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STAFF REPORT <br />TO:Parks & Recreation Commission <br />FROM:Bryce Shearen, CPRE, Parks & Recreation/Community Services Director <br />DATE:June 1, 2023 <br />RE:Thunder Bay/Westwinds Park Pollinator Update <br />ACTION REQUESTED <br />None. Information update to the Parks and Recreation Commission. <br />BACKGROUND <br />Work continues on the pollinator enhancements efforts along the Thunder Bay/Westwinds Park <br />trail corridor that started after the area was clear-cut by Xcel Energy in the winter of 2018 due to <br />new federal regulations regarding tree height underneath power transmission lines. <br />Staff continues to work closely with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife and the partnership with Great <br />River Greening (that was obtained through a successful grant) on a planting and maintenance <br />plan, prairie restoration, and the creation of a pollinator-friendly corridor along the Thunder <br />Bay/Westwinds Park linear trail. These partnerships are the result of community engagement <br />efforts for how the area could be transformed without planting trees under the transmission lines. <br />Creating these types of habitats takes many years and a lot of monitoring, coordination, <br />planting/seeding events (volunteer and contracted), growing, weeding, and a careful mowing and <br />maintenance plan to make sure the habitat can thrive for years to come. <br />Nicole Menard of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife has prepared the attached summary of the Pollinator <br />Project efforts that were completed in 2022. <br />These efforts will continue through June 2024 with Great River Greening, and staff is also in <br />discussion with them to continue with their expertise in the field into the future so the prairie <br />areas continue to be a premier pollinator-friendly habitat into the future. <br />ATTACHMENTS <br />2022 Pollinator Project Summary PowerPoint