A prairie revival at Battle Creek Park

Seen any bobolinks or blazing stars around Battle Creek Regional Park lately?

Probably not.

Ramsey County officials want to change that and are in the process of restoring 200 acres of the park to native prairie, savannah and woodland habitats to attract homegrown bugs, birds and flowers only minutes from downtown St. Paul.

It will be the largest restoration project in the county, as well as a slice of what Minnesota looked like when the settlers first arrived.

"Part of our responsibility as a park district is to preserve and protect the land and have a healthy wildlife population," said John Moriarty, the county's natural resources director. "One way to do that is to have a healthy habitat. A native habitat breeds better diversity in wildlife."

Some of the desired birds -- including bobolinks, grasshopper sparrows and meadowlarks -- are on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource's list of species in greatest need of conservation.

Those birds will want to eat native insects, which Moriarty said should be attracted to the 20 types of wildflowers -- from blazing stars to wild lupine -- that will be planted.

Why Battle Creek?

County officials picked Battle Creek because it covers 900 acres. The 200-acre restoration should provide plenty of room for grassland birds, which generally need at least 40 acres to want to nest, Moriarty said.

"Any opportunity to restore [prairie] does something for preserving our natural heritage," said Hannah Texler, plant ecologist with the DNR. "Why do we care about that? Hundreds of different animal and plant species live in those habitats, and losing them means losing those species."

Before European settlement, prairie covered 18 million acres of Minnesota; now, less than 1 percent of the state's prairie remains, according to the DNR.

There are many efforts across the state to preserve and restore prairie and savannah, Texler said. The Battle Creek project is one of the larger ones.

She said restoring native habitat in the Mississippi National River Recreation Area is crucial to providing better food sources for migrating birds.

The county's work ties in with other projects the federal agency has undertaken in the area, she said.

It'll take time

Last month, the county ripped out buckthorn, black locusts and Siberian elms, which are invasive trees.

Environmental Wood Supply, which provides wood for District Energy in downtown St. Paul, ground up the brush and tree parts into 1,200 tons of wood chips -- about enough to heat the county courthouse for 11 months.

The land should start to look like nice prairie, savannah and woodland in the next two to three years, Moriarty said.

Money for the project comes from a $340,000 grant from the parks and trails fund of the state's Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment.