Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 02/08/2018

Home

to manage natural resources in the park/trail unit. The operations plan should indicate how energy to operate and maintain the park unit is being managed and conserved. The plan should also state how solid waste from park users is recycled and disposed of consistent with applicable laws. • Public engagement and participation: A process to engage the public and involve affected agencies, local units of government, and local, state, and federal recreation providers in the development of the master plan. The public engagement process must seek to mitigate existing racial, ethnic, cultural or linguistic barriers and include people of diverse races, ethnicities, classes, ages, abilities and national origin. A master plan must include the public engagement plan and describe the process undertaken to engage those mentioned above. The process must include opportunity for the public to be heard and to have influence over the contents in the master plan. The Council will provide staff assistance, where appropriate. Regional park implementing agencies are encouraged to include transportation and transit planners in the development of a master plan, when appropriate. The regional park implementing agency shall present the master plan and planned amendments to all affected agencies, local units of government, and local, state and federal recreation providers and address their concerns prior to submitting the plan to the Council. The master plan submitted to the Council shall include a summary of comments received that identifies issues raised and content resulting from engagement efforts. • Public awareness: Plans for making the public aware of services available when the regional park is open, including how to access the park by transit, if applicable. • Accessibility: A plan that addresses accessibility, affordability, and other measures designed to ensure that the facility can be used by people with limited mobility. • Natural resources: As part of the master plan, there should be a natural -resource management component that includes: A Natural Resources Inventory (NRI) as a part of the master plan process. An NRI should include a land cover inventory that is consistent with the Minnesota Land Cover Classification System developed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the MetroGlS - a consortium of government entities in the region that create, manage and share digital geographic -based data in a geographic information system (GIS). The natural resource inventory should include native plant communities mapped in the Minnesota County Biological Survey and listed species (rare, endangered, and threatened) that are documented in the Natural Heritage Information System. The natural resource inventory may include other land -based information. The Council has created the Natural Resources Digital Atlas (NRDA) - an easy -to -use mapping application designed to assist communities and other organizations and users in the Twin Cities metropolitan area to identify and protect locally or regionally significant natural resources. Using consistent, region -wide information based on the above data or tool will assure compatibility with other natural resource inventories that have been completed or will be done in the metropolitan region. The Natural Resource Inventory should be a basis for projects/proposals to restore degraded resources and maintain high -quality natural resource features, including the