Metro Big Rivers Phase 8
Metro Big Rivers successfully completed work with the Phase 8 / ML2018 OHF appropriation, exceeding amended acreage goals by 16% and completing work on 701 acres. Partners protected 87 acres through fee title acquisition and 199 acres through permanent conservation easement, restored 6 acres and enhanced 409 acres.
MBR 8 expended 97% of the OHF funds granted and leveraged the grant by 60% with over $1.5 million in other funds and landowner donation of easement value.
Brief summaries of work completed under this phase are provided below. More information of all projects is provided in attachments to this final report.
Friends of the Mississippi River (FMR) enhanced habitat at 160 acres at 3 sites, exceeding its original plan of 150 acres. The project sites were William H. Houlton Conservation Area (WHHCA), Cottage Grove Ravine Regional Park and Riverside Park. Due to competitive bids, FMR was able to expand its work area to include 10 additional forest acres at Cottage Grove Ravine Regional Park.
Work at all sites went according to plan and deliverables were either ahead of schedule or on time. At WHHCA, high waters at various times over the last few years made it difficult for contractors to access the floodplain island area and led to higher costs than standard woody removal. Future projects should factor in a higher cost per acre where water levels can affect site access.
Great River Greening (GRG) enhanced 217 acres of prairie, oak savanna, forest and riverine habitat at 8 sites. Project sites were Maple View Open Space, Springbrook Nature Center (Phase 2), Carrol's Woods, Lebanon Hills Regional Park (Phase 2), Valley Park Pollinator Corridor, Minnehaha Creek Knollwood Riparian Corridor, Brown's Creek Open Space and Trout Brook - Afton (Phase 2).
GRG was able to shift funds from an initial project (the watershed district was able to complete the work with other funds) to further the stream re-meander of 2500 feet of Trout Brook - Afton. Initially funded in Metro Big Rivers 7, work continued under this grant and will be completed under Metro Big Rivers 9.
Minnesota Land Trust (MLT) protected 199 acres under permanent conservation easement, exceeding its target deliverables by 69 acres. MLT completed the following easements:
-44-acre Scandia (Hacker), adding to an existing complex of MLT-held conservation easements in Scandia, Washington County, 1.25 miles west of the St. Croix River
-79-acre Keystone Woods (Tschida) and 19-acre Keystone Woods (Rosenquist) in Washington County's Keystone Woods Top 10 Priority Conservation Area
-46-acre Silver Creek (Goodwin) on one of the last large parcels in Washington County's Silver-Twin Lakes Corridor, a Top 10 Priority Conservation Area
-11-acre Oak Lake (Phyllis Wheatley Community Center), adding onto the 72 acres protected under Metro Big Rivers 7.
MLT enhanced 33 acres forest and restored 5 acres prairie over five projects, exceeding deliverables by 3 acres (14 additional acres restored on land protected under this grant are not double-counted). All projects were on lands MLT protected by conservation easement, three in Washington County and one each in Isanti and Sherburne Counties. All were adjacent to waterbodies, including the St. Croix River and Valley Creek, thereby improving habitat and benefit water quality in critical corridors.
Minnesota Valley Trust (MVT) protected 87 priority acres in fee title for the San Francisco Unit of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Restoration of the 36-acre crop field to prairie and wetland was completed with a 2021 Expedited Conservation Program grant. That work continues under Metro Big Rivers 9, along with enhancement of oak savanna, prairie and forest along a creek in the 51-acre wooded part of the property.
$2,630,000 the second year is to the commissioner of natural resources for agreements to acquire lands in fee and permanent conservation easements and to restore and enhance natural systems associated with the Mississippi, Minnesota, and St. Croix Rivers in the metropolitan area. Of this amount, $500,000 is to Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge Trust Inc., $300,000 is to Friends of the Mississippi River, $700,000 is to Great River Greening, and $1,130,000 is to Minnesota Land Trust. Up to $120,000 to Minnesota Land Trust is to establish a monitoring and enforcement fund as approved in the accomplishment plan and subject to Minnesota Statutes, section 97A.056, subdivision 17. A list of proposed land acquisitions and permanent conservation easements must be provided as part of the required accomplishment plan.
Metro Big Rivers projects improved habitat values for wildlife and SGCN, including birds using the Mississippi River migratory corridor, pollinators, wildlife, and an array of rare and endangered species.
FMR restored prairie and forest habitat, including the conversion of crop field to diverse prairie, at 2 sites on the Mississippi and Elk Rivers in Sherburne County. The restoration provides critical habitat for resident and migrant birds (including five SGCNs surveyed post-restoration), native pollinators, and mammals. The sites are partially located in the high potential zone for Rusty Patched bumblebee. Post-restoration surveys documented increases in pollinator abundance and diversity.
GRG worked on public conservation lands to improve habitat values for wildlife and SGCN, including birds using the Mississippi River migratory corridor and pollinators. Work restored and enhanced riverine, forest, oak savanna, prairie, and wetland habitat at 7 conservation sites. Work started at an eighth project site that will be completed with ML2019 Metro Big Rivers phase 9.
MLT protected high quality habitat lying within three "Top 10" priority conservation corridors identified by Washington County, and 1.2 miles of shoreline and associated riparian habitat on Silver Creek, Oak Lake, and several ponds. In addition, MLT restored and enhanced 55 acres of habitat, much of adjacent to streams and rivers, including the St. Croix, Valley Creek, and Silver Creek. These land protection and R/E activities provided habitat for a large number of SGCN.
MVT acquired lands identified through the USFWS Comprehensive Conservation Plan, which prioritizes lands for high biodiversity, connectivity, and ability to preserve habitat for SGCN. MVT's acquisition protected oak savanna, oak basswood forest and a former agricultural field that has subsequently been restored to prairie and wetland.
3M Foundation, 3M, City of Elk River, City and county partners, private foundations, volunteers, Foundation, MVT funds, Private landowner donation of easement value, South Washington Watershed District, City of Rosemount, City of St Louis Park, South Washington Watershed District, Dakota County, Washington Conservation District and Sherburne SWCD