2025 Candidate Responses - Question 5

At Large

Meg Forney (At Large):

“with the diversity of activities proposed, new users will be attracted to this wonderful amenity”

Tom Olsen (At Large):

“I would say that initially it would be fairly minimal as we work to minimize human impact. My first priority is to restore ecological harmony. Once we accomplish that, I think we can consider foraging options that wouldn’t negatively impact on the new environment. However, I do think we could build this option into the plan by intentionally planting edible/forgeable plants/trees/fruits etc.”

Michael Wilson (At Large):

“Foraging is about more than recreation – it's about sovereignty, sustainability, and connection to land. As commissioner, I will support expanding foraging opportunities in this space as part of a broader vision for food justice, environmental education, and ecological restoration. I envision expanded foraging to include planting and maintaining more fruit trees. There is a lot we can do to grow our urban tree canopy in a way that grows produce for community members, and possibly seasonal neighborhood harvesting events!

Throughout the Minneapolis Park system, I support Indigenous and other cultural foraging rights. I want to learn from indigenous leaders how MPRB land management practices relate to treaty rights and how MPRB as an organization can honor these treaties. It is also an incredible opportunity to create educational park programming around ethical and sustainable foraging practices!”

Amber Frederick (At Large):

“Hiawatha’s restoration offers an incredible opportunity to expand urban foraging. I support thoughtful planting of native fruit and nut-bearing trees, medicinal plants, and culturally significant species identified through community consultation. Foraging policy should encourage respectful, sustainable harvests while educating residents about ecological health and traditional plant knowledge. This is one way to reconnect people to the land and its gifts.”

Mary McKelvey (At Large):

“The ecology around the lake is already improving, with the Friends of Lake Hiawatha and others’ efforts. There are already a couple of designated harvesting areas on the East shore of the lake. There are expanded areas of native plants and patches of medicinal and edible plants. At this point, they serve a great educational purpose for the average person, with a guide, and can be foraged through indigenous stewardship agreements. We are gradually learning to share our public spaces for the good of the ecology in the area, and I believe that mutual understanding is necessary to advertise public land as up for foraging. There are too many visits to the area to publicly promote Hiawatha as a place to forage, but designated areas that are intentionally planted for harvesting can be increased.”

Averi M. Turner (At Large):

No response provided

Adam Schneider (At Large):

“I would love to see edible plants along both the planned multi-use paved trails and the natural surface trails throughout the golf course. Additionally, I would be supportive of introducing a dedicated food forest or urban agriculture opportunities to the site if there is interest.“

Matthew Dowgwillo (At Large):

“I am an active gardener and I love going to the parks with my kids to pick cherries from the tree every few days as new cherries ripen. I think the community garden spaces and anything that brings people to the parks is a good thing. There’s actually a course near Stillwater that I played one fall and we forgot about the golf and harvested pounds and pounds of apples😍

I would definitely consider fruit and nut trees, as well as other edibles if it made sense on the landscape.“