4.3 SR 03-20-2023 - Laserfiche WebLink

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13. Fish, wildlife, plant communities, and sensitive ecological resources (rare features): a. Describe fish and wildlife resources as well as habitats and vegetation on or near the site. Ecological land units for the project area have been mapped ancl defined in the Ecological Classification System (ECS), which has been adopted by the Minnesota DNR. The project location occurs in the Anoka Sand Plain subsection (222Mc). The Anoka Sandplains subsection largely consists of a broad, flat, sandy lake plain that historically consisted of oak savanna and upland Prairies. The Project occurs within the north�ern Twin Cities metropolitan area and surrounding lands now largely consist of urban development. The Project site itself largely consists of wooded and wetland areas. Approximately 160 acres of wooded lands are present across the site. Based on historic aerial photography approximately 62 of those wooded acres used to be cultivated for agricultural production through 2005, after which the land was left uncultivated and naturally developed into its current state. Wetla�ds comprise approximately 71 acres of the site. This includes multiple wetland communities including Type 1— Floodplain Forest, Type 2— Fresh (wet) Meadow, and Type S— Shallow Open Water. Approximately 18 acres of the current wetland area on site consists of land that had previously been mined as part of a gravel pit. Portions of these areas have depths up to approximately 20'. As a result, these areas function more as deep-water habitats rather than wetlands. Describe rare features such as state-listed (endangered, threatened or special concern) species, native plant communities, Minnesota County Biological Survey Sites of Biodiversity Significance, and other sensitive ecological resources on or within close proximity to the site. Provide the license agreement number (LA-� and/or correspondence number (ERDB ) from which the data were obtained and attach the Natural Heritage letter from the DNR Indicate if any additional habitat or species survey work has been conducted within the site and describe the results. There were two areas ofMinnesota County Biological Survey Sites ofBiodiversity Significance located within the project area. These areas were both part of the MBS site "Elk River 36 Westcentral" and were given a biodiversity significance rank of "Below ". A U.S. Fish & Wilcllife Service Official Species List for the Project site listed one federally listed threatened species, the Northern Long-Eared Bat, and one candidate species, the Monarch Butterfly, that may potentially be affected by the Project. There were no critical habitats mapped within the project site. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Official Species List can be seen in Exh�ibit C. Natural Heritage Information System (NHIS) data for Sherburne County h�as been obtained by ISG via a license agreement with the Mi�nesota DNR (LA-1040). A review of the database ide�rtified 1 rare feature within th�e immediate vicinity of th�e Project site that could have the potential to be adversely affected by the proposed project. This rare feature was the Black Sanshell mussel. The Project site was located entirely within the mapped element occurrence of the Black Sandshell. Since no work will be taking place within the banks of Ti^ott Brook and erosion control BMPs will be implanted during consti^uction to prevent indirect impacts to the stream no adverse impacts to Black Sandshell populations are anticipated to result fi^om the Project. Page 15