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