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Nguyen Project <br />Floristic Quality Assessment <br />August 2023 <br /> <br />1 <br />AREAM <br /> INTRODUCTION <br />Area M Consulting (Area M), on behalf of Enterprise Energy, LLC (Client), conducted a floristic quality <br />assessment for the Nguyen Project, a proposed community solar garden (CSG), in Washington County, <br />Minnesota. The Area M biologist conducted a vegetation survey within a potentially impacted wetland <br />following the Releve method, followed by a floristic analysis of species based on a richness and cover class <br />as outlined by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) (Milburn, et al. 2007). This survey and <br />floristic quality assessment were recommended by the Local Government Unit (the City of Hugo) to <br />determine if the CSG design meets No-Loss criteria under the Wetland Conservation Act (WCA). <br />PROJECT DESCRIPTION <br />The Project, encompassing approximately 12.5 acres, is located 0.3 miles northwest of Hugo, MN in <br />Section 18, T31N:R21W (Study Area) (Appendix A, Map 1). The Study Area encompasses an undeveloped <br />landscape situated between residential development and bordered by pastureland on the north and south. <br />The landform is gently rolling, containing several small rises and basins. A depressional swale bisects the <br />Study Area, draining the landscape from west to east towards off-site residential ponds. The Study Area <br />contains a mix of mesic prairie, upland prairie, and shrubland. The surrounding landscape is a mosaic of <br />farmland, pastureland, woodlots, depressional wetlands, and infrastructure associated with Hugo. The entire <br />Study Area is on private land. <br /> <br />Five wetlands were delineated by Jacobson Environmental in May of 2022, and Notice of Decision (NOD) <br />confirming wetland boundaries was issued by the LGU on October 31, 2022 (Jacobson Environmental, <br />2022). Of these wetlands, Wetland 2 and Wetland 5 will have I-beams supporting the solar array placed <br />within them. <br />METHODOLOGY <br />Area M biologists conducted vegetation sampling within Wetland 2, the largest wetland and proposed <br />location of the solar array, following the Relevé Method (MNDNR, 2012). Four total 20-meter by 20-meter <br />Relevés were sampled within Wetland 2. Plot locations were placed within representative vegetation stands <br />with uniform community composition as far from the wetland boundaries and ecotones within Wetland 2 <br />(Appendix A, Map 2). Relevé locations were recorded by placing pin flags in one corner, and a pulling <br />measuring tape along the diagonal 28.3 meters to mark the opposite corner. The remaining corners were <br />located by pulling the tape 20 meters at a 90-degree angle until the plot was an approximate square. <br />Each Relevé was then surveyed by Area M biologists, using meandering transects through the plot and <br />recording each plant species encountered and its approximate Braun-Blanquet cover class code. Each <br />Relevé was surveyed for approximately 20-30 minutes. <br />After the data was collected, Area M conducted a Floristic Quality Assessment following the procedure <br />outlined MPCA (Milburn, et al. 2007). This included summarizing a comprehensive Wetland 2 species <br />richness list and calculating species richness for each Relevé. Coefficients of Conservation, index numbers <br />(C-Value) representing species quality, were assigned to each species based on the MPCA species list <br />(Appendix A of Milburn, et al. 2007). An average C-Value was calculated for Wetland 2 for native plants <br />and all plants (C and Ci, respectively). Floristic Quality Indices were then calculated from C-Values and <br />species richness for native plants and all plants (FQI and FQIi, respectively).