Cannon River Watershed Habitat Protection and Restoration Program - Phase 13

The Cannon River Watershed Habitat Protection and Restoration Program - Phase 13 will continue to protect, restore, and create public access opportunities to high-quality habitat lands throughout the Cannon River Watershed. It will increase the amount of restored habitat on public lands available for hunting and angling within an easy drive for over half of Minnesota's population.

Located south of the Twin Cities, the 1,460 square mile Cannon River Watershed includes over 800 linear miles of streams and rivers that drain a diverse landscape. This area has seen increased development pressure due to the transportation ease of the I-35 corridor and the attraction of the Cannon Lakes, and much of this area has already suffered fragmentation and habitat loss. Historically comprising a mosaic of habitats, including prairie, oak savanna, and Big Woods, the watershed is now dominated by agricultural fields and, to a lesser extent, urban development. Agricultural practices and shoreline development are the major contributors to the impaired status of stretches of the Cannon River and its associated lakes and streams.

Part of a multi-year, multi-partner strategy, this program streamlines the coordination of protecting and restoring targeted parcels of land that positively contribute to large complexes of forests, restored prairies, wetlands, lakeshore, and river shoreline. Since 1990, Clean River Partners has been the local expert of the watershed, and will coordinate this program, providing program administration and landowner outreach. Fee-title acquisitions led by The Trust for Public Land (TPL) will target large wetland/upland complexes, rare biomes (prairie, oak savanna, and Big Woods forest), shallow lakes, river shoreline, and lands adjacent to existing public land. TPL will convey lands to the DNR except when local governmental unit ownership is appropriate. Ongoing partnerships are critical in identifying priority conservation opportunities and protection strategies for the existing high biodiversity areas.

Parcels targeted for enhancement will be evaluated by Great River Greening (GRG) in collaboration with MN DNR, County and USFWS personnel to determine existing and desired conditions for each site. Information gathered will be used to develop site specific work plans for enhancing ecologically desired habitats. Project management plans will detail the methods, practices and a timeline for successful completion of each site/project. Practices could include invasive species removal, controlled burning, chemical treatment, reseeding and/or plug planting, tree stand thinning, wetland hydrology restoration, and shoreline revetments using native materials. Enhancements will be aimed at improving habitat and protecting water quality for the benefit of all wildlife and human communities.

In recent years, collaboration among partners has accelerated local awareness and created strong and growing interest in land protection and habitat restoration opportunities. Continuing our collaboration and building on this momentum, we seek to increase capacity to deliver permanent land protection and habitat improvement opportunities to protect well-connected functional forests, prairies, wetlands, lakeshores, and river shorelines that sustain and enhance native species and provide high quality outdoor recreation experiences.