Dakota County will restore 27 acres of prairie and woodlands south of Schaar's Bluff Gathering Center in Spring Lake Park Reserve. This project will result in 56 contiguous acres of restored habitat within Spring Lake Park Reserve.
Today, there are two known patches of remnant prairie on the slopes of the project area, but they are shrinking due to invasion of woody vegetation. This project will expand and buffer the remnants. Native seed collected from nearby remnant prairies will be used to grow plant plugs for this project. This will speed up the establishment of remnants and other degraded areas. In other parts of the project, we will restore a more natural transition from forest 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 2022 and 2023: Invasive species removal and canopy thinning
- Spring and summer 2022: Prescribed burning, prepare disturbed areas for seeding.
- Fall 2022: Seed prepared areas. Install native plants with volunteers.
- Fall 2022–fall 2024: Establishment management of seeded areas. Follow-up control of buckthorn resprouts.