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he cold clear water of Valley Creek seeps and bubbles up from rocks near the border between Woodbury and Afton. Flowing east to the St. Croix River, it winds through wooded hillsides, fields, and savanna that are home to pheasant, turkey, deer, and coyotes. It's shady meanderings still harbor rainbow trout, the only metro stream that does.
Trout need cold, clean water to survive. Once an area develops, rain washes off all the new pavement and roofs to warm the stream, add pollutants, and kill the sensitive fish. Rich with scenic charm, the woods and open space surrounding Valley Creek are prime real estate in a rapidly developing area of Washington County.
For more than a decade, the nonprofit Belwin Foundation has been working to preserve one of the biggest ecological corridors in the lower St. Croix River valley, with about 1,200 acres around Valley Creek protected so far. With funds from DNR Metro Greenways and other sources, Belwin expects to protect an additional 29 acres in the coming months.
Open space advocates consider some 2,500 acres surrounding Valley Creek as worthy of protection. But land prices have increased fivefold in the past decade, and some landowners are tempted to sell at a time when government and private funding sources are strapped for cash due to an economic downturn. Prospects for key parcels in the Valley Creek's headwaters are particularly worrisome because development there could compromise water quality in the rest of the stream.
About the photographs
In conjunction with this campaign, we invited 10 Minnesotan photographers to photograph each of our Twin Cities Treasures. This page includes low-resolution images of the Valley Creek area by Linda Gammell, who also received McKnight Artist Fellowships for photography in 1984 and 1988.
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