Volunteer Opportunity at Seminary Fen on Sunday April 14, 2024

Posted: 03/28/24

Calcareous fens are extremely unique and rare wetlands that are home to a variety of plants. With only hundreds in known existence around the world, the Lower Minnesota River Watershed District is lucky to be home to six fens, including Seminary Fen. You can help protect this priceless resource by working with a team to remove buckthorn, an invasive species that threatens the growth and health of native plants. Hosted by the Minnesota Native Plant Society, volunteers will cut and treat the buckthorn and stack the cuttings. Tools and instructions will be available on-site.

Seminary Fen Scientific and Natural Area Volunteer Day
Sunday April 14, 2024 (8:00am-12:00pm)
Volunteers should gather at the Parking Lot on the North Side of Flying Cloud Drive

Items to Bring: Clean boots and, if desired, your own tools (we will have tools for use). Be sure boots and tools are clean (no invasive species) and weed free. Wear work gloves, hat, safety glasses, and clothes you don’t mind working in. Because buckthorn can scratch, make sure to wear long sleeves and pants.

To register for this event please contact:
Event Coordinator: Jennifer Kamm. For more information, feel free to contact
Jennifer at jennifer.kamm@stantec.com or 612-875-0543
Please register by April 12th

Seminary Fen is located between the cities of Chaska and Chanhassen, just across the river from Shakopee. Seminary Fen is a calcareous fen within a larger wetland complex. Calcareous fens are a special type of wetland that can occur only at the base of slopes or bluffs, where cool, mineral-rich groundwater appears as springs. Water charged with minerals comes to the surface, then saturates and helps maintain thick layers of peat created by the decomposition of the plants that grow in the oxygen-poor water. Seminary Fen's groundwater drains into Assumption Creek. The cold, clear waters of the creek form one of the Twin Cities metro area's last surviving trout streams and flow from the fen to the Minnesota River just a mile away. A calcareous fen is Minnesota's rarest wetland type. Fewer than five hundred survive in the world and Seminary Fen is one of the last remaining fens of this quality. It is home to many threatened and endangered plant species.