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Nguyen Project Floristic Quality Assessment ABEAM August 2023 INTRODUCTION Area M Consulting (Area M), on behalf of Enterprise Energy, LLC (Client), conducted a floristic quality assessment for the Nguyen Project, a proposed community solar garden (CSG), in Washington County, Minnesota. The Area M biologist conducted a vegetation survey within a potentially impacted wetland following the Releve method,followed by a floristic analysis of species based on a richness and cover class as outlined by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) (Milburn, et al. 2007). This survey and floristic quality assessment were recommended by the Local Government Unit (the City of Hugo) to determine if the CSG design meets No-Loss criteria under the Wetland Conservation Act(WCA). PROJECT DESCRIPTION The Project, encompassing approximately 12.5 acres, is located 0.3 miles northwest of Hugo, MN in Section 18,T3IN:R21 W(Study Area)(Appendix A,Map 1).The Study Area encompasses an undeveloped landscape situated between residential development and bordered by pastureland on the north and south. The landform is gently rolling, containing several small rises and basins. A depressional swale bisects the Study Area, draining the landscape from west to east towards off-site residential ponds. The Study Area contains a mix of mesic prairie, upland prairie, and shrubland. The surrounding landscape is a mosaic of farmland,pastureland,woodlots,depressional wetlands,and infrastructure associated with Hugo.The entire Study Area is on private land. Five wetlands were delineated by Jacobson Environmental in May of 2022,and Notice of Decision(NOD) confirming wetland boundaries was issued by the LGU on October 31, 2022 (Jacobson Environmental, 2022). Of these wetlands, Wetland 2 and Wetland 5 will have I-beams supporting the solar array placed within them. METHODOLOGY Area M biologists conducted vegetation sampling within Wetland 2, the largest wetland and proposed location of the solar array,following the Releve Method(MNDNR,2012).Four total 20-meter by 20-meter Releves were sampled within Wetland 2.Plot locations were placed within representative vegetation stands with uniform community composition as far from the wetland boundaries and ecotones within Wetland 2 (Appendix A, Map 2). Releve locations were recorded by placing pin flags in one corner, and a pulling measuring tape along the diagonal 28.3 meters to mark the opposite corner. The remaining corners were located by pulling the tape 20 meters at a 90-degree angle until the plot was an approximate square. Each Releve was then surveyed by Area M biologists, using meandering transects through the plot and recording each plant species encountered and its approximate Braun-Blanquet cover class code. Each Releve was surveyed for approximately 20-30 minutes. After the data was collected, Area M conducted a Floristic Quality Assessment following the procedure outlined MPCA (Milburn, et al. 2007). This included summarizing a comprehensive Wetland 2 species richness list and calculating species richness for each Releve. Coefficients of Conservation,index numbers (C-Value) representing species quality, were assigned to each species based on the MPCA species list (Appendix A of Milburn, et al. 2007). An average C-Value was calculated for Wetland 2 for native plants and all plants (C and Ci, respectively). Floristic Quality Indices were then calculated from C-Values and species richness for native plants and all plants(FQI and FQIi,respectively). 1