money is not the point.
"I respect the land, and this gives me a chance to keep it that way," she said. "I'm thrilled to know that they can never put a bigger house here. This could just become a small island amid these big developments."
