Greenheck Can't Help but be "Green"

St Paul resident, Pete Greenheck along with his brother Mike was recently awarded the Minnesota Outstanding Forest Steward Award by the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (MASWCD) and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry.  The award honors landowners who have introduced innovative forestry conservation activities, demonstrated leadership and achieved significant results in the protection of Minnesota's forestry resources.

The Greenheck's land is near Kellogg, Minn and includes tree plantings, oak regeneration and direct seeding of walnuts. They also annually plant and harvest Christmas trees. (Our family has enjoyed decorating their beautiful Frasier Furs at Christmas for several years.) In addition to their work with trees, they also have installed one mile of riparian buffer and other stream restoration techniques along a creek that runs through their property. The Greenhecks have created wildlife trails and observation areas, restored prairie and continue to control invasive species, such as Buckthorn and wild mustard. They also have land enrolled in the USDA Conservation Reserve Program and follow a conservation farm plan along with conducting several education field days on their property.  When accepting the award the brothers said that "We feel an obligation to be good trustees of the land, we are always considering our impact on the environment and working to improve the land. Someone owned that land before we got it and someone will own it after we are gone. the land is always going to be there and someone needs to take care of it." Congratulations Pete and MIke Greenheck.