Hennepin County Habitat Conservation Program, Phase 1
Hennepin County Habitat Conservation Program (HCP) partners successfully completed work with the Phase 1 / ML 2018 OHF appropriation. HCP permanently protected 179 acres of land through six conservation easement projects, exceeding protection goals by 19 acres. HCP accomplished nearly 10 acres of restoration and 162 acres of enhancement, exceeding original habitat improvement goals by 101 acres.
HPC expended 96% of the grant and leveraged the grant at 99% of the goal. Projects resulted in $211,000 of donated conservation easement value from private landowners, $114,000 from Hennepin County to fund long-term stewardship, and $292,000 from Hennepin County
HCP focused on protecting, restoring and enhancing the best remaining natural areas in Hennepin County. HCP employed in-depth modeling tools to identify focus areas for outreach. Projects were evaluated based on criteria established by the HCP team; the best available data was used to evaluate projects, with a focus on expanding existing protected lands and corridors. The Hennepin County Natural Resource Strategic Plan and the MN DNR Wildlife Action Plan (2015-2025) provided strategic guidance. More detail is provided in the Selection Criteria document uploaded into the final report.
Through this grant, MLT protected 179 acres of high-priority habitat through conservation easements; these easements are co-held by MLT and HC. HC and MLT also restored 10 acres and enhanced 162 acres of habitat, 137% of the original goal. An additional 18 acres of R/E work was completed on easement projects closed under this grant and not reported as acres toward R/E goals. Brief summaries of the work completed under this grant are provided below (see project summary sheets for more information).
Restoration/Enhancement:
Forest Systems: Habitat improvement efforts included forest enhancements at three Little Long Lake easements (two of which closed under this grant; one which closed under phase 2), and four RIM easements held by BWSR. A forest restoration occurred on the Lake Sarah (Slavec) easement co-held by MLT and HC.
Prairie Systems: Prairie restoration was accomplished at the Prairie Hill (Clark) easement which closed under this grant and three protected properties in the Minnesota River Valley. Prairie enhancements occurred across six RIM easements held by BWSR and at River Park in Brooklyn Park. Prairie enhancement and wetland restoration was completed at Hennepin County's Medina Public Works Facility.
Land Protection:
HCP protected six properties through conservation easements including:
- Little Long Lake Complex: Three conservation easements totaling 76 acres were completed that together expand upon 950 acres of existing public and private land connecting Gale Woods Farm to Kingswood Park.
- Little Long Lake (Staunton): This 19-acre property consists of Big Woods forest, wetlands, and 1,563 feet of shoreline along an intermittent stream and a pond.
- Little Long Lake (Inglis): This 21-acre property protects 1,615 feet of shoreline along South Little Long Lake and high-quality Big Woods forest and tamarack swamp.
- Little Long Lake (Flatten): A 36-acre property contains Big Woods forest, restored prairie, tamarack swamp, and undeveloped shoreline along Little Long Lake.
Lake Independence (White): This 46-acre property consists of Big Woods forest, willow swamp and shoreline along Lake Independence, oak forest, and cattail marsh along Pioneer Creek. It is located on Lake Independence opposite Baker Park Reserve.
Lake Independence (Kirwin-McGray): This 19-acre property protects wetlands and an oak savanna with large, open-grown oak trees, Big Woods forest, and restored grasslands adjacent to 91 acres of land permanently protected by state-held RIM conservation easements.
Prairie Hill (Clark): A 38-acre property primarily consisting of wetlands, forest, and grassland. It is in the Six Mile Creek-Halsted Bay subwatershed at the headwaters of Minnehaha
$1,514,000 the second year is to the commissioner of natural resources for an agreement with Hennepin County, in cooperation with Minnesota Land Trust, to acquire permanent conservation easements and to restore and enhance habitats in Hennepin County. Of this amount, $194,000 is to Hennepin County and $1,320,000 is to Minnesota Land Trust. Up to $192,000 to Minnesota Land Trust is for establishing 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 permanent conservation easements and restorations and enhancements must be provided as part of the required accomplishment plan.
HCP projects protected and improved habitat for Species of Greatest Conservation need (SGCN), sites of biodiversity significance, native plant communities, and rare features.
Easement projects protected significant tracts of remaining maple-basswood "Big Woods" forest, oak savannas, prairies, rich fens, tamarack bogs, lake shore, and wetlands. These habitats are critically essential habitat for a variety of SGCN. Biological monitoring activities have already documented over 139 species of wildlife utilizing easements acquired through this grant including 93 birds, 9 herptiles, 13 mammals, 11 species of butterfly, and 13 dragonflies. The federally endangered rusty-patch bumblebee and other SGCN such as, grasshopper sparrow, red-shouldered hawk, veery, chimney swift, northern harrier, sedge wren, black-billed cuckoo, trumpeter swan, bobolink, American kestrel, common loon, wood thrush, belted kingfisher, American white pelican, eastern towhee, purple martin, American woodcock, dickcissel, field sparrow, brown thrasher, and golden-winged warbler.
Lands protected through easement under this grant also benefit SGCN and listed species by protecting water quality, shoreland, and rare habitats. Several easements acquired under this grant are located in the headwaters of Minnehaha creek, protecting clean source water to some of the county's most significant water features. Several easements buffer lakes including Little Long Lake, one of the cleanest lakes in the Metro, and Lake independence. Several easements also protect rich fens and bogs. These habitats are rare in Hennepin County and represent some of the most southernly examples of these systems in MN. Several rare aquatic plant and animal occurrences are documented near these easements.
These easement projects also add to existing complexes of protected lands in the county, including those around Kingswood Park, Gale Woods Farm, and Baker Park Reserve, preventing further habitat fragmentation in areas experiencing intense development pressures.
Additionally, habitat enhancement projects to improve remnant Big Woods included activities to reduce non-indigenous species and improve plant diversity of several forest areas designated as a Minnesota Biological Survey Sites of Biodiversity Significance. Furthermore, enhancements along the Minnesota River Valley focused on improving nearly 30 acres of the last remaining native bluff prairie in Hennepin County. These bluff prairies protect rare pollinators as well as kittentails (state threatened).
City of Eden Prairie, Hennepin County and Landowner Donation