Ημερολόγιο της/του minnesota_scientific_and_natural_areas

Welcome to the St. Croix Savanna SNA Self-guided Bioblitz 2020! We’re excited to have your help recording the biodiversity of this site and enhancing our species list! We are interested in adding plant species to our lists on our webpage, and welcome observations of all taxa. Please take some time to read the information below before visiting the SNA to make observations. To learn more about Minnesota Scientific and Natural Areas, check out the website and visiting guidelines . For more information on how to use iNaturalist, check out this video tutorial from SNA naturalist, Arika Preas. And don’t forget to spread the word, using #SNABioBlitz 2020!

Keep in mind, this is a self-guided Bioblitz, which allows individuals and household groups to get outside and contribute to citizen science while practicing safe social distancing. See more information on the DNR response to COVID-19.

Visiting St. Croix Savanna SNA to make observations, Know Before You Go:

o Brief description:Welcome to St. Croix Savanna SNA! This SNA, with its dramatic topography, protects one of the best remaining examples of hill prairie in the Lower St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. Dry gravel prairie blankets the slopes and crest of the bluff, transitioning to savanna with widely-spaced bur and pin oaks that grade into oak woodland. This is a special place, providing habitat for rare and endangered species, as well as offering beautiful vistas of the St. Croix River. Check out the webpage for more information on this site.

o Visiting guidelines and rules for this site: Scientific and Natural Areas belong to us all; treat them with care. They protect the last remaining habitat for Minnesota's rarest plants and animals. Recreation is limited to protect this habitat and natural diversity.
Be light on the land: don’t litter, don’t disturb wildlife, and don’t pick or collect any natural features. Leave only footprints, take only photos!
-Follow all site rules. Allowed: bird and wildlife watching, hiking, photography. Not allowed: Dogs, motorized vehicles, biking, hunting, camping. See the full list of rules on our webpage.
-Be aware that this site does not have any maintained trails or facilities and plan accordingly. The site does have informal footpaths and field roads, which you are welcome to walk on but you don’t have to stay on them.

o Parking and directions: Park at the northern access (off Prairie Way). Parking is not available at the southern access along highway 95 due to construction. Directions to northern access: From Bayport, 0.7 mile W on Co Hwy 14, then 0.8 mile S on Co Hwy 21, then 0.25 mile E on Inspiration Pkwy, then 0.25 mile SE on Prairie Way, then about 0.15 mile E and S to dead end. Park at gate. Lat/Lon: 45.007117, -92.786157. Map it.

o What to bring and wear:
-Dress for the weather, and also to prevent tick bites and poison ivy contact (wear long sleeves and long pants tucked into socks, wear lightly colored clothing to spot ticks more easily)
-Snacks and water
-A hand lens, binoculars, a notebook, field guides, anything you like to use to observe!
-Sun screen, bug spray, a hat
-A boot brush, if you have one, to clean off your boots before and after your visit to prevent the spread of invasive species

o Recommendations for where to hike and make observations:
-We are interested in collecting information from a recent woody removal project, to find out what may be coming in now that there is more light reaching the ground. The area is marked on the attached map. Caution is advised here as there may be stumps that could cause a tripping hazard.
-We also have been seeding native species in the valley marked on the map. We welcome your observations on what you see growing there currently.
-Avoid erodible soils such as sandy, south facing slopes in the southern part of the SNA. You’re welcome to look into those areas, just do so at vegetated edges.
-Avoid populations of invasive species. There is an infestation of spotted knapweed along the field road coming in to the SNA from the northern parking lot (marked on the map). Please stay away from that area to avoid spreading knapweed to other areas of the SNA.

o Map with site recommendations. We suggest you print this map for your visit.

o Have questions or want more information? Email Kari Wallin, SNA Volunteer Outreach Specialist, at kari.wallin@state.mn.us.

Welcome to the St. Croix Savanna SNA Self-guided Bioblitz 2020! We’re excited to have your help recording the biodiversity of this site and enhancing our species list! We are interested in adding plant species to our lists on our webpage, and welcome observations of all taxa. Please take some time to read the information below before visiting the SNA to make observations. To learn more about Minnesota Scientific and Natural Areas, check out the website and visiting guidelines . For more information on how to use iNaturalist, check out this video tutorial from SNA naturalist, Arika Preas. And don’t forget to spread the word, using #SNABioBlitz 2020!

Keep in mind, this is a self-guided Bioblitz, which allows individuals and household groups to get outside and contribute to citizen science while practicing safe social distancing. See more information on the DNR response to COVID-19.

