Post contributed by Anna Hersh, Saint Paul's Seasonal Natural Resources Technician:
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| Adding the finishing touches to the stairs at Highwood. |
The
Saint Paul Natural Resources Environmental Staff and the Conservation Corps crews were part of a very exciting project at the beginning of November: building a staircase out of wooden timbers at
Highwood Nature Preserve. The stairs are part of a restoration project that is taking place at the park and are funded by grants from REI and the Xcel Energy Foundation. The entire project took a little over two weeks to complete and required a lot of digging, chainsawing, and sledge-hammering! We took pictures throughout the entire process so we could compile the photos into a timelapse video to really showcase the work that went into these stairs. You can see the finished video
here.
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| Working hard to dig holes for the timbers at Como. |
Several days after the Highwood stairs were completed, the Environmental Staff and Conservation Corps were joined by some dedicated volunteers to build another timber staircase at the
Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom in
Como Regional Park. The staircase, which was also funded by a grant from REI, connects the classroom to the
Joyce Kilmer Memorial Fireplace. With snow looming in the forecast, this staircase was completed in just six days! We created a second timelapse video using still photos taken during the building process, which you can watch
here.
