Dakota County Considers Reintroducing Bison In Regional Park

ROSEMOUNT, MN—Dakota County Parks is considering reintroducing bison to Spring Lake Park Reserve, located mainly in Rosemount and Hastings, as part of its master plan for bringing back wildlife that is natural to the park.

The master plan includes a 10-year guide for future decisions regarding the park. The draft of the plan is available to review and make comments on until April 4, 2021.

The Dakota County Parks and Recreations Department views this as a way to return this portion of the park to its natural habitat, the plan says. Nearly 80 percent of Dakota County was covered in prairie and oak savanna until the 1840s, and the county has been working on reintroducing these natural plants to the area.

“Historically, bison were an important part of the County’s landscape but are no longer found here in the wild,” the plan says.

According to the plan, Dakota County is currently looking into reintroducing prairie and oak savanna in order to return some of the wildlife to its original biodiversity. This would include adding plants native to the area, removing exotic shrubs and opening the tree canopy. This would allow the sun to reach the ground, helping to start the growth of the native plants.

An important aspect of naturally maintaining a prairie is grazing, which is where the bison come in. Because they grazed on the grasses, natural flowers of the prairie were able to flourish, the plan says. If reintroduced to the area, the hope is that this will happen again.

According to the plan, bison also wallow, or paw at and roll at the ground. This exposes bare soil, which makes it easier for new plants to grow, greatly assisting in creating a natural biodiversity.

If reintroduced, bison would roam 150 acres of restored prairie on the western part of the Spring Lake Park Reserve, adding grazing and wallowing to the area to assist in natural prairie growth.

Visitors would still be able to visit these areas, and would have new opportunities to learn about bison in their natural habitat.

You can learn more about the plan here.