St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page has requested the County Council pass legislation allowing St. Louis County to acquire 156 acres of land adjacent to Greensfelder Park County Park in Wildwood, Missouri.

The Conservation Fund, a national nonprofit dedicated to protecting environmentally and economically significant natural spaces, worked in partnership with the County Parks and Recreation Department staff to secure a contract to purchase the property, raise all the funds necessary to acquire and subsequently donate the land to the County, and to evaluate the natural features of the property to be conserved.

“This will be a valuable addition to Greensfelder Park and the entire county park system,” said Page. “I appreciate the generous support of The Conservation Fund for working with other agencies and organizations to secure this land.”

The property includes grasslands, oak woodlands, cedar groves, successional woodlands, a 1.4- acre pond and a small cave.

Once the property is acquired later this spring, it will be used by the Parks and Recreation Department as a passive recreation site with emphasis on land protection and natural enhancement, including prairie reconstruction, woodland management, and invasive species removal. The Parks and Recreation Department is looking ahead to working with Open Space Council for the St. Louis Region and the Conservation Stewardship Alliance to restore portions of the property to native habitat. A $20,000 management and stewardship donation from The Conservation Fund will help jump start this important work.

The land will be protected utilizing grants from the Mysun Charitable Foundation, the Open Space Council for the St. Louis region, the Missouri Department of Conservation, and The Conservation Fund through the Flanagan South Pipeline Mitigation Fund provided by Enbridge Pipelines, which was negotiated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to support mitigation for impacts to endangered species and migratory birds resulting from construction of the pipeline.

Currently, Greensfelder Park has 1,582 acres with 32 miles of trails.

Photo: Alex Noguera