Inspiration Development Management Plan - Inspiration, Bayport, MN

Inspiration Development Management Plan
                                Management Years 2020-2022

        Inspiration Development is a conservation based housing development east of the Twin
Cities. Natural Resource Services (NRS) has teamed up with the housing board to develop a
resource management plan spanning years 2020 through 2022 to manage the natural areas
found within the privately owned housing allotments. Our goal is to restore this area to a more
aesthetic, ecologically appropriate place to recreate and enjoy for the area homeowners. Our
broad scale approach is meant to split up this relatively large area into smaller pieces, develop
and execute a specific management plan for each one. This report will refer to these areas as
‘zones’ and were outlined by NRS because they have similar ecological habitat types or
management constituents within them.
        As funding may vary from year to year, we intend to use techniques that offer the best
results over the broadest area for the lowest cost. Some of these management strategies may
take several years due to budget restrictions or vegetation response but NRS believes that this
is the best course of action to achieve the highest overall success. At this point in time, NRS is
not outlining a cost per activity, and annual budgets have not been provided. Our goal is to
provide as many services as possible each year as the budget will allow and those that cannot
be accomplished in a year due to budget constraints will be pushed to the following year.

                                        Zone Locations
Zone 1:
The area delineated Zone 1 encompasses approximately 12 acres east of the trail to Inspiration
Parkway South, along the northern edge of the polygon to Prairie Way South, on the eastern
edge of the polygon.

Zone 2:
Zone 2 is located east of Stagecoach Trail North and extends to the trail along the eastern
edge of its boundary. This polygon extends to the southern edge of Inspiration Development
and is approximately 20 acres in size.

Zone 3:
This zone is the largest management zone at Inspiration Development. The eastern edge of the
polygon extends to the boundary of the property. The western edge of the polygon boarders
the housing lots on Inspiration Parkway North and Prairie Way South, terminating when it
contacts Zone 2 at the bottom of a wooded draw. This management zone is approximately 35
acres in size.

Zone 4:
The Zone 4 management area is several smaller management zones along the northern and
western boundary of Inspiration Development. The southernmost boarder of this zone begins
at Inspiration Parkway South and continues north and follows the development boundary to
the east to the water tower. There is also a small piece that we have also decided to call Zone 4
that is west of Periwinkle Place. All told, this zone is approximately 18 acres in size.
Some of the adjacent areas to this management zone will be restored in the coming years by
NRS for Mattamy Homes under a different contract. The management for this zone will not be
affected by those activities.

Figure 1: A map showing the zones of Inspiration Development, near Bayport, MN.

Zone 5:
Zone 5 is located in between Prairie Way North and Inspiration Parkway North. This small
management area is only about 4.5 acres in size.

Zone 6:
The final management zone, Zone 6, is located south of Inspiration Parkway South and north of
Prairie Way South. This small unit is approximately 4 acres in size.

The “Wedge”
This area, referred to as the Wedge, is split off from Zone 2 by the railroad tracks. At this point,
no management activity for this area is planned.

                                     Management By Zone

Zone 1:
         Most of the management activity in this zone over the next three years will be
consistently targeting non-native, invasive species. There are noted pockets of Bird’s Foot
Trefoil, Spotted Knapweed, and Canada Thistle that will be sprayed during the growing season.
Many of these patches are along Inspiration Parkway South and Prairie Parkway South. We will
also focus our efforts on gradually reducing the amount of Canada Goldenrod found along
much of the walking trail in the western edge of this zone, working our way further away back
from the trail as time and budget allows.
         There are also some volunteer trees that are present in this zone that we would like to
remove from this zone, mostly in the southeastern portion of the zone. This will require cut/pile/
burn or cut and slash techniques and subsequent stump treatment with herbicide to prevent
the cut trees from resprouting. We noticed several invasive Siberian Elm trees along Prairie Way
South that should be removed if the budget allows.
2020: Spot herbicide treatments (June, July, August)
2021: Spot herbicide treatments (July, August) Tree removal (October)
2022: Spot herbicide treatments (June, July, August)

Zone 2:
         This zone had intensive, broad scale management in 2019 by NRS. We mowed nearly
the entire zone to stimulate the new seedling growth (Seeded by Prairie Restorations in 2018)
as well as suppress extensive Canada Goldenrod and other invasive species proliferation. In
the fall of 2019, while native vegetation was still short, the entire mowed area was spot sprayed
to reduce Canada Goldenrod, Bird’s Foot Trefoil, Canada Thistle, Crown Vetch, Queen Anne’s
Lace, and other noxious weeds. A follow up treatment of spot praying over the next three years
of lesser intensity will continue to make sure that these species are reduced and eliminated
from this zone.
         Much like Zone 1, there are volunteer trees at the west end of the unit that we would
like to treat and control should the budget allow. We would follow the same methods described
above, likely in the same year.
2020: Spot herbicide treatments (June, July, August)
2021: Spot herbicide treatments (July, August) Tree removal (October)
2022: Spot herbicide treatments (June, July, August)

