Welcome to the Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom's Advisory Committee site 


How did an forgotten, trash strewn, buckthorn infested, random bike trail riddled woodland become an outdoor learning area?  A group of local neighbors and St. Paul Park and Recreation worked together to make this amazing transformation happen.  The Como Woodland is now a place for you to explore and study, listen to birds, see a fox, take a photo of a wildflower in the spring, and learn about this history and story behind Como Park and the Woodland. 

Come see for yourself and explore the trails! download a map to find the woodland within larger Como Park.

If you're a teacher, bring your students to listen, write, draw, study, collect data, have a quiet space.   For teachers bringing students, the first step is to request a free permit at 651-266-6400.  These FREE permits will help to track numbers and activities for grant reporting and maintain an appropriate level of use for the environmental health and sustainability of the outdoor classroom.

Be part of this continuing transformation.  Here are ways you can be involved:

  • There are both ongoing and periodic volunteer activities to help control the invasive species and assist with planting desired species.  
  • Join the Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom Advisory Committee.  Members of this committee provide advice to St. Paul Park and Recreation on the maintenance and ongoing restoration of the woodland, they help plan and volunteer at restoration and special events, and they help teachers get started in an outdoor classroom experience for their students.
  • Do you have interpretive or science skills?  Can you ID birds, trees, flowers, or butterfies?  Because there is no dedicated paid staff to lead students and teachers that visit the Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom, your skills and time could be valuable.  Contact the Como Woodland Advisory Committee Chair and that person will help you get connected.

CURRENT NEWS AND EVENTS

Shout Out to the Master Naturalists
The Como Woodland Advisory Committee would like to thank the current class of Master Naturalists for including the Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom in their capstone projects again this year - great work!

Upcoming Nature tour: Interesting Insects of Summer – August  20, 11PM to 12:30PM
Mark your calendar and check back here for details.

Wrap-up Como Woodland is for the Birds – June Nature Tour.  Saturday, June 18, 2022
We had a beautiful day on the morning of the tour. Fourteen people were in attendance including four CWAC members.  The Como Woodland has long supported those birds that are just passing through on migration, those birds that stay for the breeding season, and those year-round resident birds that call this urban oasis home.  Many thanks to Joan McKearnan, professor of biology & environmental science, Anoka-Ramsey Community College and Britt Forsberg, University of Minnesota Extension Educator for offering their talents to guide the tour.

Early Summer Message to Como Woodland EcoStewards
Edited message June-14-22 from Volunteer Coordinator, Tricia.Wehrle@ci.stpaul.mn.us  June 14, 2022
Hello! I hope everyone is staying cool today, it finally feels like we are in summer.
 A few quick reminders/notes: You can get out there and start spiking first year burdock; You can clip off any seed heads of 2nd year burdock if you see them.
Any more Garlic Mustard? If you see it please keep on bagging them; If we need more bags please let us know.  Please keep weeds and trash separate since we bring your weeds to the compost site it cannot have trash in it.  It looked like some buckthorn was being either pulled or cut - we ask that volunteers do not cut or pull buckthorn in the park (staff that are certified will go and cut and treat it so it does not come back).  Hmong Freedom Festival: The event will be happening on July 2 and 3rd [and] the fence will start being installed on Monday; June 27th and will start being taken down around July 5th; If you are looking for a break this is a good time to do so as it is hard to get around CWOC once the fence is installed.  Thank you again for all you do! Please let me know if you need anything from me."  Tricia

Wrap-up: City Nature Challenge 2022 in CWOC and Twin Cities from April 29 to May 2
Thanks to all who participated in this year's event.  Since 2016, the City Nature Challenge has grown from a friendly competition to a global celebration of urban biodiversity.  By documenting the plants and animals that live nearby, you have contributed to a vast data set that will help inform conservation decisions.  The final numbers of observations for our 13 county area and the Como Woodland area will be identified and posted on the iNaturalist website.  Visit https://www.inaturalist.org. to learn more as the iNaturalist community helps identify your observations.  There's also the project for CWOC that a Master Naturalist created as a capstone project: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/como-woodland-outdoor-classroom

Wrap-up: Explore the Nature of Winter at the Como Woodland
This, our first winter tour event, was held on a cold, windy afternoon on Feb 19, 2022.  Many thanks to Susan Jane, Joan, Britt, Lisa, Laura, and Elizabeth for leading the 21 hardy attendees through the Como Woodland.  Trees and bees, prairie plants and paw prints were all pointed out and discussed by our winter nature guides.  But the highlight of this tour was hearing coyotes howling back to a passing fire truck siren and later seeing those two coyotes in the woodland.  And fire-toasted s’mores were the warm ending to a very cool winter adventure. 
We're already planning our next Nature Tours for June 18 and August 20, so check back,

