Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 04/08/2021

Home

During early European settlement, logging had an impact on the Rum River Basin. In 1820 logging began in the area to support the construction of Fort Snelling. Logs were floated down the Rum River to the Mississippi River. Heavier logging started around 1848 and lasted about 40 years. In 1853 the first dam on the Rum River was built in its current location and a sawmill was constructed the following year. Because Rivers' Bend Park is near this Anoka dam site and the confluence with the Mississippi River, it has historical significance.5 As the City of Ramsey developed, increasingly intense human activities began to change the landscape and natural communities. In the city of Ramsey today, approximately 80-90% percent of the native landscape has been substantially impacted by human activities. Examples of changes since European settlement include the roads and the railroads fragmenting forests and other communities. Urbanization continues to fragment natural communities further with the addition of more roads, streets and utilities. Construction of all types alters and compacts soils, and changes the local hydrology. Large areas of impervious surface and drainage of wetlands increases the amount of stormwater runoff and pollutants carried to local waters. Agriculture affected hydrology by draining wetlands and altering creeks. Vegetation was altered through clearing, plowing, cessation of regular fires, and grazing. These effects are evident in the reduction of native vegetation diversity in meadow and forest understory and substitution of communities of low diversity dominated by non-native plants. Soil erosion increased where native cover was removed, adding sediments to creeks, wetlands and lakes. Non-native, aggressive species like common buckthorn have been added as landscape materials. Changes in habitat and the increasing presence of humans in the landscape has brought changes in animal populations, decreasing or eliminating some species like bluebirds and bison, and favoring others such as English sparrows and white -tail deer.' Existing Landscape Conditions and Features Climate The climate in east -central Minnesota is considered to be continental and subhumid, with long, cold winters and relatively brief, warm summers. Wide fluctuations in temperature and precipitation strongly influence the plant communities present in the region and cause plants to be adapted to extremes, rather than averages.' Total annual precipitation ranges from 27 inches to 29 inches, with growing -season precipitation ranging from 12 to 13 inches. The growing season length ranges from approximately 136 to 156 days.' Land Cover In terms of land cover classification there is a significant portion of floodplain forest along the southeast bank of the park. The remaining area of the southern portion of the park is planted and maintained vegetation, but reminiscent of prairie, including 6-7 acres of restored, dry tallgrass prairie with some shrubland along the oxbow lake shore. Wetlands The site is contained in the Rum River Major Watershed, which lies within the Mississippi River Basin and borders the Rum River to the east. Headwaters of the Rum River originate from Lake Mille Lacs and it acts as one of the largest tributaries to the Mississippi River north of the Twin Cities. The Rum River is listed as an ecoregional priority by The Nature Conservancy, deemed a wild and scenic river, and listed by the MN DNR as having at least two species in greatest conservation need.' At some point, the Rum River developed a chute along the eastern bank of Rivers' Bend Park, cutting off its former meander along the north, west and south sides of the 5