Roseville Phase II Wildlife Habitat Restoration

Roseville proposes to conduct habitat enhancement activities at four discovery parks totaling 361 acres to further improve and diversity wildlife habitat. Sites include Central Park/Bennett Lake, Acorn Park, Pioneer Park, and Reservoir Woods. Habitat enhancement activities will further improve the quality of the following natural community types: oak forest, oak savanna, prairie, emergent wetland, shrub carr, wet meadow, and shallow lake shoreline. These habitats support remnant plant communities that are rare for an urban core area (within 3.5 miles of downtown St. Paul). Habitat will be improved for game species (especially wood duck), nongame species (birds and pollinators), as well as improve shoreline and lake buffer habitat in Bennett Lake (a MN DNR kids Fishing In the Neighborhood lake). In 2002, the City of Roseville conducted a city-wide park system natural areas inventory and management planning project. The projects proposed in this grant represent the next phase in a systematic approach to accomplishing priority projects identified in the Parks Natural Resources Management Plan. Many residents have contacted the City and expressed strong support for restoration of rare remnant natural communities in the park system, Residents have approved funding and are actively engaged in partnering with the City to conduct natural areas restoration and citizen-scientist monitoring of natural resources/wildlife through the City?s Volunteer Stewardship Network program.