Five Strategies address the Goal of the Environment Section. These Strategies
are commonly known as the Environment Commmittee, Clean Water Book, the Oak
Savana Restoration Project (Watershed Signs and Watershed Planting), and Bicycle
Improvements.
Click on the title of each strategy for action plan language and allocation
information.
Environment Committee
This standing committee was created as the neighborhood
began the implementation of the Action Plan. The committee includes residents
and ECCO board members and oversees the environment strategies in the Action
Plan as well as other environmental activities in the community. The Environment
Committee assisted in the reclamation of the oak savanna on Lake Calhoun’s
eastern shore, they implemented the tree fund and they oversaw the bicycle
rack installations in Uptown. The committee also assisted in planting trees
and native grasses at the lake in addition to yearly participation in Earth
Day events.
Clean Water Book
The ECCO NRP provided input and funding for a multi-neighborhood task force
to produce an instructional book that would teach residents to observe practices
that contribute to a cleaner watershed. The book was distributed to neighborhood
residents.
Oak Savana Restoration (Watershed Signs and Watershed
Planting Strategies)
The neighborhood combined these two strategies along with $8,000 from bicycle improvements in a restoration project commonly referred to as the ECCO Oak Savanna Slopes Restoration Project. The ECCO Oak Savanna Slopes Restoration Project was and is a joint effort to stabilize 4.2 acres of eroded hillside slope on the east side of Lake Calhoun; protect the existing Bur Oak on the hillside; reintroduce the indigenous “savanna” common to this area prior to settlement; and improve water quality in Lake Calhoun by reducing run off. A Conservation Partners Grant was awarded by the DNR in the amount of $17,412, to which ECCO matched $20,456 in NRP and neighborhood funds, volunteer hours and in-kind donations. The project began by documenting and removing existing invasive species on the hillside, especially buckthorn. The area was prepped for planting by cutting buckthorn, removing shrubs, pulling weeds, and stabilizing the slope with wattling. Replanting efforts then ensued. A mixture of native grasses and flowers (little blue stem, side-oats grama, butterfly flower, button blazing star, monarda, black eyed Susans, etc) was hand-sown in the hillside and a split rail fence was installed at the hill top to discourage bikers from “ramping” down, thus disturbing the fragile and exposed soil. A controlled burn was conducted in the fall of 2002, and volunteers have since planted about 20 new Bur Oak, and have added to the initial hand-seeding of native plant species. Since the grant’s beginning in January 2000, dozens of professionals and volunteers continue to work toward the success of ECCO’s Oak Savanna. These include staff of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, the Minnesota DNR, the Minneapolis NRP, and Applied Ecology, as well as volunteers from the Minnesota Conservation Corps, Hennepin County Sentenced to Serve crews, The Loring Nicollet Bethlehem Church, and the ECCO neighborhood. The grant has been successfully completed, but the restoration continues.
Bicycle Improvements
The neighborhood used NRP funds for three projects – a containment fence on
East Calhoun Parkway, bicycle parking hitches, and support for a transit study
in the Midtown Greenway Corridor. With assistance of the Minneapolis Public
Works department the neighborhood was able to purchase 50 bicycle hitches
for installation between parking meters along Hennepin Avenue, Lake and 31st
Streets. Other funds went into the Oak Savanna project to build a containment
fence along East Calhoun Parkway. This split rail fence deters off-road bicyclist
from descending on the cleared hillside towards the lakeshore. Finally, ECCO
NRP granted $3,000 to a multi-neighborhood supported transit feasibility study
for the Midtown Greenway Corridor produced by the Midtown Greenway Coalition.
Community Garden/Tree Fund
The neighborhood applied these funds to the various programs in an effort
to improve on its natural environment. Primarily these funds purchased trees
and tree treatment in East Calhoun. Residents applied for $40 or $100 to purchase
trees to plant on individual properties. Twelve residents participated in
this program. The neighborhood purchased 20 oak trees for the planting in
the restored oak savanna during the Earth Day 2002 celebration. As for community
gardens East Calhoun attempted a garden adjacent to the new ramp and stair
at the “Zen Center” crossing. This initiative failed due to drought-like
conditions immediately after the garden’s planting.