Como Woodland's Free Self-guided Educational System Open to the Public
CWOC is open for use all year long.  Teachers and public citizens are encouraged to use the Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom pathway guide post system located at our 17-acre CWOC site in Como Park. There are QR coded posts which link you to lessons in local natural history and human history throughout the site.  Onsite visitors can access an abbreviated CWOC guidebook with a smartphone that is loaded with a QR code reader app or from SPPR website: CW guide QR code update.  You can also access our online book formatted version of Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom Guidebook: www.stpaul.gov/sites/default/files/Media%20Root/Parks%20%26%20Recreation/CWOC_Guidebook_March2017.pdf
Please adhere to current COVID-19 safety required by the City of Saint Paul:  stpaul.gov/parks-covid19
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New Story Map of Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom https://tinyurl.com/CWOCstorymap.
For those of you looking for a quick overview of the Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom Guidebook and information posts, check out the new Story Map; Thank you, project Advisor, Britt Forsberg, for putting that together for us.

​LAST YEAR'S EVENTS WRAP UP AND NEWS 

Saint Paul Audubon Sponsored Brush Hauling Event Report on October 23, 2021.
From Maggie Barnick, SPPR Natural Resources Tech: "The brush hauling event with Audubon went great! NR staff cut buckthorn and other invasive or diseased/dying small diameter trees from three areas of the outdoor classroom: the two oak savannas, and the tallgrass prairie. Volunteers hauled approximately 33 cubic yards of woody debris in about an hour and a half of time. After that, we spread native seed mixes designed for each area (oak savanna, tallgrass prairie, and we also seeded the short grass prairie with a specific mix as well!). Seed was all collected at other volunteer events.  I believe we had just under 15 volunteers. It was a great morning to get out!"  Thank you, volunteers, Saint Paul Audubon, and Natural Resources staff.

Advisory Committee Pop-up Seed Collection Outing in Como Woodland on October 22, 2021.
Project Advisors Teri, Joan, and Deb harvested sends from Cutleaf Coneflowers, Side Oats Grama, and Big Bluestem from Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom's Tallgrass Prairie, Shortgrass Prairie, and Wet Forest plant communities.  The seeds will later be sown or propagated and planted to increase plant diversity for wildlife and pollinators.

Autumn Worm Survey Results in Como Woodland on October 2021.
Project Advisors Joan McKearnan (and Deb Robinson)  conducted worms surveys in CWOC on 2 October and 8 October. 
Joan's report: "We had tried [on Oct. 2] at two of the propagation garden beds and in the wet forest and got no worms and only a couple in the wet forest, so we decided that perhaps it would be better to wait until it was a little dryer.  On Oct. 8, surveyed in five locations and recorded the following results with 1/2 gallon pours of mustard water: Propagation Garden Bed in one of the eastern beds  - 0 worms;  Propagation Garden Bed in one of the western beds - 2 worms probably epigeic, but not Amynthas worms;  Wet Forest - 10 worms (2 Lumbricus terrestris, others unknown, no Amynthas);  Oak Savannah (northwest of fireplace where we had planted earlier in the summer) - 6 worms, no Amynthas);  Oak Woodlands - 15 worms (several Lumbricus terrestris, no Amynthas)
   *Conclusions: It is best to sample when it hasn't rained on the same day; The propagation garden seems to have a low population of worms at the surface which means you will not be spreading more when you transplant plants: Jumping worms (Amynthas sp.) have not invaded CWOC yet, at least where we sampled."

Saint Paul Parks Conservancy honors Como Woodland Advisory Committee on their Volunteer Recognition page:  https://www.saintpaulparksconservancy.org/2021/05/volunteer-spotlight-como-woodland-advisors/

2021 Como Woodland August Nature Tour Wrap-up 
On the morning of August 21we had 20 people attending this 2-hour educational/informational tour.  Many thanks to Como Woodland Advisor guides Joan McKearnan, Britt Forsberg, Teri Heyer, Lisa Held, Susan Jane Cheney, Deb Robinson, and Gary Banks who shared their time and knowledge about CWOC's plants, pollinators, birds, animal tracks, project history, and site documentation.  Any inquiries about this event contact Deb at: dmrobinsoncwoc@gmail.com  

2021 City Nature Challenge in the Como Woodland Wrap-up  Observations were done on April 30 - May 3.
Edited report from CW Advisor, Britt Forsberg: "Overall, Minneapolis/St. Paul did well this year; 6618 observations, 969 species, 643 observers . . Each of those is higher than last year (although it went from the 11 county metro to the 13 county metro) . . .
The iNaturalist project page is here.  There's also the project for CWOC that a Master Naturalist created as a capstone project.”  
And, clearly, Joan Brandwein is the top iNaturalist observer at the Como Woodland, and she is a very good photographer of those nature observations.  Thank you for taking part in this citizen science bioblitz-style competition between cities around the world, which is a contest to see which city can make the highest number of nature observations and which city can engage the highest number of people.  
​City Nature Challenge website: https://citynaturechallenge.org  Download the free iNaturalist app: https://www.inaturalist.org

