06/27/2001 Env Bd Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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• 11. Where Shadow Lake Road crosses Rice Creek, an extensive marsh extends westward to Rice Lake. The view northwest from the bridge overlooks the wooded point where a heron rookery formerly occurred during the 1980s. In the culvert under the road, fish running up stream to spawn can be seen when the water is clear enough. Wood ducks frequent the bridge area and the nesting boxes provided are being used in the absence of natural tree cavities. In the summer, the dozen or more picnic tables, the swimming beach and the fishing pier receive considerable use by park visitors. Additionally, the proximity of the site to the local elementary school makes the park a potential area for nature study by the school classes. Management actions recommended to sustain habitat values and functions: • reduce mowing and brush cutting to maintain the understory vegetation and canopy cover important as foraging habitat for warblers and other songbirds during spring migration E. Cedar Lake , Holly Drive grasslands and Lake Amelia: Cedar Lake lies north of Ash St. (County Road J), a mile west of Centerville Road in Lino Lakes. It covers about 200 cattail - choked acres and is surrounded by 5 or 6 small farms of mostly open land with small patches of timber including oak . Housing development is occurring along Holly Drive west and north of the lake. The National Wetlands Inventory classifies the lake as "irregularly flooded ". When water levels are high, it empties into a small ditch along the southwest side thence into the Rice Creek system. From a distance, only small openings are visible in the cattails. The lack of openings greatly reduces the potential value to wildlife. This fault has been recognized for many years and representatives of the DNR, Mn. Waterfowl Association, and Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil Conservation Service) have visited the area with city officials in hopes of finding a way to put this sizeable wetland to better use by waterfowl and other marsh dwellers. They found that raising the water levels appeared to by the best solution (Hawkins, pers. comm.) but this would require a small dam at the outlet. So far, the landowner has objected to this approach because it might flood the hayfields. Also, at the north end of Cedar Lake, a property owned by a church might be flooded (a survey is needed to determine whether or not this would be the case). Meanwhile year after year, this potentially valuable wetland serves only as a wintering area for a few pheasants and deer and nesting area for blackbirds and marsh wrens. Jack Anderson, a local resident remembers that in the 1930s, when money was scarce, he trapped several hundred muskrats on Cedar Lake which brought a good price at a time when money was short. On the northwest side of Cedar Lake, east and south of Holly Drive, a few acres of open field consist of grassland bird habitat and farm fields where meadowlarks have been noted. Lake Amelia is a 178 acre lake situated east of Centerville Road and west of Highway 35. The 411) natural drainage is through an outlet on the west side of the lake. The water currently passes