Staff from Sherburne NWR advised the Sustainable Land Use Planning and Policy class at the University of Minnesota as they used Sherburne County and the Refuge as a case study to try and develop a hypothetical land use plan that would benefit both people and the environment.

The goal was to use Green Infrastructure concepts to create a plan that was sound socially, economically and ecologically.

The results from the staff’s collaboration with the University of Minnesota were impressive. A professional level presentation and a nearly 100 page final report was presented to the Refuge staff on December 7, as the capstone for the class.

Using Sherburne County and the Refuge as a real life case study is an extension and implementation of the Refuge's CCP in support of Goals 4 and 6. In addition, within a week Refuge Manager, Anne Sittauer shared the report with the Sherburne County Zoning office. We are hopeful it will spur conversations and serve as a starting point for transforming the hypothetical into reality.