Zone 3:
        Because Zone 3 is the largest of the zones that NRS has delineated, we propose to
gradually chip away at this piece. We intend to focus our efforts near the housing allotments
and trails first, then work our way further away from these areas as the budget allows. Much of
this zone is comprised of Canada Goldenrod, Spotted Knapweed, Bird’s Foot Trefoil, thistles
and other invasive species that may require multiple applications to control. There is an area in
the southeastern portion of the polygon that has young buckthorn that we propose to mow
with a brush mower, then follow up with a foliar spray that year or the following year. We would
like to mow these invasive trees soon before they reach a size that would inhibit brush mowing
and would require manual cutting, a more expensive alternative.
2020: Spot mow buckthorn (May, June) Foliar spray Buckthorn (October) Spot herbicide
Treatments (June, July, August)
2021: Spot herbicide treatments (July, August)
2022: Spot herbicide treatments (July, August)

Zone 4:

This zone has the highest diversity of noxious and invasive weed species present. In
2019, NRS intensively managed this zone by spot spraying herbicide with machines and
backpack sprayers. We also spot mowed some locations to greater increase the effectiveness
of the herbicide. NRS will continue this in the coming years as some of these spots will require
multiple treatments to control new weeds that may germinate. Some of the species noted in
this zone were Spotted Knapweed, Giant Ragweed, Stinging Nettle, thistles, Bird’s Foot Trefoil,
Crown Vetch, Common Tansy, Canada Goldenrod, Bur Dock, Queen Anne’s Lace, and others.
NRS intensively managed a small corner of Zone 4, near Pioneer Trail and Inspiration Parkway
South. In this location, we mowed the area and then applied herbicide as most of the
vegetation between the walking trail was nonnative. We propose, should the budget allow, to
plant this area with a native grass mix, giving us the ability to control any broadleaf weeds that
will continue to arise in the coming years and give this ascetically sensitive area more curb
appeal.
2020: Reseed area near Inspiration Parkway S. (May) Spot herbicide treatments (June, July,
August)
2021: Spot herbicide treatments (July, August)
2022: Spot herbicide treatments (July, August)

Zone 5:
        In 2019, NRS spot mowed and spot sprayed a few problem areas of Zone 5. Most of
these areas were located at the extreme northern and southern edges of this unit. We will
continue to monitor these areas and treat as necessary. There are a few volunteer trees in the
center of this zone that could be removed with very little cost at the same time as the other tree
cutting occurs. Species that we treated in this zone were Bird’s Foot Trefoil, Sweet Clover,
Spotted Knapweed, Canada Thistle, Bur Dock, and Crown Vetch.
2020: Spot herbicide treatments (June, July, August)
2021: Remove trees (October) Spot herbicide treatments (July, August)
2022: Spot herbicide treatments (July, August)

Zone 6:
         Zone 6 was managed similarly to Zone 5 in 2019. This zone has a few more isolated
pockets of invasive species that will require some attention should the budget allow. We
observed Canada Goldenrod, Canada Thistle, Spotted Knapweed, Bur Dock, Reed Canary
Grass, Sweet Clover, Bird’s Foot Trefoil, and others in this polygon. NRS would like to begin
management by reducing standing vegetation and conducting a dormant season mowing,
likely in the spring of 2020 on this zone. Then we would follow up with spot spray treatments
as required to reduce invasive species.
         There are also several volunteer trees in this zone that we would like to remove,
including some Buckthorn. These trees would be cut, piled and burned and the stumps would
be sprayed to eliminated resprouting of the stems once cut.
2020: Dormant mowing (April) Spot herbicide treatment (June, July August)
2021: Tree removal (October) Spot herbicide treatment (June, July August)
2022: Spot herbicide treatment (July, August)

Wedge:
The wedge piece consists of mostly Canada Goldenrod. Due to its distant proximity the
homeowners and budget constraints, NRS has opted to leave this piece alone for now, unless
directed otherwise.

Discussion

         The management plans outlined above utilize both mechanical treatment and handheld
equipment. In either case, NRS will use the best tool for the job to achieve the maximum result
with the least amount of collateral damage. Some of the approaches listed above require follow
up treatments to ensure that target species are indeed being eliminated from a site, as weed
seeds often reside in soil profiles for many years and can resprout the following growing
season. We believe in treating Inspiration Development as a whole, chipping away at key
problematic areas with state-of-the-art equipment and trained personnel to obtain noticeable
differences across the landscape. This approach will allow us to focus our efforts across the
entire premises every year so that not one area gets all the attention while the others continue
to degrade, leaving a continuing uphill battle to contend with. This approach will require us to
make multiple site visits throughout each growing season to target certain vegetation types,
using different management techniques such as mowing, spraying, and tree cutting. We will
also be jumping from zone to zone to achieve each annual goal, but it is all part of the big
picture plan, essential to the end result of a healthy, environmentally functioning and
aesthetically pleasing landscape.
         Coinciding with the free flowing nature of this management plan, NRS believes that it is
critical to read into what the vegetation is telling us for each one of these zones. At this point in
time, we are outlining three spot herbicide applications in many of the zones, but after one or
two growing seasons we may reassess and determine that our efforts may be better directed in
other places. We also realize that prescribed fire is a major factor in healthy ecosystem
function. Though it is not specifically outlined in this report, some of these zones will benefit
from prescribed fire in the near future. As we work through the next growing season, we will
further assess each zone and provide our recommendations for prescribed fire going forward.