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RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE NOMINATION OF HARTLEY PARK FOR THE DULUTH NATURAL AREAS PROGRAM.
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CITY PROPOSAL:
RESOLVED, that the Duluth City Council hereby makes the following findings of fact pertaining to that area legally described on Exhibit A on file in the office of the city clerk and denominated thereon as the Hartley Natural Area.
(a) The nomination is an area of special or unique ecological or environmental significance to the city of Duluth because:
(1) The area contains more than one relatively undisturbed and viable native plant community representative of the Duluth area as defined in Article IV A of the Duluth Natural Area Program guidelines in that the area includes 14 high quality plant communities including one of the largest remaining remnants of a sugar maple and red oak forest type and the largest wet meadow other than along the St. Louis River.
(2) The nominated area contains a natural water feature representative of the watersheds flowing through the City of Duluth as defined in Article IV C of the Duluth Natural Area Program guidelines in that the headwaters of Tischer Creek, one of 16 designated trout streams flows through the area.
(3) The nominated area contains substantially undisturbed geological landforms or rock formations that depict the natural processes instrumental in the formation of the geology of Duluth as defined in Article IV E of the Duluth Natural Area Program guidelines in that the area has representative features of the Midcontinent Rift and undisturbed flutes from the glaciation period;
(b) That the land constituting the area is eligible for nomination for the Duluth Natural Area Program because it is either owned by the city, or is owned by private or other public owners, which owners have consented to the designation of the property as a natural area under the program and to the imposition of controls in the form of a management plan thereon;
(c) That the nominated area is in compliance with all applicable state and federal laws, rules and regulations.
FURTHER RESOLVED, that pursuant to Section 2-55 (a) of the Duluth City Code, 1959, as amended, the Hartley Area as described on Exhibit A is hereby provisionally designated as a Duluth Natural Area, which designation shall continue to be provisional until program protections and a management plan for the area have been approved.
Statement of Purpose
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: This resolution authorizes city officials to approve the nomination of Hartley Park for the Duluth Natural Areas Program. The Duluth Natural Areas Program was established in city code to preserve Duluth’s natural heritage for the public good by protecting lands of special environmental significance. City code outlines a two-step process to designate a specific place as a Duluth Natural Area. This resolution completes step one: approval of a nomination. Step two is development and approval of a protection and management plan. Approval of a nomination establishes a new Duluth Natural Area on a provisional basis. Step two, approval of the management plan, makes the designation permanent. The nomination was unanimously approved by the Planning Commission. Though not required by city code, Parks Commission also reviewed and unanimously approved the nomination.