8.0 PRSR 03-09-2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I ` RESTORATION GOALS This property is designated as a nature preserve with mowed trails for passive recreation.Thus,the main goal of this restoration will be to create diverse,healthy habitats that support wildlife and engage visitors. Healthy ecosystems will support a variety of wildlife,and will provide a number of ecosystem services, including water retention and filtration.Toward achieving this goal, restoration will aim to improve the diversity, composition and structure of the plant communities throughout the property,which will also better reflect what would have been present at the time of European settlement.This includes the improvement of habitat (prairie and savanna) that has been historically decimated throughout the state,but does not mean that the restoration will go out of its way to convert current natural communities to what may have been present in the past. However,adding new habitat and restoring degraded areas will improve the ecological functions that both historic native plant communities and current healthy communities provide, including: • habitat for a diversity of wildlife species, • nutrient and water cycling, • carbon storage, • moderation of water-table levels, • erosion control, • filtration of nutrients,sediments and pollutants, • development and enrichment of soils, • local temperature moderation. Though degraded by past uses,the existing plant cover retains a good variety of native species and could be readily improved.A healthy and diverse plant community can provide much greater wildlife value than a degraded one,and tends to be much more stable,and less susceptible to disease, invasive species,and other disturbances. Management recommendations were developed for each land cover area,with the overall objectives for the property focused on protecting and restoring high quality habitat by removing invasive plant species, restoring savanna/prairie,and providing pollinator and wildlife habitat. Specific goals include the following,and should be attained by the fifth year of the restoration process: 1) Reduce invasive woody stems over Ya inch diameter to <10% on site by the end of the second year. 2) The roughly 17.5 acres of grassland and hayfield will be converted to native savanna and prairie with 90%coverage of native species by the fifth year. 2b) Reduce tree coverage in the savanna to 10-20% and shrub coverage to 25-50%. Friends of the Mississippi River Bailey Point Nature Preserve NRMP 52