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f ; , INTRODUCTION This Natural Resource Management Plan presents the site analysis and recommended management and land use activities for the 24-acre Bailey Point property in Elk River, Minnesota (Figure 1).This document can be changed only by written agreement by both the City of Elk River, MN and Friends of the Mississippi River. Bailey Point is owned by the City of Elk River, Minnesota.The property, one of Elk River's many parks, is located at the confluence of the Elk and Mississippi Rivers and is bounded by the Elk River to the west,the Mississippi to the south and southeast, and residential development to the north.The property itself is essentially a peninsula.The Mississippi river flows freely to the south and east of this area and contains a number of islands on the east side of the property.These islands are part of a State Scientific and Natural Area,the Mississippi River Islands SNA. The property is approximately 1,663 feet long and 798 feet wide at its maxima.The is within the city of Elk River,with the old downtown lying just to the north of the property and the intersection of US-10 and MN-101/US-169 lying to the east. Private residences flank the property's boundaries on the north and northeast edges. The property can be divided into three areas: the floodplain forest along the property boundaries,the hayfield on the north end,and the grassland/savanna in between.The site's topography is flat,with the only real grades occurring on the banks of each river. Soils are mainly sandy loam,and range from poorly to excessively well drained. No rare species occur on the property,though a rare mussel species was recorded just east of the site and two remnants of native plant communities - Dry Sand Gravel Oak Savanna (UPs14b),a state-threatened plant community, and Dry Barrens Oak Savanna (Ups14a2) -occur to the east and southeast. Bailey Point is located at the edge of the Anoka Sandplain ecological subsection,just north of its boundary with the Big Woods subsection,as designated by the Minnesota DNR (Figure 2). This subsection lies within the Minnesota and Northeast Iowa Morainal section in the Eastern Broadleaf Forest province of the state.The property is also situated directly within the Metro Conservation Corridors system (Figure 3),identified as an important habitat network for both sedentary and migratory plant and animal life in and around the Twin Cities.The property is surrounded by a variety of land units identified by the Minnesota County Biological Survey(MCBS) as areas of biological significance (Figure 3),putting it within a network of ecologically important sites. Friends of the Mississippi River Bailey Point Nature Preserve NRMP 8