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ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETINGJANUARY 29, 2003 <br />5APPROVED MINUTES <br />Halen made the motion to accept the amended recommendations. Donlin <br />seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. <br />B.Bruggeman Properties, LLC/Rezone/Preliminary Plat/Site Plan <br />Review/CUP/PUD <br />This item was discussed later in the meeting. <br />6.DISCUSSION ITEMS <br />A.Guest Speaker <br />Grundhofer introduced the guest speaker as Rueben Moreno from Colombia who <br />was at Oak Hill Amity teaching the children Spanish and Columbian culture. He <br />would be speaking about environmental issues in Columbia. <br />It was noted that Mr. Moreno was preparing his presentation with the equipment. <br />Grundhofer continued the introduction, indicating that recently she had asked <br />questions about the decline of birds in the area. She had noticed fewer birds than <br />in past years and wrote to Minnesota Ornithology. They responded that with the <br />lack of snow, the birds would rather feed in the fields than at feeders because of <br />predators, in addition to habitat loss throughout the world. She noted that the shy <br />woodthrush had decreased by 80%. She then went to the National Wildlife <br />Federation’s model of migrating from breeding to winter grounds. The osprey <br />example started in Washington then flew to San Diego, through central Mexico, <br />stopped on the West Coast of Colombia, then ended in West Central Bolivia. The <br />warbler went to Peru according to Cornell Lab Ornithology. The condor went to <br />Peru, Ecuador and Colombia and the numbers had dropped drastically. For this <br />reason, Mr. Moreno was asked to present any information he could find that <br />would be helpful. <br />Halen indicated that similar things were happening everywhere. O’Connell added <br />that it was happening with fallen trees, which become habitat for many species. <br />Chair Kukonen recalled he had read information on how to create a snag. The <br />Handbook stated on p. 512 that the indicator species of the health of an ecosystem <br />were the bird populations. <br />Asleson and Mr. Moreno excused themselves at 7:43 p.m. to reformat a disk for <br />the presentation. Several comments were made by the Board on various topics. <br />Schneider indicated that March 21-22, 2003 was the Midwest Environmental <br />Conference held at the Rosemount Community Center, and she was willing to E- <br />Mail the information to anyone interested in attending.