Bloomington Completes First Prescribed Burn in Minnesota River Valley
Bloomington Parks and Recreation completed its first prescribed burn in the Minnesota River Valley, burning 8-10 acres of oak savanna restoration area at Parker's Picnic Area.
The burn involved approximately 40 personnel from multiple agencies, including the Bloomington Fire Department and Fish and Wildlife services. Parks staff conducted follow-up work for two days after the burn, clearing woody material and ensuring burned logs were properly extinguished.
The burned area was originally restored under a state CPL grant project completed by contractors several years ago. Since then, park maintenance staff has managed the area annually. Following the burn, parks staff seeded the area with native grasses to establish ground vegetation and provide fuel for future burns.
The project supports goals outlined in the city's prioritization plan and river bottoms natural resources plan. The burn aims to remove biomass from woody growth and create a more open oak savanna ecosystem.
The 8-10 acre burn is part of 60 acres of river bottom lands restored within the last 10 years. The city plans to expand prescribed burn management throughout the Minnesota River Valley as part of ongoing natural resources efforts.
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Votes (1)
Parker's Picnic Area Prescribed Burn and Oak Savannah Restoration Report
The speaker reported on the successful completion of a prescribed burn on 8-10 acres at Parker's Picnic Area, marking the first such burn in the river bottoms. The project is part of an ongoing Oak Savannah Restoration, initially funded by a CPL grant, and is now managed annually by park maintenance. Collaboration with the fire department and Fish and Wildlife ensured safety during the burn. Post-burn activities included clearing woody material and planting native grass seeds to enhance ground layer vegetation and provide future fuel. This effort contributes to a 60-acre restoration goal in the river bottom lands and is intended to be expanded throughout the River Valley.
Notable Quotes (3)
And probably the first time ever we've done prescribed burns in the river bottoms. So it's a pretty significant project, pretty significant accomplishment.
It meets a lot of our goals, a lot of goals that we've had outlined in our prioritization plan and our river bottoms natural resources plan.
Part of our objective with that is to kind of give some biomass removal from all the, the woody growth on here and create a more open oak savanna type ecosystem. And another objective of these projects is to establish ground layer vegetation.
Ordinances & Resolutions (4)
State-funded grant project that initially funded the Oak Savannah Restoration.
Internal document outlining goals that the prescribed burn project meets.
Specific plan outlining goals that the prescribed burn project meets.
Source for more information on natural resources projects in Bloomington.
Source document
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Other Topics from This Document
Prescribed Burn and Oak Savannah Restoration
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