Orono Community Management Plan 2020-2040

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CMP Part 3A. Environmental Protection Plan City of Orono Community Management Plan 2020-2040 Part 3A, Page 8 Orono's native vegetation is primarily woodland interspersed with localized areas of wet prairie marshlands. Northern Orono and many areas along Lake Minnetonka's shore contain vestiges of Minnesota's Big Woods with hardwood forests of oak, maple, elm, and basswood. Much of these have been thinned into scattered stands, as shown on Map 3A-4, but major forests remain in north central and north east Orono, especially around Lydiard Lake and in the MNDNR's Wolsfeld Woods and Wood Rill nature areas. In addition, 100 year old settlements have by now added mature stands of various evergreens and other decorative trees and shrubs. Tree Preservation Policy 1. The City finds that its trees and woodlands provide numerous benefits including: soil stabilization, reduction of storm water runoff, improvement of air quality, reduction of noise pollution, protection and increase of property values, privacy, energy conservation through natural insulation, and natural habitat for birds and other wildlife. 2. It is the City’s policy to preserve and protect significant trees, stands of trees and wooded buffer areas. 3. The City will study whether adoption of additional tree protection and replacement ordinances is necessary to accomplish these goals. 4. The eradication of exotic vegetation species such as buckthorn will be encouraged in all wooded areas. However, in Shoreland areas where complete removal of buckthorn may leave a relatively bare lakeshore, plans for revegetation may be required. Orono's Ground Water Supplies Orono enjoys the same abundant ground water resources from the Twin Cities artesian basin as does most of the metropolitan area. In addition, our generally heavy clay soil layers near the surface have protected the ground waters from surface pollution. Most areas of the City have had no difficulty obtaining potable water supplies drawn from the Jordan aquifer with wells ranging in depth from 75 to 200 feet. Only occasional wells have had to go deeper. Land Cover Summary. In 2006, Hennepin County published the Natural Resource Inventory for Orono which is included here by reference. The land cover classification encompassed the entire incorporated area of the City (approximately 15,400 acres) of which 1/3 is open water. Artificial surfaces, which include residential areas, farmsteads, commercial lands and other areas with greater than four percent impervious surfaces, accounted for an additional 20% of Orono’s total area. Forest and woodland cover combined accounted for an additional 20% of Orono, with herbaceous vegetation types (wet meadows, cattail marshes, etc.) and planted, maintained or cultivated vegetation types (agricultural crops, hayfields, pastures) each comprising 13% of the City. The figure 3A-1 below illustrates Orono’s MLCCS Level One Land Cover, as does Map 3A- 4.