Posted December 27, 2025
The Town of River Falls Park Committee oversees the maintenance and safety of all the parks that rest inside the town of River Falls, which include Anderson Park, Birch Cliff Park, Halverson Park, Hillwood Park, Rocky Branch Park, South Ridge Park and South Valley Park.
The committee relies on volunteer efforts and contributions from its members to ensure the parks remain clean, functional and safe for public use.
Four members of the committee provided firsthand information about a recent incident involving a trail dispute in the parks. Among them were Chair Garrett Gill and Co-Chair Brad LaBadie, who also serves as a park ranger for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in St. Paul. Board members Mary Foster and Greg Elliot also shared insights into the situation.
According to Chair Garrett Gill, the committee has been actively working on improvements at Birch Cliff Park.
“We’ve been working on Birch Cliff Park and are developing a new trail to the top of this park. The town has had this park for close to 30 years and we haven’t done anything with it because of it being on the top of a hill, it’s hard to get to,” Gill explained. “We were building this path to the top, and one of the nearby landowners didn’t appreciate the trail and thought it was on his land.”
The landowner reportedly posted a threatening message on social media, which Gill and Foster said included the statement, “I’ll shoot anybody on the property.” The message was angry and hostile. LaBadie commented on the intensity of the post, joking, “He must’ve been typing with his knuckles.”
Following the incident, the committee notified local authorities. Both the police and the town chair visited the landowner to address the threatening remarks. According to the committee, the homeowner appeared apologetic upon learning more about the situation. It was also confirmed that the trail in question is located entirely on town property and not on private land.
Committee member Greg Elliot noted that the threatening post has since been removed from Facebook, and Mary Foster added that the situation has been “amicably resolved.”
The article may be found online at https://uwrfjournalism.org/2025/12/landowners-threat-prompts-police-response-in-river-falls-park-dispute/.