10/02/2006 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 contribute to the decline of this species include wetland drainage and degradation, development on upland nesting areas, and possibly collection for the pet trade. In addition, because of the tendency for Blanding's Turtles to travel long distances over land, they are often forced to cross roads in developed areas. Many of the records we have of Blanding's Turtles are from turtles killed crossing roads. For your information, I have attached a fact sheet and a flyer about the Blanding's Turtle. The fact sheet is intended to provide you with background information regarding habitat use, life history, and reasons for the species' decline, as well as recommendations for avoiding and minimizing impacts to this rare turtle. As you will note, there are two lists of recommendations. The first list contains recommendations to prevent harm to turtles during construction work, and is relative to all areas inhabited by Blanding's Turtles. The second column expands on the first column, and contains greater protective measures to be considered for areas known to be of state -wide importance to Blanding's Turtles. Because your project is within one of these areas, please refer to both list of recommendations. The flyer, which should be given to all contractors working in the area, contains an illustration and description of the Blanding's Turtle, as well as a summary of the recommendations provided in the fact sheet. Please note that the majority of the project area is within an area identified as a Regionally Significant Ecological Area (RSEA). In 2003 the DNR Central Region, in partnership with the Metropolitan Council, conducted this landscape -scale assessment of the seven - county metro area that identified ecologically significant terrestrial and wetland areas. The mapping of RSEAs was done using two primary data sources. The first data source was native plant communities mapped by the Minnesota County Biological Survey. The remaining areas were derived using a modeling process that predicts the likelihood that high quality native animal habitats exist in a contiguous area. GIS shapefiles of the RSEAs are available on the DNR's data deli website at http: / /deli.dnr.state.mn.us (referred to as "Twin Cities Metro Regionally Significant Ecological Areas)." To view pdf versions of the final RSEA maps, ref ^r to http:// www. dnr.state.mn.us /rsea/index.html . If you would like help interpreting the data, contact Hannah Texler, Regional Plant Ecologist, at 651 -772 -7570 or hannah.texler @dnr.state.mn.us The Natural Heritage database is maintained by the Natural Heritage and Nongame Research Program, a unit within the Division of Ecological Services, Department of Natural Resources. It is continually updated as new information becomes available, and is the most complete source of data on Minnesota's rare or otherwise significant species, native plant communities, and other natural features. Its purpose is to foster better understanding and protection of these features. Because our information is not based on a comprehensive inventory, there may be rare or otherwise significant natural features in the state that are not represented in the database. A county -by- county survey of rare natural features is now underway, and has been completed for Anoka County. Our information about native plant communities is, therefore, quite thorough for that county. However, because survey work for rare plants and animals is less exhaustive, and because there has not been an on -site survey of all areas of the county, ecologically significant features for which we have no records may exist on the project area. Because our information is not based on a comprehensive inventory, there may be rare or otherwise significant natural features in the state that are not represented in the database. A county -by- county survey of rare natural features is now underway, but has not been completed for Anoka County. Therefore ecologically significant features for which we have no records may exist on the project area. The enclosed results of the database search are provided in two formats: index and full record. To control the release of locational information which might result in the damage or destruction of a rare element, both printout formats are copyrighted.