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A partnership between the MN Parks & Trails Council and Chisago County will facilitate an immediate purchase of about 22 acres of property to fill in a gap on the Swedish Immigrant Regional Trail route.  The acquisition was formalized in a unanimous vote by the County Board after closed sessions took place the past few weeks, finalizing the negotiations for the purchase.

The parcels are: the Levasseur property for $23,760 involving three acres; the Gustafson Revocable Trust held 12.4 acres which was acquired for $167,576 and the Constance Porath parcel of six acres, for $50,380.

The Parks & Trail Council motto is “people saving special places.”  It is a non-profit that Chisago County also teamed up with when acquiring land to expand Checkerboard Park, North Branch.  

Chase Burnham, County Administrator, says having the council securing the property allows for the transfer to happen quickly. The council will hold the trail property for three years, giving Chisago County time to piece together grants and donations to fund the bike trail costs.  The county has been very successful in the past convincing funders of the importance of the Swedish Immigrant Trail as part of the state network and Burnham expressed confidence the project will be realized.

This has been a long-sought segment to connect the biking/walking trail from where it ends just west of Shafer, and bringing it into Center City’s east side.  The Swedish Immmigrant Trail starts in Taylors Falls at the regional trailhead next to city hall.  The west terminus eventually will be an intersection with the north-south Sunrise Prairie Trail in Wyoming.  (The Press covered a ribbon cutting for this trail,  publsihed in the paper last week, as the new North Branch to Harris section was celebrated.)

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