Founding member of Fergus Falls area trail passes away

By Tom Hintgen

Otter Tail County Correspondent

Roger Rustad, who died Sept. 26, was a founding father of the Fergus Falls Fish and Game Club’s One Mile Lake Prairie and Walking Trail. This family-friendly loop is part of 143 acres just east of Fergus Falls, north of Highway 210 and within the city limits.

“Roger was the club member who came across property for sale on the eastern edge of town, in the late 1980s, eventually acquired and used by hundreds of people from Otter Tail County each year,” said Mick Siems who has served as president of the Fergus Falls Fish and Game Club.

Rustad, noted Siems, had a vision of what the property could become. He was right on target, with not only a walking trail. Also available for visitors is a tallgrass prairie, wildflowers, ducks, geese and beautiful views from the walking trail. This allows visitors to see wetlands, downtown Fergus Falls in the distance, the nearby Central Lakes Trail (formerly used as railway tracks) and DeLagoon Park, to the south near Pebble Lake.

“The vision of Roger, also fulfilled, was that our fish and game club would also work with area schools to make sure that young people have the opportunity to enjoy being in the great outdoors on our 143-acre prairie and its walking trail,” Siems added. “We want visitors to appreciate the diversity of plant and animal life that inhabit nature’s prairie grasslands.”

Rustad, who was 91 when he died, covered all the bases in learning about how best to establish the One Mile Lake Prairie and Walking Trail. He sought advice from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

True to form, Rustad kept detailed notes for fellow members of the local fish and game club. Today the fish and game club’s prairie and walking trail also is connected to Minnesota’s North Country Trail, to the north and to the south.

In recent years Rustad, Siems and fellow fish and game club members received many conservation awards. Among them was the 2014 award from the Minnesota Chapter of The Wildlife Society. This award has been presented every year since 1985 to organizations that have exemplified outstanding commitments to Minnesota’s natural resources.