Beginning on July 27, contractors will start work on a project to rehabilitate the two bridges along the paved trail in the Upper Arboretum.

Check out two new Carleton Digital Collections – Dime Novels and Cowling Arboretum.

Carleton has received a $10,000 grant from the Xcel Energy Foundation to fund its “Natural Science in Natural Lands: Improving the Carleton Arboretum” project. The grant will fund the College's new project, which will heighten the educational and recreational value of the Cowling Arboretum. The grant will help provide training for Arboretum staff on state-of-the-art restoration methods, will increase opportunities to participate in restoration activities for everyone on campus and in Northfield, and provide new signs to help visitors enjoy the Arboretum.

Carleton invites members of the community to participate in a volunteer work event to remove invasive buckthorn and honeysuckle in the College’s Cowling Arboretum on Saturday, April 18. Volunteers will meet on the paved trail at the bridge over Spring Creek, just off the intersection of Oak and Second Streets at 9 a.m.

New for 2009 - Arboretum Bird Checklist. Just in time for spring migration, we are happy to provide a checklist for the birds of the Carleton College Arboretum ...

A recent visitor to the Carleton College made Arboretum staff take notice. Not for any particular celebrity status, but that the visitor had been absent for 78 years!  Owen McMurtrey ‘12 spotted the long lost visitor recently and rushed back to campus to report his find to the Minnesota Ornithological Union – the organization that tracks bird sightings in the state.

Details regarding the Fall Mushroom Field Trip.

The Carleton College Cowling Arboretum will host “An Evening on the Prairie,” Tuesday, August 26, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Led by Nancy Braker, director of the Cowling Arboretum, the event is free and open to the public.

Along with Waterford Township, Carleton has announced a plan for the replacement of the iron bridge located over the Cannon River in Waterford. The single-lane bridge was built in 1909 and is number one on the State of Minnesota’s deficient bridge list. The College has agreed to allow its replacement to be built and maintained on about two acres of Carleton land.

Nancy Braker, formerly the director of conservation of Baraboo Hills and western uplands for The Nature Conservancy in Wisconsin and a 1981 graduate of Carleton, has been named the Director of the Cowling Arboretum at Carleton College. Braker is charged with increasing the role of Carleton’s Arboretum in conservation, education, and in the sustainability of its lands. She will manage and develop all of the natural and educational resources within the arboretum, maintain and extend the restoration of native communities, initiate a long-term planning process for the arboretum, supervise arboretum staff and student workers, and maintain the trail system.

From Sept. 20–Oct. 13, 2007, the Upper Arb hosted "The Buckthorn Menace," an environmental art installation. During the course of the project, campus and community volunteers worked with artist Jim Proctor to clear the invasive plant species buckthorn from the installation site and render the plants into large-scale sculptures. The installation will stand for a full year to allow viewing over the four seasons. It will be dismantled in October 2008, and the project sites will then be restored as needed by planting indigenous trees and shrubs.To learn more visit the Buckthorn Menace web site.

The Buckthorn Menace, a large-scale sculptural installation created by Northfield residents and students under the direction of Minneapolis artist Jim Proctor, will open at Carleton College on Saturday, October 13. The community celebration, scheduled from 3 to 5 p.m., will take place at the installation site in the Cowling Arboretum—the “upper arb,” located off the East Second Street entrance to the arboretum. This special event is free and open to the public.