Notice of Decision - MN wetlnd Conservation Act - 2015

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overstory dominated by the boxelder, silver maple, and American elm, with an open patchy herb layer that included reed canary grass, bluejoint reed grass, and small amounts of giant goldenrod and garlic mustard. Shrubs were patchy and variable, consisting of common buckthorn and other species. The forested wetland transitioned to cattail marsh near the northeastern limits of the property. This wetland covered 30,988 square feet (0.71 acre) within the property boundary. Two upland areas were delineated as exceptions to the wetland. The first exception was a raised upland island covering about 200 square feet and associated with an uprooted tree near the lakeshore. The second exception was a raised forested upland peninsula covering about 4,000 square feet that extended onto the adjoining property to the south. The wetland boundary corresponded to a rise in topography accompanied by an increase in the predominance of FAC, FACU, and UPL forbs. The wetland-upland plant community transitioned from boxelder-silver maple-American elm forest to sugar maple forest, with com�non buckthorn in the shrub layer. Predominant species in the upland herb layer included garlic mustard, common burdock, enchanter's nightshade, sticky willy (aka cleavers), and prickly gooseberry. The boundary between the wetland and the wooded upland to the west generally paralleled the 950 contour, but diverged from the contour where a triangular upland area about 1 foot above the wetland boundary jutted out into the wetland (Figure 2). This area was raised enough to differ in vegetation and soils from the wetland, but it did not rise enough to appear on topographic mapping. The cattail marsh portion of the wetland is shown on the NWI map as PEM1 A/PEM1 C wetland, but the forested portion of the wetland is not shown on the NWI map. The county soil survey shows parts of the wetland as hydric soils, including Muskego muck and Glencoe loam. The soil survey maps the western portion of the wetland and the adjoining upland as predominantly non- hydric Lester loam. The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) wetland inventory assigns a Preserve wetland management classification to the northern portion of this wetland (Figure 7). The southern forested portion of the wetland is not classified on the MCWD map. Other Areas No other areas with hydrophytic vegetation or wetland hydrology were observed on the site. No other areas were mapped with hydric soil on the soil survey map, or as wetland on the NWI map. IV. CERTIFICATION OF DELINEATION The procedures utilized in the described delineation are based on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 1987 Wetland Delineation Manual as required by Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and the Minnesota Wetland Conservation Act. Both the delineation and report were conducted in compliance with regulatory standards in place at the time the work was completed. All site boundaries indicated on figures within this report are approxiinate and do not constitute an official survey product. 4