A large parcel of grassland that had been put up for possible development received no such proposals an outcome celebrated by local environmental groups fighting for its preservation.
Environmental groups say the results are proof Ramsey County, the property owner, should rethink possible plans to redevelop the shuttered 88-acre Ponds at Battle Creek golf course and a second 77-acre grassland site.
Ramsey County asks developers for proposals for Maplewood sites, upsetting environmental groups startribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from startribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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To passersby, it looks like an empty, overgrown field in the suburbs, closely monitored by corrections officers from the neighboring county workhouse.
But the St. Paul Audubon Society says the 77-acre, Ramsey County-owned parcel in Maplewood now being eyed for an affordable housing development is a rare urban grassland teeming with nesting migratory songbirds including the Henslow s sparrow, which is on the state s endangered species list. Audubon members, joined by the nonprofit Friends of the Mississippi River and the Legacy of Nature Alliance, are imploring county leaders to save the grassland and incorporate it into Battle Creek Regional Park.