Julian Sellers and John Zakelj of St Paul Audubon Socy have been doing a lot of the work with Maplewood and Ramsey Co. to try to save this parcel from development. It is contiguous to Battle Creek Park and would add significant bird-rich grassland to the park. You may have seen the bird inventory posted on eBird.
<https://www.startribune.com/audubon-society-urges-ramsey-county-to-save-gra ssland-eyed-for-development/600079014/> Habitat or housing? Audubon Society urges county to save Maplewood tract - StarTribune.com "Audubon members acknowledge that the Henslow's sparrow's endangered status doesn't bar the county from development, though county leaders must wait until the end of the sparrow's nesting season to dig up the site." This sentence defines the lack of protection for migratory birds in MN provided by DNR listing of species. Federal ESA listing protects the bird's habitat throughout the year, but MN listing does not. The habitat of migratory birds who breed in MN can be destroyed during the non-breeding season. This has happened with large Henslow's Sparrow and Loggerhead Shrike habitats and will continue to diminish these bird species and all other plants and animals that inhabit grasslands in the state. The greatest change in abundance of birds in North America is that of grassland species. The Rosenberg, et. al. study published in Science in Sept 2019, found that grassland birds lost more than 720 million individuals since 1970 -- a population decline of 53 percent. GAndersson St Paul ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html During the pandemic, the MOU encourages you to stay safe, practice social distancing, and continue to bird responsibly.
