9.2.B. PRSR 03-08-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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2006 Metro Greenways Site Protection Nomination Page 3 the existing park. In addition, each parcel provides additional benefit and value, as discussed separately, below. Golf Course Site This area is bordered by the Elk River Country Club and Golf course on the west, by the Great Northern Trail and Woodland Trails Park on the east, and by Woodland Trails Park on the north. The southern boundary is formed in part by a private development, and in part by Big Tooth Ridge Park, achy-owned conservation park. The City's 2004 Natural Resource Inventory mapped the area as a high quality (B Rank) dry oak forest. Both the northern and southern portions of the site were mapped by the Minnesota County Biological Survey during their inventory of Sherburne County, and are part of larger MCBS mapped communities. This site offers a canopy of mixed red oak, bur oak and pin oak, with black cherry, bur oak, and occasional elm in the understory. It is typical of a dry oak forest that has not been subject to fire in recent years, and has a shrub layer and ground layer dominated by characteristic native species. Invasive species such as European buckthorn are present in low to moderate levels. Malmstrom Site This area lies at the eastern-most edge of the park, and provides an opportunity to expand the park out to County Road 77/Proctor Road. According to the 2004 Natural Resource Inventory of the City, the Malmstrom site includes a 15+ acre stand of moderate (C-Rank) dry oak forest, as well as a smaller area of non-native grassland. The site lies along the main east-west arm of the Elk River Greenway Corridor. The plant community at the Malmstrom property is dominated by an oak forest similar to the one at the Golf Course Site. While each site has significant ecological merit on its own, due to their ecological quality, the ecological signifcance of the parcels is truly apparent when their place in the landscape is considered. Both parcels serve a critical function to the city and regional Greenway Corridor by adding connectivity and improving access to Woodland Trails Park. Woodland Trails Park is a key hub in both the local and regional Greenway Corridor. Currently, the park contains 325 acres dominated by high quality Oak Forest, most of which is mapped by the MN County Biological Survey. The DNR recognized the significance of this area in 2004- 2005, when they supported the acquisition of the Top of the World Addition and helped add 78 acres to the park. The current grant application (Woodland Trails Addition) builds on the previous effort in two important ways. First, it connects the existing Woodland Trails Park with the 31 acre Big Tooth Ridge Park, another MCBS community south of Woodland Trails. This connection is made via the Golf Course site and the Great Northern Trail. Second, it extends the existing park east to County Road 77, along an east-west arm of the city's greenway corridor. This connection, via the Malmstrom site, adds additional forest habitat to the system and provides an important future access opportunity for park visitors. By adding these parcels and connecting with Big Tooth Ridge Park, the current effort creates a 390 acre system of connected oak forest habitat, with pothole wetlands, restored prairie, and a Gly oJ'Elk Rivvi Woodland ]}oils Park Addvtion Greenxays Grant Bonestroo and Assoclatrs~, February 2006