Miesville Ravine Park Reserve Plan- 7/12/23 Staff Review Draft

This should be directional signs on nearby roads, not roads within the park. (for example, a road along the highway)

Add South Trout Brook Focus Area. Mention that the bridge over Trout Brook is being relocated to a more sustainable location.

Change title to "Operations Analysis"

Any future electrical....

"The existing picnic shelters currently have electricity.”

replace 'impacts' with conflicts

heading color?
Consider making this its own topic with a higher level heading since it is one of the MC requirements

Add," All new or substantially altered improvements will utilize the U.S. Access Board’s guidelines for Outdoor Developed areas as minimum standards for accessibility. "

Only include interpretation implementation content here and move stewardship to the plan chapter. I will provide additional stewardship content.

replace "Resources" with "Landscape"

Consider deleting this section or simplifying the content:
"The Miesville Ravine Park Reserve Natural Resources Management Plan (NRMP) guides natural resource stewardship in Park. The NRMP was developed in tandem with this plan."

Move to page 93 (as noted there)

Pursue opportunities for cooperative management of the park’s natural systems with tribal partners.

Delete this paragraph - I think it is too strong and doesn't need to be highlighted. It is reccomended in the NR section.

Rephrase

To complement prescribed burning, reintroduce grazing, mowing, and haying to mimic the historical disturbance of prairie and savanna. Consider bison grazing and patch-burn cattle grazing.

Somewhere in this section current NR management issues need to be introduced (these should be added where it makes sense and can be shortened, but should included in the NR section

Loss of key ecological process
Native plant communities of MRPR have evolved over thousands of years with ecological processes that maintain their type and condition. Many of these processes have been eliminated or altered due to relatively recent human activity. Fire historically maintained prairie and savanna as open, herbaceous-dominated habitats. Native grazers such as bison and elk provided structural diversity within habitats for plants and wildlife. For example, reconstructed prairie in the absence of bison will tend toward uniform plant height and favors a suite of certain vegetation. Bison create variable structure and species diversity, while creating habitat via trampling such as wallows.

Habitat degradation
The landscape surrounding the park reserve contains large populations of invasive species. This has resulted in invasive within the park. Invasive species are especially problematic and are considered target invasive species for control include common buckthorn, eastern red cedar, garlic mustard, reed canary grass, Kentucky bluegrass, smooth brome, Tatarian honeysuckle, and wild parsnip.
Deer populations in North America are historically high compared to pre-European settlement due to loss of key predators and land management that generally favors deer. High deer populations can exert pressure on ground layer plant species, including shrub and tree regeneration. Negative impacts on species such as spring ephemerals of maple-basswood forest have been linked to over browsing by deer.
The Trout Brook stream channel is currently in a state of ‘active channel evolution’ as the stream slowly adjusts to the altered water and sediment supply from the watershed. Both the north and south tributaries and the main stem of Trout Brook have become down cut, which has resulted in floodplain abandonment and has exacerbated bank erosion. The active channel and stream bank erosion issues observed in Trout Brook have resulted in habitat degradation in both the aquatic and riparian communities.
Beavers and beaver dams (already discussed)
Altered land use within the watershed and increased precipitation due to climate change has amplified the volumes of water moving through the drainage system, and has increased erosion within the ravine and Trout Brook. Ravine erosion contributes sediment deposition to Trout Brook, which disrupt the native plant communities and provide opportunities for invasive vegetation establishment.

Excess Nutrients

Nutrient imbalance is an issue within both terrestrial and aquatic environments. Nitrogen and/or phosphorus exist in excess amounts regionally and locally. Increased nutrient availability typically makes plant communities more susceptible to establishment of invasive species.
Park Access
Accessing areas of the park reserve for management activities, is a challenge due to the rugged topography, private inholdings, and surrounding private lands. Ravine bottoms are generally inaccessible by vehicle and heavy equipment and steep slopes of the many ravines make vehicle or heavy equipment access impossible. Blufftops are generally accessible, but where they are dissected by ravines, they may be cut off from vehicle and equipment access. Some blufftops and slope-shoulders, where heavy equipment could be used, are surrounded by inholdings or private lands outside of the park reserve. These inaccessibility issues limit the management tools available.

lived in?

Habitation?

Will send content by Wednesday 8/2

This should be Appendix B

This should be its own appendix. Apendix B

Add executive summary
Add appedix 80/20 calculation

I don't think these are being explored for Miesville at this time. Best to delete the equipment rental section

Use these photos as trailhead example photos in the plan chapter

Use these photos as trailhead example photos in the plan chapter

Consider removing 'sustainability' seems to be repeated in Park Access section

delete double title

Delete "as discussed in the natural resources stewarship section"

Underground burial of any future power lines should be explored to mitigate visual impact to the park and river valley.

Underground of any future power lines should be explored to mitigate visual impact to the park and river valley.

and opportunties for septic can be explored.

Remove, this is addressed in the Park Boundary section

only the following fields are needed. Hide all others
Description
Project number
External Funding Assumption
Estimated County Project Cost
Community Support

Add section 'cultural landscape stewarship'

Replace 'Management' with 'Stewardship'

delete 'cost/benefit ratios'

replace 'revised' with 'reviewed'

some of these items are not overlooks - for example camping and trail intersections

Group by color?

I'm pretty sure a portion of this loop is a maintenance road and should not be shown as an interpretive trail

What do the colors mean?

delete "at Dakota County Parks"