About

Started in 2016, the Longfellow Wildlife Project is an effort to certify the neighborhood of Greater Longfellow as a wildlife habitat under the National Wildlife Federation's Garden for Wildlife program.

To certify Greater Longfellow, we need at least 150 certified Backyard Wildlife Habitats, 4 Schoolyard Habitats, and 4 Common Areas certified as Wildlife Habitat.  Plus, organize and provide educational and community outreach events.

In 2020, our community was awarded a Demonstration Neighborhood grant through the State of Minnesota's Lawns to Legumes program.  Funding is meant to support the planting of Bumblebee and Pollinator friendly plants in residential yards.  The focus is on saving our endangered state bee, the Rusty Patched Bumblebee.  Once common, it is now on the brink of extinction, with the last few remaining Rusty's making a last stand in our extremely urban backyards and regional parks.  And planting healthy native plants throughout the season not only helps Bumblebees, but the whole range of insects, birds, and wildlife that we are fortunate to have in Minneapolis.

Where we are at currently:

187 certification points out of the required goal of 225 certification points

158 Habitats - including 5 school yards and 5 common areas/businesses

Certifying includes community outreach and educational activities, such as our Garden For Wildlife Mentorship and Yard Tours.  We are close now, we should be able to fully certify by the end of 2021!

GREATER LONGFELLOW COMMUNITY

Registered with NWF: July 2016
Population: 23000+

The Greater Longfellow Community is a vibrant urban neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its western boundary has trains, highway, and grain silos.  The residential heart of the neighborhood consists of small homes and yards with tree lined boulevards that people drive, walk, or bike to local restaurants, coffeeshops, movie theaters, antique shops, and numerous other urban amenities.  To the east is the Mississippi river, which played a significant role in the formation and settlement of the Twin Cities. This part of the Mississippi is now a portion of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, and Longfellow’s section boasts small remnants of the original local ecosystems: Oak Savanna, Oak Forest, Maple Basswood Forest, Floodplain Forest, and Prairie.

Longfellow has long enjoyed its natural wonders, which also include the famous Minnehaha Falls.  After a little over a hundred years of intensive development, local residents have been working more recently to preserve and restore the native plants, wildlife, and natural wonders that abound here.  From buckthorn busts and cleanups along the river to installing raingardens and Monarch Way Stations, the Longfellow Community has a deep commitment to a healthy balanced environment that can be shared by residents and wildlife alike.


Garden for Wildlife Mentorship Program

Each spring residents can sign up to participate in our neighborhood Garden for Wildlife Mentorship Program.  After an initial class, residents are teamed up with a local experienced wildlife gardener.  Experience, guidance, and some free plants are shared.  The goal is to create an overall landscaping or naturescaping plan for the lawn, plant one small pollinator friendly planting in Spring, and be able to certify their yard by the Fall.  Announcements for taking applications are usually made in January and February on Nextdoor and through the Longfellow Community Council's e-newsletters.  The Mentorship Program started in 2019.

Habitat Team

DANIEL SCHULTZ, Project Leader and Master Naturalist.

Dan grew up across from the old A&W on Hiawatha Ave, with a backyard meadow always full of butterflies, moths, bees, gophers, and almost feral cats.  He remembers some Elm trees, which are still there to this day, as well as a Bur Oak that was always a ready source of acorns. He spent many days wandering around the Falls, the River Gorge, and Fort Snelling State Park, and other natural wonders Minneapolis is blessed with. In 2009, hearing Douglas Tallamy talk about his book "Bringing Nature Home," it became clear that the cherished woods and wildlife were in peril, and something had to be done about it.  Dan trained as a Master Naturalist volunteer (similar to the Master Gardener program format), and after attending a Pollinator Forum in 2016, Dan realized just how urgently more things needed to be done for pollinators and wildlife habitat. Dan proposed certifying with the NWF to LCC's Environment Committee, and the committee and board voted to officially register to become a Certified Community Wildlife Habitat.