01/30/2002 Environmental Board Minutes

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ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING JANUARY 30, 2002 Chair Kukonen stated the information was useful, and was what was needed right now. Ms. Booth responded that the case studies for the information would be the Tree Protection Ordinance and the Landscape Ordinance. Asleson indicated that the Board would be electing two members to sit on a panel for ordinance revision. Ms. Booth stated that the information would result in better Natural Resource Assessments. The Minnesota Landcover Classification SySteti)T:ixe\Feived some of the money dedicated to it and maps made up a large part of th64-'endices. Mr. Husveth stated he worked with Critical Connections Landscape Landscapc IIcology, and •noted that he covered 38,000 acres in Blaine, Ham La.ke7.- es; and Columbus Township. He found 40 rare species withiii the City. Some were significant in the State and had not been seen for .r ears. He was attempting to identify a greenway between the RiA of Lakes and Carlos Avery to guide development.He used thetrandcover Classification System's five levels, with land use as the logeS14.ebased on soil, vegetation, imperviousness and hydrology. An3exeple of Leve 1 was a forest, Level 2 would be a deciduous forest, Level:ifitciduous forest, Level 4 oak forest, and Level 5 was Oak forest dry sub,typt 1t detail, and field checked. The map used standard colors to dep 4'covers. The dark areas were residential and mostly impervi9igkrIgWas forest, brown was herbaceous and wetland areas, the beige .,arfak,„;,,grshrubs, and blue was open water. The second map showed the treecarqpy, and the darkest color was 80-100% land cover. Pely, Ms. Booth stated that earlo cover has been linked with air quality, heat affecting temperatures, ancV4thePfaleto „4. Mr. Husveth pointed third map labeled MLCSS which identified areas of high, niodei-ate, and Iow-tplity in the City, with white showing the areas which no longer signiticance. He credited Asleson with the discovery of the area of wel. meadow with rich fen along the pipeline corridor. He noted an unidentified Oecies of plant was found to be classified as the common name tooth cup and was last sighted in 1987 in Cedar Creek. Special interest sites were a residential area adjacent to the prison that could be a neighborhood project, and an aspen forest in the northwest even though there were no rare species found there. He added that the maps could be overlaid on other maps because of the G.I.S. Asleson stated that Mr. Husveth included notes that gave clarifications and greater detail that the maps could not show. 3