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Meaning to "Wildlife Area" June 25, 2009 We hear about the need for more open space and wildlife habitat all the time. Just the other night we attended the Vermillion River Corridor meeting for our area. The proposal for funding this project represented one of its goals as: "Identifies and integrates wildlife habitat protection/restoration and outdoor recreation (public access and trail) projects and priorities with water quality improvement activities" Now wcco.com reports on "ongoing problems" in the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refugein Burnsville, where police are cracking down on males who frequent the wildlife area in order to have sex in public with strangers. I'm guessing that's not exactly the kind of wildlife that the federal government intended to sponsor in this 14,000-acre refuge. Although I suppose one could broadly interpret portions of the refuge's 2004 Comprehensive Conservation Plan promoting "native species and natural processes" to somehow support this natural use of the wildlife refuge. Fortunately, however, local police do not adopt this point of view and instead call it "unacceptable behavior." We're told that the Burnsville police will continue their enforcement in the area at least until next week. After that, who knows?Cross-posted at www.steamvalveblog.com Vermillion River Corridor - Workshops June 16, 2009 You may have seen the promotional material about the Vermillion River Corridor. There is a series of workshops to discuss what should be done with land along the Vermillion River. The next one (for the Lakeville/Farmington focus area) is on Thursday, June 18, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Dakota County Extension and Conservation Center, 4100 220th Street West, Farmington. Other workshops are: (New Market and Eureka) Focus Area: June 22, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Farmington Library, 508 Third St., Farmington Castle Rock-Marshan-Vermillion Focus Area: July 1, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Dakota County Extension and Conservation Center, 4100 220th Street West, Farmington This project is being run by Al Singer, a Dakota County employee. I met with him yesterday to talk about this. He told me that this is a Vermillion River Watershed Joint Powers Organization (VRWJPO) project. Here are the Draft Principles he gave me. Why don't the Draft Principles balance the interests of property owners against the interests of others? (they don't mention property rights, just "collaboration" with landowners) He also gave me pictures illustrating what the Vermillion River Corridor could look like. He said that the workshop attendees will be asked to choose what pictures they like best. None of the pictures show residents living on their land. None of them show farmers farming their land. All of the pictures that have human beings in them show people who have come to the Vermillion River Corridor from someplace else to fish, bike, hunt, and kayak. Here are the pictures: Agricultural buffer Bed and Breakfast Bike Rentals Bike Touring Biofuels Bioretention Landscaping Cluster Development Conservation Buffer Farmers Market Fishing Hunting Kayaking Natural Trail Neighborhood Trail Open Space Preserve Paved Trail Paved Trail with Bridge Prairie Restoration Preserve Selling Real Estate (you're not supposed to like this one) Residential Native Buffer Residential Rain Garden Tourism Water Access Interesting point raised at Eureka Township Board Meeting April 13, 2009 See www.envisionfreedomeureka.com for the story. Eureka Township Planning Commission Declines to Make Recommendation on Water Management Plan April 6, 2009 At tonight's meeting of the Eureka Township Planning Commission, one motion was made regarding the Water Management Plan. The motion was to recommend that the board not adopt the Rural Water Management Plan. It died for lack of a second. Some Planning Commission members expressed their misgivings about the ordinance. Not a single member moved that the Planning Commission recommend that the Town Board adopt this ordinance. The Town Board meets next Monday to consider the question. The Other Vermillion River Meeting Held Last Night March 31, 2009 Last night, Eureka Township held its own public hearing on the proposed Ordinance for the Watershed. We just learned that there was another Vermillion River meeting also held last night, and invitations had been mailed to some - but not all - people owning land on or near the Vermillion River. Check out the invitation. The Final Ordinance Draft, Made Available March 30, 2009 You can find it here. Yes, You Do Have to Give a Buyer Certain Information When You Sell Your Property. At the hearing on March 19, Dean Johnson, who wrote the much criticized Ordinance at issue, told the assembled public that, since the buffers don't kick in until you subdivide the property, you can sell to a buyer and not mention that subdividing could trigger buffers and mandatory conservation easements. He neglected to mention that doing so may be illegal and could subject you to a very expensive lawsuit. . . . more KSTP Covers the Public Hearing at Castle Rock Township Tonight Check it out here. A Very Good Question. When somebody asks a good question and doesn't get any answer, you have to wonder. . . . more Read and gather signatures for the Petition to stop the government from requiring unwilling landowners to give conservation easements. . . more Public Hearings have been scheduled for Rural Communities in Vermillion River Watershed for March 16 and March 19 . . . more The Great Dakota/Scott County Land Grab The Vermillion River Watershed Joint Powers Organization has adopted a mind-boggling array of new restrictions on land use. They apply within 21 suburban and rural cities and townships in the Vermillion River Watershed. Unless local officials adopt the JPO's water management ordinance they will lose their permitting authority . . . more Buffers/Mandatory Conservation Easements Rural communities in the Vermillion River Watershed will have the option of adopting an ordinance requiring mandatory conservation easements and buffers around the perimeter of all wetlands, major waterways, and public waters wetlands, or giving up their permitting authority to the Joint Powers Organization. Wetlands will be mapped. "Major waterways" include "Intermittent and perennial streams" as shown on Map 1. Look at the map to see if any of the many tentacles of stream corridors crosses your land, and make sure you try to find the light blue tributaries. They are called "major waterways," too. . . . more Rural Collaborative Local Water Management Plan Fails to Comply with BWSR Requirements. The Rural Collaborative Plan, written for the twelve rural townships and cities within the Vermillion River Watershed, fails to comply with several regulations adopted by Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources. The Rural Plan Doesn't Focus on Local Issues. BWSR rules require that local plans only contain problem assessment for the individual community adopting the plan. Subpart 6 of Reg. Sec. 8410.0170 states: . . . more |
VRWJPO Documents Vermillion River Watershed Map VRWJPO Watershed Plan "Major Waterways" map VRWJPO Standards VRWJPO Rules 21 Communities affected Rural Communities Documents Rural Collaborative Local Watershed Plan Draft Ordinance 12 Rural Communities Affected |
