Agenda Packets - 2021/07/06 - Laserfiche WebLink

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0 0 3 SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS I have examined the site designated the Kraus -Anderson Project in Mounds View, Minnesota. I have identified four distinct community types on the site as: open water, quaking bog, aspen -to -oak transition belt, and grassland. These varied habitat types, in their present form, provide for a correspondingly varied fauna especially notable in the many species of birds. It is my understanding that the north-west portion of the property is to be set aside as park; that the aspen -to -oak transition belt along the north border of the proposed ponding area will be preserved; that the present wetlands and bog as well as the lower grasslands will be excavated to provide water storage; and that the remaining upland forested and grassed area will be variously developed. The designated park land, the oak -aspen belt along the north border of the basin, and trees that will be preserved in the developed forested portions of the property will preserve many of the excellent environmental qualities of this site. The grasslands within the project site are of low quality and have none of the characteristics of native prairie either of the sandplain prairie of the Anoka Sandplain or of the tall grass prairies found in isolated areas around the metropolitan area and to the west. Grazing -or cropping has promoted the development of various introduced and domestic species. The trade-off between the present bog formation (open water, quaking bog, and wetland forest) and the proposed more open water is a judgement of relative values and personal tastes. There is no doubt but that open water gives greater visibility and greater satisfaction to many more people. The present formation gives greater diversity and interest to those willing to endure the rigors of wet feet, biting insects and ticks, and prickly brush. In view of the approximate trade=off in life forms of bogs and open water and the fact that the shoreline will be constructed with a gradual slope to promote the development of a vegetated border and in view of the dire need for water quantity control in the watershed, it appears to me that the proposed plan for development environmentally sound.