Valley Creek

The Meadowlark
Spring, 2010

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As soon as you see it, you know that Valley Creek is special. Its waters flow as clear as glass, cold and fast all year long. It supports a healthy and self-sustaining trout population and is home to at least 20 rare and threatened species. There aren’t many streams left like Valley Creek, and very few so close to major metropolitan area like the Twin Cities.

Valley Creek’s small and tight watershed is the result of the same glacial forces that created the Saint Croix River Valley over 10,000 years ago. At that time, Glacial Lake Duluth drained catastrophically from the north and dug the valley that we see today. So too did the small streams in this area such as Valley Creek carve their way through the bedrock to meet the river. Valley Creek today drains a small 14 square mile basin, much of which is laid before you when you walk out the back door of the education center.

Valley Creek Thanks in part to this small, steep basin, Valley Creek has been spared some of the challenges faced by other nearby streams. Combined with a flow largely derived from springs, Valley Creek remains clean, clear and reliable. In fact, it was this reliability that first made Valley Creek famous.

History

For a state that built its fortunes on milling, Valley Creek holds a unique place in Minnesota’s history. It was here in about 1845 that Lemule Bolles constructed the first commercial flour mill in Minnesota. The Bolles Mill was constructed of timber collected from the shore of the St. Croix River and hauled to a site on Valley Creek just downstream of the Belwin Conservancy’s preserve. The mill had a ninefoot water wheel powered from a millrace – parts of which still exist today. The mill could produce about 50 barrels of flour in a day.

The creek was at the time called ‘Bolles Creek’ and not long after Lemule constructed his mill, his uncle Erastus Bolles built a blacksmith shop nearby. The small settlement that developed nearby was in turn known as Valley Creek.

From this meager beginning, the milling industry in Minnesota exploded. Giant companies in Minneapolis built their fortunes on the agricultural bounty of the Midwest including most notably General Mills, forged in 1928 by James Ford Bell.

It is fitting that Charlie Bell, James Ford Bell’s son and a former president of General Mills himself, was drawn to this place in Afton. Unlike Lemule Bolles, Charlie saw Valley Creek not through the eyes of a miller, but of a conservationist. When he first came here in the 1950s, Valley Creek was already widely known as a jewel.

Much of the land that Charlie bought in the 1950s and 1960s he later dedicated to the Belwin Conservancy. Although much larger now, the Belwin Conservancy’s preserve is still focused on the Valley Creek watershed and protecting it remains one of our top priorities. Preserving Valley Creek

When agriculture in the Valley Creek watershed was at its peak in the early to mid 1900s, the creek suffered. Massive soil erosion from a denuded landscape and the rise of agricultural chemicals changed the creek for the worse. The Valley Branch Watershed District was founded in the 1960s with the specific task of restoring and maintaining the water quality of the stream. According to John Hanson, their District Engineer and Administrator, as the land use in the area has changed, so has the status of Valley Creek. The stream banks have been largely stabilized and the quality of the stream has improved.

Today, it is our job to make sure that the creek continues on that road to recovery; it won’t happen on its own. Continuing development pressure, even with the downturn in the housing market, threatens everything that makes Valley Creek what it is. Increased runoff and reduced groundwater recharge are both consequences of the type of development occurring today.

Thanks to the relatively small drainage area and reliance on groundwater we have an excellent chance to preserve this jewel forever. We can do this by taking advantage of conservation opportunities and by working with the many dedicated landowners along the creek.

Snapping Turtle Since 2008, the Belwin Conservancy has been working with several other organizations including the Conservation Fund, the Minnesota Land Trust, Trout Unlimited, Washington County and the Valley Branch Watershed District as part of the Valley Creek Protection Partnership. This unique collaborative is bringing together the unique skills of all our organizations to protect more land in the watershed.

To date, this partnership has played an important role in helping us to protect the Wilson property, the Metcalf parcel, and the Steltzner property before it. Thanks to the support of our members, we were able to leverage the partnership and protect these properties forever.

We were also very excited that in 2009, the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council awarded the Valley Creek Protection Partnership $1,200,000 to help with protection in this system. We are working together on several projects with local landowners that we hope will have a huge impact on the future health of this stream.

Brook Lamprey & Sculpin Last summer, the Valley Branch Watershed District conducted a fish survey of the creek and found a healthy variety of trout, sculpin and the threatened brook lamprey (not to worry – it’s native and doesn’t suck anything’s blood!). For several years now, a team of entomologists have been coming to the Belwin Conservancy to collect midges, small flies, in the midst of their emergence in February. These fascinating insects have possibly not yet been described by science and their winter activity puts them in a very unique club among insects.

This is unquestionably a special place. Valley Creek’s importance to scientists, historians, and everyone who knows it is undisputed. That is why the Belwin Conservancy and our members are working so hard with like-minded agencies and organizations to protect it. Together we will make sure this amazing stream is still amazing for generations to come.