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Metropolitan Council <br />Item 11. Fish, Wildlife and Ecologically Sensitive Resources <br />Comment: “Further study should be done with regard to the impact the golf course will <br />have on the Big Woods forest tract located on the site Council staff is specifically <br />concerned about the proposed location of golf course holes 8-13 within one of the three <br />tracts of Big Woods trees located in the northwest comer of the proposed site. <br />...The extent of the impact this alteration would have on specific plants, trees and wildlife <br />was not thoroughly discussed in the EAW, <br />The developer should design the golf course in such a manner that the impact to the Big <br />Woods tract located within the site plan is minimized, and natural characteristics are <br />maintained.” (Metropolitan Council letter, March 4, 1997, page 1 and 2) <br />Response: The EAW does address that habitat will change due to the fragmenting of the <br />Woods, which will create more open areas and forest fringe. Some forest song birds will be <br />affected due to predation and competition. <br />In general, the fragmenting of the forest will create greater “biodiversity” as a greater number of <br />species are found in forest fringe areas, as opposed to dense forested areas. That is not to say that <br />the greater biodiversity is an improvement over the specialist species which occur in a Big Wood <br />type ecosystem. There are few species which exist solely in Big Woods habitat. Mature <br />deciduous trees are a common habitat requirement, and there will be many mature deciduous <br />trees remaining on this site. <br />Human intrusion and activity will only be present on the site from sunrise till sunset for 5 months <br />out of the years. Therefore, species remaining on site would need to be less tolerant of people <br />than if it were a park. <br />Microclimate conditions will change due to the edge effect. Some spring ephemerals may be <br />affected. However, the plant community would remain in at least 50% shade cover. In addition, <br />the golf club will maintain an open forest edge by removing exotics, such as common buckthorn, <br />honeysuckle, and other understory shrub species. <br />Because the fairways are only approximately 150 feet wide, the possibility of “blow down” due <br />to increased winds, is minimal. <br />♦Please see attached fact sheets on specific wildlife species identified by the DNR <br />Impacts to the Big Woods have been minimized in several aspects throughout the golf course <br />design. Eleven different routings were prepared and reviewed for the site. A comparison of <br />densities of golf holes on the property south of Co. Rd. 6 and north of Co. Rd. 6 shows that 11.80 <br />Acres per hole of land is proposed, compared to a more dense 9.07 Acres per hole in less