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Draft Prospectus Document Page 2 07/07/2020 <br />Site Description <br />Historical Conditions: As best you can, describe your site’s historical condition and summarize any natural or <br />man-made alterations to uplands and wetlands. For example, wetland restoration projects should estimate the <br />site’s historical wetland location and type and describe when and how drainage has affected these wetlands. <br />The site is located in Hugo, MN along Hwy 61 at the North Star Elementary School (Figure 1, Appendix A). <br />Historic conditions of the site are shown in aerial photographs dating back to 1938. The land plat map from 1847 <br />also depicts most of the SW1/4 of Section 17 as wetland. Historic aerial photographs identify that the site <br />hydrology has been altered by drainage and conversion to cropland or rangeland since at least 1938 (Appendix <br />B). Ditches were in place at this time in an attempt to create more tillable agricultural land. In the 1938 and 1947 <br />aerials, much of the surrounding landscape shows saturated soils and uncropped portions of wetland, especially <br />on land to the north of the site. Based on these characteristics and the information from the original 1847 plat <br />map, the extent of the historic wetland appears to be larger than the proposed easement area and was likely a <br />marsh or wooded swamp consistent with uncropped wetland areas visible to the north of the site in 1938 and <br />1947. <br />Alterations to the site prior to 1938 included construction of an east-west ditch, with an inlet from a stream east <br />of Hwy 61 and an outlet into Judicial Ditch 3 (also DNR PWI unnamed stream No. M-059-008-005-002) on the <br />southwest part of the property. This ditch bisects the historic wetland on this site. Three perpendicular, lateral <br />ditches were constructed north-south, and two other east-west ditches were present in early photographs on the <br />south end of the property. The alteration of hydrology on the site has allowed for cropping and or haying use of <br />the northern part of the site in past years. <br />Vegetation throughout the property has been disturbed and altered by haying and or cropping in the drained <br />portions of the wetland throughout the years. In the 1938 aerial, the northern portion of the site was used for <br />cropping and the southern portion of the site was hayed or left fallow due to what appears to be a shrub carr <br />wetland. By 1953, the southern portion of the site exhibits more vegetation clearing. <br />The soil survey (Figure 4, Appendix A) identifies nearly all hydric soils within the proposed easement boundary. A <br />majority of the site is mapped as Seelyeville muck which has a drainage class of very poorly drained with an <br />organic parent material. Other dominant soil types within the site are Bluffton loam and Isanti loamy find sand. <br />Both are described as very poorly drained soils. Bluffton loam is associated with depressional areas on moraines <br />and Isanti loamy fine sand is associated with outwash plains. Soils that are mapped within the proposed site <br />(historic wetland area) are hydric and conducive to supporting wetland conditions if hydrology is restored. <br /> <br />Current Conditions: Describe your site’s current condition and land use, identify important site features (e.g. <br />ditches, tile, borrow sites, building sites, utilities, etc.), and show these features on Figure 2. <br />Land use nearby to the site is primarily residential, however all the parcel lines are buffered with a non- <br />residential land use. To the west are stormwater ponds associated with Waters Edge South development, to the <br />north is wetland and upland forested area, to the east is Hwy 61, and the southern parcel line is a cemetery. The <br />North Star Elementary School is located immediately to the northeast with stormwater ponds adjacent to the <br />wetland. <br />The northern two thirds of the site are fallow with the last notable agricultural use appearing in the late 90s. <br />Figure 2, Appendix A depicts the existing drainage features on and near the site. Water inputs at a crossing under <br />Hwy 61 along the east edge into a linear ditch. The ditches through the wetland are present. The three north- <br />south ditches have an approximate slope grade of 0.15%. The eastern-most north-south ditch is approximately 8 <br />feet wide and 13 inches deep, and the central north-south ditch is approximately 20 feet wide with currently <br />unknown depth due to frozen conditions. The central east-west ditch includes a 10-foot drop in elevation from