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Motion: Roger Lake moved, Bob Johnson seconded, to authorize staff to finalize the plans and specifications and to advertise for bids for the ClP Maintenance/Repairs 2003 project. Motion carried. Project Status Report discussions were interrupted until conclusion of the following scheduled presentation. 6. PRESENTATION BY SUSAN SCHMIDT, TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND OPEN SPACE CORRIDOR PROTECTION-ISSUES, TRENDS, AND SCIENCE Susan Schmidt, State Director of the Trust for Public Lands, described the organization's mission as conserving and protecting land for people. They work towards their mission using three broad concepts: • buy real estate for conservation purposes • conservation financing: work with local units of government or special purpose districts that need funding assistance • conservation visioning: prioritize parcels for protection and conservation, matching the need with the parcel Great opportunities for land conservation currently exist in the metro area: • B1uePrint 2030. She is excited about having a regional growth management policy that, for the first time, acknowledges and is driven by land conservation issues. • Public interest in and support for land conservation is reflected in the passage of recent referendums, such as the Dakota County Referendum, which will raise $20 million in bonds to fund riparian farmland protection and natural area protection. • There is more support for a common land conservation vision in the metropolitan area, mapped out and known as "Preliminary Regionally Significant Natural Resource Areas and Remaining Natural Areas." • Tools available: Metro Greenways, Metro Parks and Open Space Commission, and Brownfields to Greenspace. Below, Susan focuses on another tool known as the Metro Wildlife Corridors Project. A partnership was formed that brought together many outdoor groups and other agencies who were successful in obtaining LCMR support fora $5 million proposal that will be presented to the 2003 legislature to fund the Metro Wildlife Corridor Program. Funds will be used to acquire land or restore land that meets the criteria for preservation in the seven-county metro area. Some of the targeted areas lie within the Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District: the Mississippi River corridor, the Fish Creek tributary, and the Battle Creek tributary. Metro Wildlife Corridor Program activities include: • Develop focus area implementation strategies and provide overall program coordination. • Restore significant habitat on an estimated 1,270 acres of either currently protected or newly acquired lands within identified focus areas. • Protect regionally significant habitat on approximately 815 acres. Within each focus area, collaborators will apply a variety of land protection tools and strategies to increase, buffer, and/or connect these regionally and locally significant habitat areas. By January, the focus area decisions will be made. She advised the Board that by next summer, the District can join in a commitment to improve habitat of the area and to leverage more dollars for project implementation over aten-biennium period. Roger Lake declared a break at 8:45 p.m. PROJECT STATUS REPORTS, continued Protect 3 -West Tamarack Swamp Improvements Weir Drive Drainage Improvements: The District was informed by the City of Woodbury's engineering consultant that the roadway profile changed, and associated design modifications were necessary to avoid impact to an existing sanitary sewer in Weir Drive. Brad stated that the District's share of this Page 4 November 6, 2002 RWMWD Minutes