Visiting St. Croix Savanna SNA to make observations, Know Before You Go:

o Brief description:Welcome to St. Croix Savanna SNA! This SNA, with its dramatic topography, protects one of the best remaining examples of hill prairie in the Lower St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. Dry gravel prairie blankets the slopes and crest of the bluff, transitioning to savanna with widely-spaced bur and pin oaks that grade into oak woodland. This is a special place, providing habitat for rare and endangered species, as well as offering beautiful vistas of the St. Croix River. Check out the webpage for more information on this site.

o Visiting guidelines and rules for this site: Scientific and Natural Areas belong to us all; treat them with care. They protect the last remaining habitat for Minnesota's rarest plants and animals. Recreation is limited to protect this habitat and natural diversity.
Be light on the land: don’t litter, don’t disturb wildlife, and don’t pick or collect any natural features. Leave only footprints, take only photos!
-Follow all site rules. Allowed: bird and wildlife watching, hiking, photography. Not allowed: Dogs, motorized vehicles, biking, hunting, camping. See the full list of rules on our webpage.
-Be aware that this site does not have any maintained trails or facilities and plan accordingly. The site does have informal footpaths and field roads, which you are welcome to walk on but you don’t have to stay on them.

o Parking and directions: There are two access points for this site. Parking at the northern access (off Prairie Way) is recommended, since there is no dedicated parking at the southern access along busy Highway 95. There is plenty of space to park at the northern access. Directions to northern access: From Bayport, 0.7 mile W on Co Hwy 14, then 0.8 mile S on Co Hwy 21, then 0.25 mile E on Inspiration Pkwy, then 0.25 mile SE on Prairie Way, then about 0.15 mile E and S to dead end. Park at gate. Lat/Lon: 45.007117, -92.786157. Map it.

o What to bring and wear:
-Dress for the weather, and also to prevent tick bites and poison ivy contact (wear long sleeves and long pants tucked into socks, wear lightly colored clothing to spot ticks more easily)
-Snacks and water
-A hand lens, binoculars, a notebook, field guides, anything you like to use to observe!
-Sun screen, bug spray, a hat
-A boot brush, if you have one, to clean off your boots before and after your visit to prevent the spread of invasive species

o Recommendations for where to hike and make observations:
-We are interested in collecting information from a recent woody removal project, to find out what may be coming in now that there is more light reaching the ground. The area is marked on the attached map. Caution is advised here as there may be stumps that could cause a tripping hazard.
-We also have been seeding native species in the valley marked on the map. We welcome your observations on what you see growing there currently.
-Avoid erodible soils such as sandy, south facing slopes in the southern part of the SNA. You’re welcome to look into those areas, just do so at vegetated edges.
-Avoid populations of invasive species. There is an infestation of spotted knapweed along the field road coming in to the SNA from the northern parking lot (marked on the map). Please stay away from that area to avoid spreading knapweed to other areas of the SNA.

o Map with site recommendations. We suggest you print this map for your visit.

o Have questions or want more information? Email Kari Wallin, SNA Volunteer Outreach Specialist, at kari.wallin@state.mn.us.

Hello BioBlitz participants! We’re half way through our two-week self-guided BioBlitz at St. Croix Savanna SNA! We have 56 observations, 40 of which are research grade (71%!), 47 species, 18 identifiers, and 3 observers! This is wonderful, thank you for helping document the biodiversity of this site and keep up the great work! We have one more week left, and we’d love to see a few more observers out at the site documenting species. Check out the previous journal post for details on visiting St. Croix Savanna SNA to make observations.

o A few fun finds so far are osprey observed by gamelaner, prairie larkspur observed by tumbleweedblowing, and large twayblade observed by robmcmanus. Thank you all!

o Have questions or want more information? Email Kari Wallin, SNA Volunteer Outreach Specialist, at kari.wallin@state.mn.us.

Today is the last day of this self-guided Bioblitz at St. Croix Savanna SNA! Thank you to all of our participants so far, we have so many great observations and a wonderful range of organisms documented! Stay tuned for the final results and prizes, which will be posted here in the journal as well as on the SNA Facebook page this Saturday!
-Kari

Great work everyone, and a huge thanks to all our participants in St. Croix SNA Self-Guided Bioblitz! A total of 12 people signed up and participated in this self-guided Bioblitz by either observing or identifying species, with 191 observations of 166 species! This is wonderful!

SNA staff will be helping review and identify observations over the next few weeks. Once observations have been identified to the highest level they can be, we’ll add the research grade observations to our plant species lists on our website, which researchers, scientists and the general public use regularly. You also helped us collect species data on restoration areas in the SNA, giving the site managers have a better idea of what species are growing to monitor and evaluate the restoration projects. Thank you all for helping us accomplish this!

Congratulations to kimcwren for submitting the most observations, and to gamelaner for making the most identifications as a Bioblitz participant! Your prizes will be on the way. Prizes for most observations and most identifications were awarded to participants who signed up by joining the project and participating by either observing or identifying species for this Bioblitz. All signed-up participants who observed or identified for this project will also be receiving an SNA sticker as a thank you! Check your messages on iNaturalist for more details coming soon.

Stay tuned for the announcement of next month’s Bioblitz by checking our Events Calendar and subscribing to our Event Reminders Calendar on the top of the page. If you have questions or feedback, please contact Kari Wallin, SNA Outreach Specialist at kari.wallin@state.mn.us.

Thank you all!
SNA Staff