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Less than one percent of the prairie and savanna iandscapes that once existed in southeastern <br />Minnesota remain. The goal far managing the remaining remnants should be to maintain or <br />restore as much of the original diversity as possible, through re-establishing or mimicking the <br />processes that helped to maintain these plant communities. <br />Prairie and savanna management should consider the followin� actions, as appropriate for each <br />site: <br />• Remove exotic species with appropriate methods. Cutting and herbicide treat�nent <br />are often rnost appropriate for tree and shrub species such as black locust, sumac, and <br />buckthorn. Repeated herbicide treatments or biological controls may be needed for <br />other exotic species such as Ieafy spurge and reed canary grass. <br />• Remedy disturbance problenrzs where pos�ible, hy closing trails where erosion is <br />Occurring, or reduce/rotate grazing to maintain plant populations. <br />• Use prescribed burns to control cool season grasses and other exotics, remove <br />accumulated plant litter, encourage recruitment of prairie plants from the seedbed, <br />and to maintain the health of the prairie for t�e long term. Burns may bc schec�uled <br />annually at �rst, and reduced to every three to four years, depending on amount of <br />litter available to successful�y support a burn. Vary the burn regime over the long- <br />term to inciude both fall and spring burns. Burn only a portion of any given prairie to <br />conserve insect diversity_ <br />• If elimination of exotics and prescribed burns over several seasons iails to restore <br />desired diversity, consider plant community restoration throubh supplemental seeding <br />of cut and burned area. Reconstructed prairies and savannas will require maintenance <br />through infrequent mowing or prescribed burn regimes (hurning is preferred over <br />mowing when possible). Plantings should use native seed from local sources. <br />• In general, savannas can be burned less frequently than prairies and droughty sites <br />burned less frequently than mesic or wet sites. Average burn frequency for the dry <br />prairics and savannas in Roseville is approximately 2-5 years. The bum frequency <br />shoutd be greater during the first ten to twenty years if control of trees and brush is a <br />managcment objective. <br />City of Roseville 27 <br />Parks Nc�tiirnl Resoaerce Managen�ent <br />