Horseshoe Lake Restoration

The 87 acres of deciduous hardwood forest proposed for permanent protection lie 1/2 mile east of the Lower Sioux Agency along the Minnesota River Valley. The offered lands include a combination of intact plant communities as well as significant archeological resources. The dominant communities include Southern Mesic Maple-Basswood Forest (MHs39) which is noted on the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Natural Heritage Database and Southern Floodplain Forest (FFs68). The MN County Biological Survey identifies this MHs39 forest as the only known in Redwood County. The site is adjacent to the Lower Sioux Agency Historic Site and contains several Native American burial mounds and relics from the 1862 US-Dakota War. With increasing fragmentation pressure, the Redwood Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), three local landowners, and the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) are submitting a grant request for a perpetual Re-Invest in Minnesota (RIM) easement.