Dakota County, Dodge Nature Center wrangle over trail

Tucked into the neighborhoods of West St. Paul and Mendota Heights, there's a 320-acre natural gem, where people can stroll paths through the woods and children can frolic on the grounds of a working farm while learning about the natural world.

The bucolic setting belies the controversy swirling around Dodge Nature Center, as Dakota County plots a key section of the North Urban Regional Trail, running through Mendota Heights, West St. Paul and South St. Paul and linking two river trails.

After more than 15 years of planning that called for a stretch of trail to run through the nature center, and with about $1 million in hand to proceed with construction, officials from Dakota County and West St. Paul are crying foul, saying Dodge Nature Center has abandoned a gentleman's agreement to accommodate the trail, putting the project and its financing in jeopardy.

"This is one of those Charlie Brown moments where Lucy pulls the football away," said West St. Paul Mayor John Zanmiller. "We've been acting for a long time on the assumption that it's going to happen this way."

About 6 miles of the 7.7-mile trail are complete. The largest gap is the area around the nature center.

When the county applied for a federal grant to pay for the paved trail through the nature center in 2007, the center's then-director sent a letter of support with the application, saying, "Dodge Nature Center has made a commitment to work with Dakota County developing a trail corridor that will meet the needs of both parties. This trail is very important to this region for recreation and transportation."

Now, the nature center's leaders -- a new executive director and several new board members -- say the trail won't happen.

Project loses allure

But as the current board considered the environmental impact of a paved trail and weighed safety concerns about cyclists whizzing through an area frequented by thousands of children each year -- including many who attend an on-site preschool -- the trail grew less attractive.

"With the number of volunteer hours, tree planting and restoration that has gone into that property, they wanted to keep it as an opportunity for education for children and adults," said Jason Sanders, executive director of the nature center. "We feel with the bike trail, it kind of affected our programming, our education, our missions."

Alternative routes could put the trail along Charlton Street or Marie Avenue. But both Marie and Charlton are lined with homes, and county officials made clear that they don't even want to consider that yet.

"Those are not deep front yards on Charlton or Marie," said County Administrator Brandt Richardson. "There is good rationale why that alignment [through the nature center] was picked."

"It's concerning because we worked very hard to get them some dollars to help them with their mission. The money they're spending is basically the money that we helped provide for them," Commissioner Kathleen Gaylord said.

If the nature center route must be abandoned, the county could also be out all or part of the $700,000 federal grant to pay for that section of trail.

The county board asked its staff to research its legal options -- including use of eminent domain -- and to try to negotiate further with Dodge Nature Center.

"We're trying to protect and preserve a natural area and offer it to be utilized, and now it feels like they're trying to take it back," Gaylord said.