Savanna Restoration Efforts in Burnsville - Terrace Oaks Showcase
Terrace Oaks Park provides a great example of the City’s efforts to restore oak savanna habitat and remove invasive species, like common buckthorn. Terrace Oaks Park is home to many towering bur and white oaks but is also heavily invaded by common buckthorn and other weedy trees. These conditions create eroding soils, a lack of understory grasses and wildflowers for wildlife, poor conditions for the regeneration of young oak trees and a dense overgrowth of woody plants that make the park less aesthetically pleasing and usable for park visitors.
In 2015, the City undertook the first large-scale restoration project in a 19-acre section of the Northwest corner of the park, in partnership with Great River Greening and utilizing grant funds from the Minnesota Outdoor Heritage Fund. In 2018, this effort was expanded the effort by tackling a 26 acre restoration area in the north central portion of the park.
Take a tour of this park’s ongoing restoration through the Story Map below, then see for yourself by visiting the trails at Terrace Oaks Park.