2025 - Looking Ahead

2025 will grow current efforts and be the springboard for new projects.

Kennedy High School Courtyard Project

The school-based work group will finalize a concept design proposal for District leadership approval. Once approved, we will move to develop and implement a work plan.

We are expecting a Summer of site prep, a Fall of site regrading and path install, and a Spring 2026 planting of natives plants.

Olson Schools Nature Area

Spring of 2025 will see the planting of native flowers, grasses, sedges, and shrubs and trees.

Kennedy High School Tree Planting

Join us in water the new trees planted by the Kennedy High School Green Club.

Marsh Lake Park

2025 will see even more great views and restored areas as we expand the restoration area further south and west. Come and check it out!

Remember restoration/construction is messy and takes time to transform, but it will, and it will be spectacular. (Join us at an upcoming Second Saturday event, occurring monthly throughout the year.) Events

Winchester Pond

Summer 2025 - Focus on 102nd Street side. Removing stumps and invasive plants followed by native plantings.

City looking to assist in containing the growth of the invasive cattails/

(Events-Click Here)

Great news…….

Our partnership, voice and work with the city helped create, within the city, a program that allows local non-profits to secure grants and manage projects to help in city parks, opening many opportunities for new restoration efforts. We are currently identifying opportunities and seeking grant’s in order to take advantage of helping within Bloomington on more projects.

A number of projects are in the planning and development stage - stay tuned. Have a project idea for restoration of a natural area in your neighborhood? Drop us a line and let's talk.

Quick Look at a Successful 2024

Restoration efforts at Marsh Lake Park and Olson Schools Nature Area continued to transform these sites. The hard work of removing significant amounts of invasive plants as well as overly prolific trees offered glimpses of the potential of these sites.

Marsh Lake Park Photos

Volunteer and city efforts beginning to the glimpses of what the restored area will look like. First year of significant native grasses and flowers growth.

Over the summer, the city mowed the area to support the growth of the native vegetation and help prevent weeds from crowding out the recently seeded areas (as well as last year’s areas planted by volunteers).

Buckthorn removal efforts continued to the south and west, revealing remnant native plants and new views.

Olson Schools Nature Area Photos

Volunteer and District efforts combined to dramatically remove large amounts of buckthorn and invasive honeysuckle. We are at nearly 90% removal.

Winter saw large dead tree removal through donated services. Spring saw the planting of more than 1,000 native grasses, sedges, and flowers.

Forest Glen Park (Ike’s Creek) Photos

Growing partnership with the City resulted in significant buckthorn cutting, stacking, and treating.

Nine Mile Creek - NEW

The City’s restoration planning kindled a partnership with BNNN to assist with the continuing restoration efforts started by the County last year. Talks are occurring for growing this effort.

Kennedy Courtyard Project - NEW

BNNN’s partnership with Kennedy High School Green Club, teachers, administrators, and staff grew into a new project of restoring the internal courtyard into a sustainable, nature rich, multipurpose of space (environment education being the priority).

Concept plan work began with construction expected to begin in 2025.

Tree planting efforts

Kennedy High School (KHS) Photos

The KHS Green Club along with BNNN members, and school staff planned, created and coordinated a very successful school-community Tree Fest Event focused on gaining input on the types and locations of new trees to be planted at KHS, as well as tree education. Tree Trivia was a major hit at the event and the city paid for Pizza Luce!.

Utilizing the input gained from the event, they developed a spring planting plan that resulted in 63 new trees planted at KHS.

If you live near KHS and would be interested in assisting in summer tree watering, please let us know. Contact Us

TreeCovery Program Photos

Neighborhood volunteers came together to plant more than 30 trees in 3 different city parks (Valley View, Maplewood, and Barthel’s Pond).

If you live near any of these parks and are interested in assisting in summer tree watering, please let us know. Contact Us

Winchester Pond

Updates

The restoration of the 102nd Street side saw significant progress, with dead tree and invasive brush removal, as well as well weeding and expansion of native plantings areas.

BNNN Volunteer Opportunities

Restoration Projects -

Help remove invasive plants, planting new plants, hauling brush, cutting brush etc. Tools provided. (Events)

Marsh Lake Park - Monthly Second Saturdays events - mornings

Olson Schools Nature Area - Monthly Third Saturdays events - mornings

Forest Glen Park (Ike’s Creek) - check our events page for upcoming events

Nine Mile Creek (near 106th and Humboldt Ave) - Monthly Third Saturdays events - mornings

Outreach -

Assistance is needed in spreading the word and involving others. Volunteering opportunities include:

Dropping flyers in areas adjacent to projects prior to events

Staffing a tables at events to talk to volunteers and answer questions

Social Media -

Additional help is needed in growing our social media presence - know someone who’s good at social media? Posting, updating, engaging, making TikTocs or Facebook/Instagram reels? Would not require many hours, and could be a great way to support us if not interested or able to do physical outdoor restoration work.

Photo Organizer -

Collect photos taken at events or projects, date, label, sort, and store for use in media, website etc.

Tree Watering -

Summer watering of trees at any of the following: Valley View Park, Maplewood Park, Barthel’s Pond Park and Kennedy High School.

Remembering Carl Estey…

On May 18th, a dear supporter Carl Estey died. He was always a firm and enthusiastic supporter of our mission and efforts.  We started working on restoring Winchester Pond by his house about 7 years ago. Carl loved that it pulled the neighbors together, and made the pond look better (a work in progress).  Although he was not able to participate in the physical activities, he supported us in many other ways, like letting us frequently fill up his green bins, always joined us at celebrations of the pond, and was quick with a kind word!  He loved nature, and had many places he visited that he loved, but his family thinks he would be honored to support our Winchester Pond restoration efforts close to his home of several decades.  We are honored to accept any gifts in his name, and will put them to good use with new trees, or flowering plants at Winchester Pond.  We will miss him dearly, his laugh and precise smart questions, and his willingness to embrace new information about changing times to be more in line with natural processes.  Thank you Carl for all your support!  We will listen for your laugh when the wind plays in the branches!

We are a 501(c)3, any donations are tax deductible! Carl would want you to take the tax break :)