Dakota County hosted the first Spring at Spring Lake Park event, a celebration of all things Spring at the aptly named park. The event featured guided bike tours, food trucks, bison educators, bingo, weed pulls and most importantly, an excuse to get out into the park.

Natural Resource Unit
During the event, members of Dakota County’s Natural Resource Unit Shannon Montante and Max Samuelson planted native prairie flowers in a continued effort to add diversity and restore the native prairie to the park.
The plugs planted by Montante and Samuelson were grown in the Lebanon Hills hoop house, most from seeds gathered from Spring Lake Park. Using seed gathered directly from the park provides “an extra leg up in restoration,” said Samuelson due to adaptations of local microclimates.
With the upcoming expansion to the Lebanon Hills hoop house, the capacity for growing is expected to triple, allowing further restoration across all of Dakota County parks, allowing the county to grow an estimated 150,000 different plugs.
Another key aspect of prairie restoration that Hastings residents may have noticed is the introduction of bison back into Spring Lake Park. While the bison not only provide a historical and cultural significance to the area, “They’re doing what we’d normally do with a tractor,” said Montante.
Dakota County parks are generally mowed three times per year, a task now taken up by the bison in Spring Lake Park.
The Dakota County Natural Resource Unit also works to take care of the bison heard, a task Montante downplays: “They’re pretty self-reliant.”

2050 plan
The event comes just as Dakota County unveils its 2050 Park Plan, seeking public comment. Dakota County residents can provide feedback in a short questionnaire on the county’s website as well as at the open house on Thursday, May 8 at Lebanon Hills Regional Park Visitor Center from 5:30-7 p.m.
Dakota County Principal Planner Lil Leatham presented the county’s draft of the 2050 Vision for Dakota County Parks, Greenways, and Natural Systems on Tuesday, April 15 before the Physical Development Committee of the Whole. The plan “serves as a forward-looking guide to the protection, enhancement, and development of the county’s cherished outdoor spaces,” according to the draft.
Leatham spoke to several key finding that shaped assumptions for the plan in the years to come. First, percentages of park visitors do not represent overall county populations, meaning that some populations use parks less than expected. Leatham specifically referenced youth, people of color, individuals with lower incomes, and older adults. Second, as the population of Dakota County grows, so too will the demand for new parks. Third, as park facilities age, maintenance and replacement are growing issues in the county.
The plan lays out broad “new park search areas” in Lakeville, Burnsville, and Inver Grove Heights, 2030 greenway vision plans, and various new greenway search corridors including connecting Lebanon Hills to the Mississippi River.