City of Northfield Natural Resources Inventory Final Report
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Northfield, MN--Natural Resource Inventory--000009-05080-0--... 12/22/2005 9:06:20 AM City of northfielD Natural Resources Inventory FInal Report December 2005 2335 West Highway 36 St. Paul, MN 55113 Office: 651-636-4600 Fax: 651-636-1311 www.bonestroo.com December 19, 2005 Howard Merriam, ASLA Director of Resource and Park Planning City of Northfield 801 Washington Street Northfield, MN 55057 (507) 645-3002 Dear Howard, It is with great pleasure that I am sending you this completed Natural Resource Inventory for the City of Northfield and the associated Urban Expansion Area. The citizens and city leaders of Northfield have some very good natural resources in the community. As the City moves forward, there will be many opportunities to apply the information in this Natural Resources Inventory. It can provide a solid foundation for the proactively managing for sustainable growth as the city grows, help with the creation of alternate development strategies, identify priority areas for conservation, and more. Most importantly, however, is its potential to help Northfield retain the character that has made it such an attractive, appealing place to live for the past 150 years. On behalf of all of us at Bonestroo Natural Resources who worked on this project, thank you for the opportunity to assist you on this project. We wish you well on the successful application of the natural resource data. I have truly enjoyed the opportunity to work with you on this project and look forward to visiting Northfield as the city moves forward. Sincerely, BONESTROO, ROSENE, ANDERLIK, AND ASSOCIATES Elizabeth Gould Project Ecologist St. Paul, St. Cloud, Rochester, MN Milwaukee, WI Chicago, IL Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and Employee Owned Table of Contents Table of Contents................................................................................................... i List of Appendices and Figures............................................................................. ii Executive Summary..............................................................................................iii I. Introduction.....................................................................................................1. II. Landscape Description and History............................................ ..……………3. III. Project Methodology.......................................................................................9. Gather and Review Background Information .......................................................................9. Aerial Photo Interpretation ...................................................................................................9. Landowner Notification.......................................................................................................10. Field Evaluation..................................................................................................................10. Land Cover Classification ..................................................................................................11. MLCCS Modifiers ...............................................................................................................12. Wildlife Habitat ...................................................................................................................16. Unique Features.................................................................................................................16. Stream Assessment ...........................................................................................................16. IV. Minnesota Land Cover Classification System (MLCCS) Findings ................18. Level One MLCCS Findings...............................................................................................18. Summary of Natural Cover Types......................................................................................24. V. Summary of Natural Resource Inventory Findings ........................................47 High and Moderate Quality Natural Areas .........................................................................47. Concentration of Natural Areas..........................................................................................48. Rare Species......................................................................................................................48. Unique Features.................................................................................................................49. Wildlife Habitat ...................................................................................................................49. Stream Assessment ...........................................................................................................50. VI. Natural Community Sites and Stream Assessment Site Descriptions…… ..52. Watershed Descriptions .....................................................................................................52. Natural Community Site Descriptions………………………………………………………….57. Stream Assessment Areas …………………………………………………………................86. VII. Future Opportunities....................................................................................95. Greenways/Open Space Corridors ....................................................................................95. Stream Protection ..............................................................................................................97. Ordinances.........................................................................................................................98. i Appendices Appendix A DNR MCBS Rare Species and Natural Community Records Appendix B Summary Table of Community ID numbers, acreages, and location Appendix C Species Lists Appendix D Land Cover Summary Tables (MLCCS Level One, Level Three, Level 4-5, and natural and semi-natural areas) Appendix E Glossary of Technical Terms List of Figures Figure 1: Project location Map ............................................................................. 2. Figure 2: Geomorphology ....................................................................................6. Figure 3: Vegetation at the time of European Settlement ....................................7. Figure 4: Level 1 MLCCS Summary ..................................................................22. Figure 5: Level 3 MLCCS Summary ..................................................................23. Figure 6: Wildlife Habitat Areas .........................................................................51. Figure 7: Community ID Locator ........................................................................58. ii Executive Summary The Northfield Natural Resource Inventory (NRI) was undertaken in response to the significant growth and development pressures that the city is facing as the Twin Cities metropolitan area expands and outlying areas develop. City and staff recognized that effective planning considers all of the resources of the community, including natural areas and open space, and successfully balances growth with the preservation of key natural resources, and moved proactively to conduct the NRI. This inventory was designed to assess the natural areas and open space areas within the project area in order to help guide current and future planning efforts. In February 2005, the City of Northfield retained Bonestroo Natural Resources (Bonestroo and Associates) to complete Minnesota Land Cover Classification System (MLCCS) Mapping and a Natural Resource Inventory (NRI) on all lands within the city and Urban Expansion Area (collectively referred to as the “Project Area”). In addition to completing the MLCCS mapping and natural resources inventory, the project goals also included a brief review of the streams within the project area, assessment of wildlife habitat, and identification of any rare or unique features. Fieldwork began in June 2005, with a detailed inventory of the Hauberg Woods area. The bulk of the fieldwork was completed in July and August 2005, after the completion of landowner notification. In all, 10,207 acres were mapped, representing 79 different cover types ranging from impervious surfaces with pavement and buildings to a rare, high quality rich fen (a type of wetland) community. Of these 10,207 acres, 3,758 acres were mapped as containing some amount of impervious surface, 750 acres as maintained areas (mainly lawn and park areas), and 3736 acres as cropland. The remaining 1963 acres were mapped as open space, iii including remnant natural communities such as oak forests, and semi-natural areas such as retired pastures, early successional wooded communities and altered forests. High quality natural areas and unique features occur throughout the project area, but are concentrated along the stream and river corridors. The best quality natural areas documented in this study include: • Rich fen at Hauberg Woods (also listed as a unique feature) • High quality floodplain forests along the Cannon River • Good quality maple-basswood and oak forests along the stream corridors, especially Heath Creek Some of the unique features noted include: • Rich fen at Hauberg Woods • Spring Brook (This site is of regional significance, as it is the only Trout Stream in Rice County, and is an uncommon resource type in southern Minnesota) • Limestone Cliffs along Heath Creek • Numerous scenic overlooks along the stream corridors and in some outlying areas • Cannon River (which is itself a state Wild and Scenic River) Finally,