Friends of Eden Prairie Parks was founded in 2023. We are a volunteer-based organization. Our 501(c)3 fiduciary is the Eden Prairie Community Foundation. We are registered as a non-profit with the State of Minnesota.
Our Board of Directors
Friends of Eden Prairie Parks is operated entirely by volunteers. Our Board members serve 3-year terms and are voted on during our annual meeting (held in March). Our Board Meeting Minutes can be found here.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Glenn Olson
Founder, CHAIR EMERITUS
Glenn has been a resident of Eden Prairie for over 45 years. He founded FEPP in 2023 after getting tired of fighting buckthorn by himself. Glenn is a Master Naturalist and Water Steward.
Bridget Beyer
PRESIDENT
Bridget has been serving FEPP as President since 2024. She is a Master Gardener for Hennepin County and the Grounds & Landscape Manager for The Preserve Association.
Lynsey Owen
VICE PRESIDENT
Lynsey has been serving FEPP as the Vice President since 2025. She is a Natural Resources Technician for Dakota County.
Marilynn Torkelson
Secretary
Marilynn has been serving FEPP as the Secretary since 2023. She is a Master Naturalist, Water Steward, and serves on the Advisory Board for the Riley-Purgatory-Bluff-Creek Watershed District. She is also a founding member of the Prairie Edge Chapter of Wild Ones.
Joe Zweber
TREASURER
Joe has been serving FEPP as the Treasurer since 2023. He is a Master Naturalist and serves on the Board for Wild Ones Prairie Edge Chapter.
BOARD MEMBERS
Donna Arriaga, Communications Committee Chair
Michelle Frost, Volunteer Coordinator
Lori Tritz, Strategist
Rod Flancher, Webmaster
Blake Cadwaller, Board Member
Lisa Nichols, Board Member
CITY LIAISON
Karli Wittner, Forestry & Natural Resources Supervisor
View our Mission & Vision
The Source of Our Stewardship – Eden Prairie’s Conservation Areas
In 1994, the city of Eden Prairie was rapidly expanding its property development. Some Eden Prairie citizens saw the destruction of fields, woods, and prairies and called for a pause in this development. Instead, they proposed preserving some moments in time by purchasing four parcels of land to be used strictly for conservation. No recreational fields, no swings, no picnic tables. They were just to preserve environments and memories of the past—to reflect and appreciate those moments. The City of Eden Prairie approved the $1.95 million purchase of these parcels in an overwhelming approval vote of 2,071 to 366.
The first four parcels—now known as Edenbrook, Riley Creek Woods, Prairie Bluff, and Richard T. Anderson—capture the distinctive environments of central and south Minnesota. Today, Eden Prairie boasts seven conservation areas dedicated to preserving the natural spaces of historical Eden Prairie.
Land Acknowledgement
It is important to acknowledge that we are gathered upon the ancestral, traditional and contemporary homelands of the Dakóta. Through treaties the U.S. government seized Ojibwe and Dakóta land in Minnesota. Specifically, signing of the treaties of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota in 1851 opened land located to the west of Ȟaȟáwakpa/Wakpá Tháŋka (Mississippi River), allowing pioneers to settle in what is now Eden Prairie.
We acknowledge this land has a complex and layered history, and pay respect to the elders who have stewarded the land throughout the generations and continue to do so. We offer this statement as a step toward healing and make a commitment to learn the history of the land Eden Prairie is built on, to recognize, support, collaborate with and advocate for Indigenous People, and to consider the convergence of legacies that bring us to where we are today.
To learn more about the Dakota people of the past and present, please visit the Shakopee Mdewakanton cultural center, Hoċokata Ṫi (pronounced ho-cho-ka-ta tee) in person at 2300 Tiwahe Circle, Shakopee, MN 55372 or visit online at Discover Dakota History – Mdewakanton: Dwellers of the Spirit Lake