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Adelaide Landing Residential Development EAW, Hugo January 31, 2017 minimize or mitigate adverse effects from the generation/storage of hazardous waste including source reduction and recycling, have not been considered. 13. Fish, wildlife, plant communities, and sensitive ecological resources (rare features): a) Describe fish and wildlife resources as well as habitats and vegetation on or near the site. Fish and wildlife resources on and near the site are directly related to the composition, quality, size, and connectivity of natural communities including woodlands, wetlands, and grasslands. According to the MN DNR Ecological Classification System, the Project is located in the St. Paul -Baldwin Plains and Moraines subsection, of the Minnesota and Northeast Iowa Morainal section, within the Eastern Broadleaf Forest Province. Pre -settlement vegetation in the area consisted of a mosaic of oak and aspen savanna, tallgrass prairie, and maple -basswood forest. Land use today is predominantly urban development, row crop agriculture and pasture, and remaining woodland areas. Westwood Professional Services, Inc. used the USGS National Land Use/Land Cover Database to identify existing cover types and to conduct off -site analysis of potential habitats (Exhibit 9). Based on this analysis and field review of the site, several habitat types are available within the Project including approximately: 113.4 acres of cultivated crop, 7.6 acres of pasture, 6.2 acres of grassland, 2.9 acres of shrub/scrub, 10.4 acres of woodland, and 57.7 acres of wetland and open water. These habitats are used by a variety of animals common to the eastern broadleaf forest province of Minnesota. b) Describe rare features such as state -listed (endangered, threatened or special concern) species, native plant communities, Minnesota County Biological Survey Sites of Biodiversity Significance, and other sensitive ecological resources on or within close proximity to the site. Provide the license agreement number (LA-L)LA) and/or correspondence number (ERDB- 20140333) from which the data were obtained and attach the Natural Heritage letter from the DNR. Indicate if any additional habitat or species survey work has been conducted within the site and describe the results. Wildlife that exists throughout the Project likely includes those species that have adapted to cropland, urban development, and fragmented woodland and grassland habitats and include animals such as ring-necked pheasant, western meadowlark, field sparrow, eastern cottontail, red fox, striped skunk, eastern -cottontail, white-tailed deer, and small mammals such as mice and shrews. Westwood reviewed The Minnesota DNR Natural Heritage Information System (NHIS) database (ERDB-20160323) to determine if records of listed plants and animals; native plant communities; wildlife aggregations; geological features; or state rare features are mapped within or near the Project. The database identified one rare wildlife record within the project boundary associated with a 1997 record of a Blanding's turtle (Emydoidea blandingii). Two additional records of Blanding's turtles are mapped within one mile to the north and northeast of the Project. One record of a bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and another of a trumpeter swan (Cygnus buccinator) are mapped within one mile of the Project to the northeast and east, respectively. The NHIS database also mapped several MCBS native plant communities within a mile to the north and northeast of the Project including: northern mixed cattail marsh, lake bed, and alder (maple - loosestrife) swamp plant communities. Based on MBS Sites of Biodiversity Significance & DNR Native Plant Communities databases, two sites of "Below" Biodiversity Significance are mapped along the northeast edge and southeast border of the Project. Native plant communities associated with these MBS areas include willow -dogwood shrub swamp and northern rich fen. 26