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I***- Westwood Professional Services, Inc September 24, 1997 Mr. Jim Hafher Minnehaha Creek Watershed District 2500 Shadywood Road Excelsior, MN 55331 I4180W«st Highway? EiJen Pfaine. VN 55344 Phont: 612-937 5150 fa«: 6I2-937-5822 Toll Fret: 1-888-937-5150 Emati: wps^estwoodps.com Ref: 97648 Re: Request for Written Wetland Boundary Confirmation for Wetland Delineation of Lake Minnetonka Woods Property, Lots 2 and 3, Block 9, SE1/4 SW1/4 of Section 17, T117N, R23W, City of Orono, Hennepin County, Minnesota Dear Mr. Hafher: I am writing to request written confirmation from the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District that the wetland boundaries delineated for the above referenced site are acceptable for local administration of the Minnesota Wetland Conservation Act of 1991, as amended. The following te.xt and attached data forms provide the required documentation for the delineation. WETLAND DELINEATION METHODOLOGY Wetland boundaries were delineated and flagged in the field by Westwood Professional Services on August 11,1997 using the Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual (Environmental Laboratory, Waterways Experiment Station, 1987). This manual is currently followed to delineate wetlands regulated under the Minnesota Wetland Conservation Act of 1991 and Section 404 of the Federal Clean Water Act. The level two routine delineation method was used in which sampling transects were established in a representative transition zone of each identified wetland. Transects consisted of one sampling point in obvious upland and one in obvious wetland. Soils, vegetation, and hydrology information were recorded at each point on data forms. Species dominance for vegetation measurements was based on the percent aerial or basal coverage visually estimated within a 30-foot radius for the tree and shrub layers and a five-foot radius for the herbaceous layer within the community type sampled. Prior to delineating the wetland boundaries in the field. National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) mapping, the Soil Survey of Hennepin County, Minnesota (USDA, 1974), and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Protected Waters Mapping (1981) were reviewed. The soil survey shows the southern and western portions of the property mapped as Marsh with the remainder being Hayden loam and Cut and Fill Land. The NWI map shows two PEMF (Palustrine emergent, semipermanently flooded) wetlands in the southern portion of the site within the area designated as Marsh on the soil survey. The DNR Protected Wetlands Map for Hennepin County shows Protected Wetland 27-914W on the southern half of the property roughly corresponding to the NWI-mapped wetlands. Wetland areas were classified according to Wetlands of the United States (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Circular 39 : Shaw and Fredine, 1971) and Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States (FWS/OBS Publication 79/31; Cowardin et. al. 1979). Throughout the remainder of this report, wetland areas are identified first by their Circular 39 Classifications. Cowardin Classifications are included in