Woodbury, Minnesota experienced rapid development in the late 1990s and early 2000s, creating a city where some areas now require infrastructure rehabilitation while others are still actively developing. The city worked with Barr Engineering on two parallel planning studies aimed at maintaining, restoring and preserving the natural environment. The first assessed natural areas across 30 large open spaces covering hundreds of acres, producing natural resource management plans that prioritize needs using nine ecological and social criteria. The second evaluated future development areas to identify opportunities for natural resource preservation, regional stormwater management and park amenity placement. The region's agricultural history left woodlands more than 200 years old in areas that were never actively cultivated, and the study sought to front-load ecosystem preservation and stack public amenities before developers are involved. Conducted in tandem across Woodbury's 36-square-mile jurisdiction, both studies will inform future decision-making and feed into the city's 2050 Comprehensive Plan.