Fiscal Note
No appropriation is required.
Title
Supporting the application by the Natural Heritage Land Trust for a Stewardship grant to purchase the Wheeler Triangle.
Body
WHEREAS, the Natural Heritage Land Trust is applying for a state Stewardship habitat grant to acquire the parcel at Wheeler Road and Comanche Way in Madison known as the Wheeler Triangle; and
WHEREAS, the Land Trust intends to donate the property to the City of Madison without cost; and
WHEREAS, this is a valuable habitat site in the midst of an extensive complex of Cherokee Marsh natural areas owned and managed by the City of Madison, Dane County and the state Department of Natural Resources; and
WHEREAS, the parcel is adjacent to the City of Madison's Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park and lies partially within a designated environmental corridor; and
WHEREAS, with public ownership and management, the land can provide high quality upland habitat for the adjacent wetlands; and
WHEREAS, preserving upland at Cherokee Marsh protects and improves water quality and habitat in the adjacent wetlands, the Yahara River and its downstream lakes; and
WHEREAS , a restored and managed buffer will reduce storm water runoff into the wetlands and help temper the flood events that in recent years have damaged and destroyed high quality shoreline wetlands on the upper Yahara; and
WHEREAS, the Friends of Cherokee Marsh and the Northside Planning Council both support the grant application;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Madison Common Council supports this Natural Heritage Land Trust application.