Glen Lake Wetland Bank project

Hennepin County proposes to restore and protect approximately 110 acres of land in Minnetonka. This property was the former location of the Hennepin County Home School.

This project includes restoring and protecting open spaces on this property, including a marsh, a tamarack bog, woodland areas, and an oak savanna.

Project highlights

Each decision that we make around the use and management of properties we own is an opportunity to lead by example and take climate action.

This project will:

• Establish approximately 110 acres of new conservation easement
• Protect and improve rare natural plant communities, including a tamarack bog and oak savanna
• Provide habitat for the federally endangered rusty patched bumble bee
• Generate wetland credits to offset wetlands lost elsewhere in the county
• Improve climate resiliency by providing stormwater storage after heavy rainfalls to mitigate flooding
• Create opportunities for planting trees
• Sequester approximately 1100 metric tons of carbon. This is equivalent to the emissions created from the energy use of about 540 homes each year
• Provide green job opportunities related to forestry and habitat management

Wetland bank credits

This project will establish a wetland bank and make improvements to natural areas of the property. Wetland banks are protected areas that replace wetlands lost through development.

To protect the critical role wetlands play in clean water, Minnesota’s Wetland Conservation Act ensures there is no net loss of wetlands in the state. When wetland impacts are unavoidable, impacted wetlands are replaced using wetland banks.

When a wetland bank is established, wetlands and surrounding land are protected through a regulatory process that creates wetland credits. Those credits can then be used to replace unavoidable wetland impacts in other locations.

Currently when wetland impacts occur in Hennepin County, replacement generally occurs outside of our county because credits are often unavailable or costly. This results in a net loss of wetlands and their climate adaptation benefits in Hennepin County.

This project will generate wetland credits, permanently protect wetlands in the county, build climate resiliency and improve habitat for wildlife.

Climate benefits

As Minnesota’s climate gets warmer and wetter, wetlands are key to climate resiliency because they:

• Filter stormwater, acting as the “kidneys” of the ecosystem as they filter out pollutants
• Mitigate flooding by storing water, providing essential storage for larger and more frequent rain events
• Are natural carbon sinks that effectively sequester and store carbon in soils and peat

Timeline

Wetland bank projects must undergo regulatory review and permitting. This is our anticipated project timeline, but schedules may vary due to regulatory requirements.

• Summer 2026 to fall 2027: Permitting and regulatory review
• Fall 2027 to spring 2028: Construction work including buckthorn removal, selective tree removal, earthwork, and habitat restoration
• Summer 2028 to fall 2038: Monitoring wetland performance and vegetation maintenance