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5 <br />1. Executive Summary <br />The City of Arden Hillsseeks to improve the quality of the naturalareas at three of its public parks: Hazelnut <br />Park, Floral Park, and Chatham Park. Native plant communities support a vast range of ecological functions <br />including pollinator and wildlife habitat, carbon storage, water filtration, flood regulation, and the <br />development and enrichment of soil. Land use intensification has significantly reduced and degraded native <br />plant community habitats. Great River Greening’s assessment of the project sitesinformsreaderson the <br />existing plant community structure as well as restoration recommendations. Restoration of natural areas at <br />the listed parks will support pollinator foraging resources, water quality and streambank erosion, pollutant <br />uptake from urban surface runoff, climate resiliency, and overall visual enhancement of this public outdoor <br />space. <br />The undeveloped focus project areas in these parksinclude 12.5 acres of woodland, 1.2 acres of prairie or <br />open savanna, 2.7 acres of turf lawn, and 0.36acres of shoreline. This management briefis guided by <br />existing vegetation, soils, and topography and will provide guidance on invasive control, debris and hazard <br />tree removal, understory enhancement, invasive herbaceous control, and turf to prairie conversion <br />throughout project unitsas they apply. The recommendations of each management unit should be <br />considered the initial phase of a long-term commitment to land management. <br />The site-specificsectionsof this document contain recommendations for the execution of management <br />objectives for the named areas within each park in this document. The land in each of these areas is part of <br />an altered urban ecosystem. As such, the recommendations for restoration are based on visual <br />assessments of the sites and mapped soil conditions, with the understanding that they will not be fully <br />restored to a native plant community. Instead, the goal is to transform the parks intosuccessful and healthy <br />natural spaces for park visitors to enjoy and wildlife to find respite in.