System Level Ecological Planning to Achieve Restoration & - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
System Level Ecological Planning to Achieve Restoration & Management Goals Forests Prairies Wetlands Wildlife Land Conservation and Clean Water Summit 2009 Ed Quinn - Division Resource Management Program Consultant MNDNR Division of
Land Conservation and Clean Water Summit 2009 Ed Quinn - Division Resource Management Program Consultant MNDNR – Division of Parks and Trails
Forests Prairies Wetlands Wildlife
@ 278,000 acres within statutory boundaries (incl. public land & private in-holdings) – About size of Anoka County. 97% is natural area of one kind or another (native plant communities, old fields, etc) Includes hundreds of rare species of plants and animals. Contains some of the finest examples of old growth forest and native plant communities in the state. Over 1,000 nationally and state significant historic buildings, archaeological sites and cemetery sites. 40 National Historic Landmark Districts and National Register Historic Districts have been designated in the state park system.
Over 8 million visitors a year. 5,700 campsites Over 1,300 miles of trail 6,500 picnic sites 33 fishing piers
etc
1. Identify/develop goals and objectives 2. Inventory resources (esp. land cover) 3. Determine desired future conditions 4. Calculate costs, targets and timeframes 5. Prepare long-range & short-term plans. 6. Obtain/augment funding needed.
Preserve/perpetuate pre-settlement natural features Preserve/perpetuate other significant natural, scenic, scientific, historic features. Maintain a balance of plant and animal life Re-introduce desirable species. Outdoor recreation can be accommodated which does not cause material disturbance or the introduction of undue artificiality.
Goals
providing opportunities for appropriate rec/educational activities.
resources – facilitate management & protection.
to the protection of nat/cult resources in state parks. System-level Objective Reconstruct, restore or maintain all land within state parks as natural communities of EO Rank B/C quality or better except developed areas or those planned for development.
At a minimum, need: Land cover - critical for EBM planning: NPC system level, mgmt. category, wetlands, etc Rare species – plants & animals Invasive plant species - #2 threat Other wildlife species - as needed/appropriate
Forestville SP Heritage Elements
1. Map land cover to NPC level (system, class, type) as need & $$ allow. 2. Classify/categorize current land cover into management categories (reconstruction, restoration, maintenance) and general community types (forest, prairie, wetland.) 3. Develop desired future conditions (NPC and wildlife) 4. Calculate costs and time frames Reconstruction Transformation of non- native community to a native plant community. Restoration Improvement of a degraded native plant community. Maintenance Maintaining a native plant community in good condition.
Current Conditions Parks resource specialists mapped 11,951 acres of reconstructed & remnant prairie in state park system. Desired Future Conditions 1.Used Marschner map, bearing tree data, etc. & professional judgment to determine: 2.What was likely prairie in the park in the past & is still appropriate/feasible to restore. 3.16,800 acres to reconstruct. 4.Prairie DFC – 28,751 acres.
Oak openings & barrens Big Woods Bur Oak N Pin Oak White Oak
Site preparation & planting (yr 1 & 2) – herbicide, fire, seed collection/purchase. Average cost = $762/acre if utilize own seed and little brush control needed. Establishment period (yrs 2-5) – mowing, spot herbicide, inter-planting $710/acre. Time Frame & Costs: 450 acres/yr - 37 years to complete $1,472/ac (16,800 ac) = $24,730,000.
Used a process similar to prairies for determining forest acres & reconstruction needs Current Conditions
floodplain/wet forests in state parks. 20,000 acres needs to be reconstructed (5,000 acres old field/similar, rest is declining aspen/birch w/ no regen.) Desired Future Conditions 145,000 acres of forest in the state park system.
Time Frame & Costs: 286 acres/yr - 69 years to complete $1,257/ac (15,000 ac) + $4,715/ac (5,000) = @ $42,430,000. Forest reconstruction process – much more variable than prairie reconstruction - on average @ 10 years to establish. Direct seeding - $1,724/acre Planting seedlings - $837/acre Understory planting - $1,210/acre Exclosures & planting - $4,715/acre
Natural Community Maintenance Maintaining the community in good ecological condition. Monitoring (recreational impacts, external influences) Application of fire or other disturbance at appropriate intensity/intervals. Spot control of invasive species
Resource Management Standards hours – allocated directly to parks for maintenance of the park’s natural/cultural resources on an annual basis. Calculated based on individual assessment of each park’s natural & cultural resources and system-wide estimate of hours (costs) needed to maintain various
Hours = current mean labor rate for system (@ $19.79/hr). Total for state park system is 184,000 hours - @ $3.6 million. Although have never been able to fully fund, having figures/info has led to steady increase over time.
System Units Res hours Upper Sioux amt. Total Res hrs FD Forests Area/acres 0.5 151 76 Grasslands, Shrublands & Sparse Vegetation Area/acres 8.0 53 424 Heritage elements (rare sp.) # elements & occur. 5.0 6 30
Per unit 10.0 6 60
Per unit 2.0 2 20
Restoration - Improvement of a degraded native plant community. Restore or maintain all land within state parks as natural communities of EO Rank B/C quality or higher. EO ranks – A through D, generally lower ranks = more invasives, more anthropogenic disturbance, lack of fire or
community species. Control invasive species within matrix of a native plant community - herbicide, fire. Eliminate past anthropogenic impacts.
Most difficult category to quantify: 1) sometimes requires onsite visits in addition to GIS analysis & 2) variation in degradation. System restoration estimates calculated using actual values for 3 parks in each region. Mean 25% (20%-33%) of total system acreage in need of restoration. 69,500 acres. Highest % in south, lowest in north. Hours/costs estimated to be 30%-40% higher for sites needing restoration.
For a true ecosystem –based approach, important to insure that both native plant communities and wildlife species are incorporated into inventories, DFC’s and management plans.
Timber rattlesnakes Habitat needs to be maintained but immediate issues were den site vandalism & poaching (restricted areas, patrolling) Soudan Batgate Soudan UG mine – safe, ingress/egress needed for # bat species Fire-sensitive invertebrates MN Threatened Dakota skippers & other species can be negatively impacted by RX fire if not planned for appropriately.
Provided ecological outcomes which can be quantified in ways which allow for costs to be estimated and time frames developed. Can be communicated in terms common to administrators, legislators and stakeholders. For state parks has resulted in significant increased support for natural resource management on state park lands. 35% increase in funding to accelerate natural community reconstruction of prairies and forests. 50% increase in funding to conduct Rx burns - site prep, invasives control , maintenance of FD communities. 33% increase in funding to control invasive species and re-establish native vegetation.