Minnesota: Prairie restoration to begin at Sakatah Lake State Park

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A restoration of historic prairie and oak savanna habitat is set to begin at Sakatah Lake State Park in Waterville this month, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said.

The landscape surrounding the park was originally a mosaic of prairies, savannas, oak woodlands and wetlands, said Molly Tranel Nelson, DNR regional resource specialist. This changed over time due to extensive agriculture, population growth, a lack of natural fire and the disappearance of large grazers such as bison and elk.

“Our goal is to return a portion of the park to what it may have looked like 150 years ago,” Tranel Nelson said.

A management plan for the natural and cultural resources in the park, developed in 2007, will guide the project. The plan used past data, photos and other records to determine the historic ecology of the park. It also explored the most appropriate areas of the park to be restored.

The project meets management goals of the plan by removing invasive boxelder, honeysuckle and Amur maple on three sites, totaling about 45 acres, Tranel Nelson said. Undesirable brush – including prickly ash, dogwood and sumac – also will be removed.

The harvested wood will be ground into chips on the site, trucked away and sold as biomass. All harvesting and grinding will be completed before spring thaw so that disturbance to the sites will be minimal.

Harvest activities will be visible from state Highway 60, LeRoy Avenue and County Road 99, and there will be increased traffic from semis and heavy equipment. Parking along these roads is not allowed.

“There will be a lot of activity on the east side of the park in February and March,” Tranel Nelson said. “We ask visitors to please use caution when traveling in these areas.”

The Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail will remain open during the project, but a portion of the Timberdoodle Trail will be closed to hikers and skiers, she added.

Once the woody cover is removed, some supplemental seeding of native grasses and forbs may be done through the summer and fall to improve the quality and diversity of plant life on the sites. Prescribed fire will be used to control re-invasion of woody seedlings.

Tranel Nelson said this project, combined with a restored grassland known as Schwartz Prairie, will create about 150 acres of contiguous grassland within the park.

Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources and through a grant from the Parks and Trails Fund. The fund was created after voters approved the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment in November 2008. The Parks and Trails Fund receives 14.25 percent of the sales tax revenue and may only be spent to support parks and trails of regional or statewide significance.

Sakatah Lake State Park is 14 miles west of Faribault off state Highway 60. It covers 842 acres and includes 3.5 miles of shoreline along Sakatah Lake. The park is celebrating its 50th anniversary and is featured on the 2013 Minnesota state park vehicle permit.

More information can be found here or by calling the DNR Information Center, 651-296-6157, or toll-free 888-646-6367 between 8 a.m. and
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.