Shared Pictures from the Como Woodland 
Visitors photos are posted on our Natural Resources Tour page.
http://www.comowoodlandoutdoorclassroom.org/natural-resource-tour1.html

ARCHIVAL EVENTS AND NEWS

National Lands Day Seed Collection Event in CWOC recap  Held on Saturday afternoon, September 26, 2020.
This was yet another Seed Squad event that filled quickly to our 25 person limit.  We harvested native seeds from Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom plant communities;   Preregistration was required through SPPR Natural Resources: signup page.  Thanks to all who participated!

Como Woodland Summer Open House recap  
Five family groups joined us for the Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom Summer Open House on Saturday morning August 22, 2020. 
Como Woodland Advisory Committee members hosted the event.  Susan Jane Cheney & Deb Robinson started the visitors with the QR coded guidebook and gave a project overview; Britt Forsberg covered Prairie plants and pointed out pollinators;Teri Heyer covered Oak plant communities; Joan McKearnan covered birds and Wet Forest plant community.  That morning there was a lot to see: many fall warblers had dropped in to refuel,  chipmunks were busy fighting over acorns, our resident doe with now-grown fawn made an appearance, and lots insect pollinators were enjoying the wildflowers.  We hope our human visitors share their Como Woodland nature sightings on iNaturalist (iNaturalist.org).

Yearlong Bird Survey Update  From January 2019 to February 2020
Thank you, Michael MacDonald and the many talented birders, who have generously volunteered countless hours to update the bird count for both the Como Woodland area and the Como Lake area, the yearlong count is done. The summary data for the Como Woodland bird count is: Total number of bird species seen - 86; Number of individual birds seen - 1,264; Most sighted bird species - American Robin; 24 species were only sighted once.  Summary report: Como Park 2019 Bird Survey Summary 
Full final report for Bird Survey:  http://www.district10comopark.org/uploads/como_park_bird_survey_2019_report.pdf 
District 10 article with Excel doc. pdf of 2006 and 2019 survey : http://www.district10comopark.org/bird_sightings_in_the_park_soar.html

Seed Squad Volunteers Como Woodland  On September 19, 2019.
There were 15 volunteers for this year's drop-in seed collecting event in CWOC, and the volunteers worked so hard that we finished early.  We collected seeds from grey coneflowers and several grasses in Como Woodland's two prairie areas.  Those seeds will be propagated and planted in the 2020 growing season to increase plant diversity for wildlife and pollinators in Como Woodland and other natural parkland in St. Paul.  This Seed Squad event was organized by our partners in the Saint Paul Parks & Recreation Natural Resources Department.  

City Nature Challenge in the Como Woodland & Beyond  The 2019 City Nature Challenge took place April 26 - 29. For the metro area we had 5,600 observations, which broke last year's numbers of 3,358 nature observations submitted to iNaturalist website (iNaturalist.org).  At the CWOC site we had 75 participants that made over 75 observations.  The City Nature Challenge is an annual international effort to find and document plants and wildlife in cities across the globe. It’s a bioblitz-style competition worldwide to see who can make the most observations, find the most species, and engage the most people.  It was a wonderful weekend for aspiring citizen scientists, nature and science fans, and people of all ages and science backgrounds to observe and submit pictures of plants, animals, and fungi across the world.


EcoStewards Take on Invasive Plants in the Como Woodland  In the first year (2015) ten EcoStewards put in an impressive 135 hours of volunteer time working on invasive plant control and removal in Como Woods.  While there they also saw and heard birds and someone even found a puff ball mushroom as big as a football.  In 2019 we are up to 14 active EcoStewards volunteering in the CWOC, but we could always use more help.  For more information about how to become an EcoSteward go to: http://www.stpaul.gov/index.aspx?NID=5296
READ MORE...
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For EcoStewards - Invasive Species Survey  Need to take a quick look at the Step Method of sampling invasive species?  It's posted on this website (Tools for Educators - Environmental Ed Resources page).  When you are at your Como Woodland site: copies of the Step Method and Survey Datas Sheets can be obtained from the locked Tool Cache Box (forgot the combo? contact the Volunteer Coordinator, Tricia Wehrle).

Wrap-up of Dedication of Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom  It's worth remembering that fine Spring day five years ago when we gathered together with students, teachers, Como Woodland Advisors, and dignitaries – all had assisted in bringing the CWOC project to fruition in one way or another and contributed to the project’s success.  It was a day to celebrate the Dedication of the Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom (CWOC) on May 20, 2015.  READ MORE...
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