The grass seed that was planted late last summer along parts of the English Coulee between 17th Avenue South and 24th Avenue South didn’t have a chance to germinate and take hold before the heavy rainstorms hit in late September, said Kim Greendahl, Greenway coordinator for Grand Forks.
“Plans are to reseed that area this summer, hopefully, in the next few weeks,” Greendahl said.
The habitat work is part of the Urban Woods and Prairies Initiative, a restoration project that Audubon Dakota launched in 2014 along the Red River in the Fargo area with a grant from North Dakota’s Outdoor Heritage Fund.
The Urban Woods and Prairies Initiative started with 150 acres planted to native grass and wildflowers in 2015, Audubon Dakota said. By 2018, the initiative had expanded to nearly 1,000 acres at five sites along the Red River in the Fargo-Moorhead area.
In 2018, Audubon Dakota received a $530,000 OHF grant to expand the initiative into Bismarck, Grand Forks and Minot, resulting in the work now underway along the English Coulee. The total cost of the planned expansions, some 852 acres in all between the three communities, was estimated at $800,000, with several partners funding the remaining $270,000, Audubon Dakota said at the time of the 2018 OHF grant.
North Dakota’s Outdoor Heritage Fund was established in 2013 to provide grants for conservation practices across the state. The fund receives oil and gas production tax revenues to provide the grants.
The work underway along the English Coulee represents Phase 1 of the Grand Forks portion of the project.
“Ultimately, we hope to improve the ecological function and aesthetics of the waterway,” Marshall Johnson, executive director of Audubon Dakota, said in a May 26 email. “(It’s) very early in the project, however, and we will be partnering with other landowning entities to combine efforts.”
According to Greendahl, there has been discussion about working with Altru and the Grand Forks Park District to replicate the steps used to seed grass along the coulee between 17th and 24th avenues. Altru and the Park District own several large parcels of property along that stretch of the coulee that can be accessed without having to coordinate with multiple landowners, she said. In addition, UND has expressed interest in adopting some of the management practices in the future.
“There are sections along the coulee that are privately owned, and we’d like to provide examples of best practices for property management along the coulee,” Greendahl said. “It is also helpful that the land is easily seen from the trail for public viewing, and people can see the benefits of a well-managed waterway.”
The project cost to date is $28,620, Greendahl said, with Audubon Dakota paying $14,350 from the OHF funding it received, and the city and the Grand Forks Park District splitting the $14,270 local cost.
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Dokken reports on outdoors. Call him at (701) 780-1148, (800) 477-6572 ext. 1148 or send email to bdokken@gfherald.com.
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Habitat restoration project along English Coulee in early stages as part of Urban Woods and Prairies Initiative - Grand Forks Herald
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