Dakota County will enhance 28 acres of prairie, savanna and woodlands throughout parts of the Bison Range at the west end of Spring Lake Park Reserve. This project will provide more suitable habitat for the bison which will be arriving in the park in the fall 2022.
Much of the range has already been restored to prairie and savanna, but there are parts of the range that need to be restored prior to the bison arriving.
Tree removal will take place along Pine Bend Trail. This area will be restored to prairie and savanna, so we are able to move the bison from one end of the range to the other. In other parts of the project, we will restore a more natural transition from woodland to savanna to prairie through selective tree removal.
Funding for this project is provided by a grant through Minnesota's Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment.
Project timeline
Winter 2021–2022: Woody invasive species removal and canopy thinning
Spring and summer 2022: Prepare disturbed areas for seeding
Fall 2022: Seed prepared areas
Fall 2022–fall 2024: Establishment management of seeded areas. Follow-up control of buckthorn resprouts
