Sedge Meadow Amelioration

The project site is a 1,132-acre wetland/sedge meadow unit, where invasive cattail and willow have encroached. Historically this site was an area of saturated soils filled with sedges, rushes, water-loving grasses, and forbs. Historically more than three-quarters of Minnesota's original wetlands were sedge meadows and were indispensable habitat for plants like lilies, irises, and native orchids. These habitats are now increasingly rare, due largely to direct habitat conversion (e.g., development, agricultural production) and disruption of natural hydrology (e.g., drainage). Therefore, enhancement to this habitat type is of the utmost importance. This is a site that we feel we can keep dry enough to no longer promote cattail growth. The ability to dry the area will also aid in the ability to get equipment in to aerially spray and/or mechanically treat the site. We will be decreasing cattail, willow, phragmites, and reed canary vegetation and converting it to sedge habitat to benefit species like the Le Conte's sparrow, sedge wren, sharp-tailed sparrow, and yellow rail. Post-restoration, this sedge meadow can then be supported by better managing surface and groundwater. Increases in sedge meadow acreage, at the expense of willow, common reed, and reed canary grass, will also have beneficial impacts on nesting habitat for a variety of duck species. Pre-treatment vegetative composition data has been collected as a baseline at a number of locations throughout this unit. This will facilitate the evaluation and quantification of vegetation change post-management.