News & Stories
The Loppet Foundation Request for Proposals for Contractor Services
The Loppet Foundation is seeking a contracted partner to restore habitat, including removing invasive species, managing regrowth of non-native vegetation, and reestablishing native species, throughout a 49-ac. area of North Theodore Wirth Park that is heavily used by the public for outdoor recreation and nature connection. This landscape is currently comprised of oak overstory with savanna structure, open areas of turf grass and old field, and mixed woodlands. The budget for this project is $448,875. The restoration is funded by a three-year Minnesota DNR-CPL grant that begins in summer of 2025 and runs through spring of 2028.
Proposal Deadline: Wednesday, 30 April 2025
Please submit questions and final proposals via email to: Andrea Bidelman, Strategic Initiatives Director; bidelman@loppet.org
PROJECT BACKGROUND, OVERVIEW, & GOALS
The Loppet Foundation (Loppet) is requesting proposals (RFP) for a contractor to partner with us in restoring roughly 49 acres of oak savanna, prairie, and woodland in north Theodore Wirth Park (Wirth Park). In partnership with Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB), Loppet operates The Trailhead, a 14,000sf hub for outdoor activity, and manages a portion of the surrounding park for hiking, running, cross-country skiing, mountain biking, frisbee golf, a par-3 golf course, and nature connection. Loppet and MPRB recently designed and approved a Trailhead Natural Area Restoration Plan (TH Restoration Plan) and donation agreement to restore natural habitat surrounding The Trailhead with the following goals:
- Restore high-quality habitat for wildlife, birds (including grassland and migratory birds), and pollinators (including the federally endangered Rusty Patch Bumblebee) while increasing erosion control, water quality, carbon storage, and climate resilience. Quality habitat restoration includes diversity of native plants and heterogeneous habitat structure – vegetation at various densities and heights.
- Provide educational opportunities in a highly visited part of north Wirth Park that raise community awareness of and foster a conservation ethic for the natural and cultural history of savanna, prairie, and woodland ecotypes.
- Create areas of aesthetic beauty that cultivate nature experience and connectedness among park users, while improving sight lines and safety.
The restoration area currently consists of oak overstory with savanna-like structure, open areas of turf grass and old fields, and mesic oak-dominated woodlands. Much of the canopy understory is dominated by a dense growth of buckthorn, and open areas are heavily impacted by herbaceous invasive species such as burdock, Canada thistle, garlic mustard, ragweed, and other agricultural invasives. Recreational trails wind throughout the area. Over the last three years, Loppet staff and volunteers began habitat restoration on 6.1 acres of savanna within this area.
Loppet has been awarded a DNR Conservation Partners Legacy (CPL) grant to support this work through a partnership of several different entities, including a contracted partner, community volunteers, Loppet program participants, and Loppet/MPRB staff – each contributing to project effectiveness, efficiency, oversight, and long-term stewardship commitment in different ways.
This RPF seeks a contracted partner to restore habitat. Total available budget for the contracted portion of this project through the DNR CPL grant is $448,875, with a three-year grant period from summer of 2025 through spring of 2028. The contracted partner will be responsible for most restoration activities, including initial removal of major invasive species, turf grass conversion, non-native vegetation management to address resprouts and new seedlings, and revegetation with native species. If restoration of all areas listed in this RFP cannot be completed with this budget, priority will be given to full completion of a smaller amount of total area instead of partial completion of the entire area.
The contractor is responsible for coordinating with Loppet to complete initial restoration and re-establishment of native species on all parcels by the end of the grant period within the 49-acre restoration area where contractor-led activities are implemented. Loppet staff and volunteers will partner on certain defined dimensions of the work, including: initial removal of buckthorn and invasive species in some savanna plots, conservation mowing twice annually where feasible, any other restoration activities not covered under the DNR CPL budget allotted for the contractor. Loppet staff and volunteers will also assume long-term maintenance of restoration areas after the three-year grant period. The MPRB Natural Resources Supervisor and advisory council will oversee Loppet’s management of this work, including approval of annual work plans and progress reports.