At Belwin, we spark passion for wild places. Through immersive community programs and environmental education, we inspire and engage people in the care of natural areas. Through land protection and habitat restoration, we revive threatened ecosystems so wildlife can thrive for generations to come.
In 1971, Belwin Conservancy began hosting outdoor education on 225 acres. In the decades since, Belwin has grown to more than 1,500 acres, and thousands of people have visited Belwin to learn from and explore our natural habitats. Are you one of them?
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The Land We Are On
The land on which Belwin Conservancy exists is the ancestral home of the Wahpekute Dakota people, original stewards of this region. We recognize that despite government efforts to exterminate and diminish the Dakota, their connection to this land, water, history and lifeways perseveres today. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging.
Whether Belwin has been your place to hike the trails, star gaze, bird watch, listen to music, watchbison, cheer for young athletes, or all of the above, we want to hear from you. Your stories will be shared throughout the year in celebration of this landmark anniversary.
Belwin Conservancy at 50: A Love Affair with Nature
The year kicked off with our retrospective exhibit at The Phipps Center for the Arts, curated by Susan Haugh, Belwin’s Program Director, with assistance by Anastasia Shartin, Visual Arts Director at The Phipps Center for the Arts. Take a virtual walk through below!
In the late 1960’s, Charles Bell and Lucy Winton Bell found themselves in a unique position to do something to help address the challenges of diminishing wild spaces, water pollution, and the lack of outdoor education for children. They had recently acquired 200 acres of ecologically diverse land in Afton, Minnesota and wanted to use it to counter these devastating trends.
In 1970, Lucy and Charlie signed an agreement with Saint Paul Public Schools that would dedicate their land to outdoor science education for children. They established the Belwin Foundation (a combination of their names, Bell and Winton) and donated 225 acres of their land to it. With the arrival of students in 1971, Belwin Outdoor Education Laboratory, now Belwin Outdoor Science, was born.
Over the years, this vision has brought over half a million children to Belwin Conservancy for outdoor science education and protected hundreds of acres in the St. Croix Valley from development.
Lucy Winton Bell, Charlie Bell, and Ken Berg (Deputy Superintendent, SPPS) celebrate Belwin Outdoor Environmental Lab.
SPPS and Belwin Conservancy celebrate the partnership. From left: David Hartwell, Lucy Hartwell, David Bennett (SPPS Superintendent), Dave Frye (SPPS Associate Superintendent), Bob Matson, Unknown, Charlie Bell, Unknown, Unknown, Curman Gaines (SPPS assistant superintendent), Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, Sharon Eaton (SPPS Belwin Director).Education Center, 1970s.Belwin’s adaptive program was one of the first in the nation to offer students with special needs opportunities to explore nature (historic photo).
