Seminary Fen
STATUS: ENDANGERED
Map to Seminary Fen
The owners of Seminary Fen have unexpectedly rejected a plan two years in the making to purchase the area for fair market value using state and local public funding and private donations. The fen would have been acquired by the Minnesota DNR who would have helped to protect the fen from road and bridge projects that are threatening to destroy this rare wetland.
HOW TO GET TO SEMINARY FEN
Sections of the fen can be viewed by biking or walking the southwest LRT trail section. To reach the trail head to Seminary Fen, take 494 west to the Eden Prairie exit (old Highway 212). Head southwest on 212 down into the Minnesota River Valley. Turn right on Bluff Creek Drive. Alternatively, from 212 turn right on Pioneer Trail and go west for approximately 3 miles. Turn left onto Bluff Creek Drive and go south until you come to the LRT trail. There is a small parking area across the trail access at Bluff Creek Drive. Seminary Fen is located adjacent to the trail on the left and right. As the area is very ecologically sensitive and is also privately owned, please stay on the trail.
WHAT YOU CAN DO THERE
Seminary Fen looking north
from the LRT Trail
photo: Sharon Stephens
Many nature lovers can enjoy the overview of the fen from the LRT trail. Fen areas are imbedded in more common wetlands. Viewed from a distance, the area generally is wild looking, with many tall grass-like plants. Either biking or walking, one can enjoy this particularly beautiful section of Minnesota River bluff country that offers pristine views of the steep slopes that produce the water patterns essential to the fen's creation.
DESCRIPTION
Seminary Fen takes its name from a historic seminary that was located on the fen's south side. The area includes 90 acres of calcareous fen within a larger wetland complex of about 600 acres. Over 160 acres are known as Seminary Fen. Calcareous fens are a special type of wetland that can occur only at the base of slopes or bluffs, where cool mineral-rich groundwater appears as springs and small pools and layers of peat build up creating a wetland that is spongy and moist. The alkaline water allows many rare and endangered plant species to thrive. The scarcity of wetlands like Seminary Fen cannot be overstated. Calcareous fens are Minnesota's rarest wetland type and may be the rarest wetland type in North America. Fewer than five hundred survive in the world and Seminary Fen is one of the last remaining fens of this quality.
Group photo of the June 2003
Seminary Fen tour
photo: Jeff Strate
Seminary Fen also includes Assumption Creek, the last remaining trout stream in Carver County. Almost all of the metro area trout streams have succumbed to pollution and warmer water brought on by development.
The special nature of the fen gives rise to plant life that should be protected. Plants found here that are on the state's threatened species list include sterile sedge (Carex sterilis), beaked spike rush (Eleocharis rostellata), hair-like beak-rush (Rhynchospora capillacea), whorled nut-rush (Scleria verticillata), and valerian (Valeriana edulis). Yet others are on the state's special concern list: twig rush (Cladium mariscoides), small white lady's slipper (Cypripedium candidum), and marsh arrow-grass (Triglochin palustris).
THREAT AND RESPONSE
The land is privately owned by Emerald Ventures LLC. In 2003, the Legislature approved $1.5 million of Seminary Fen's approximate $2 million purchase price. The remaining funds were successfully raised by the cities of Chanhassen and Chaska, the Lower Minnesota River Watershed District, and the Friends of the Minnesota River. The acquisition was to be financed by the Conservation Fund with plans to transfer ownership to Minnesota's DNR.
The Sierra Club has been advised that the owners now want an appraisal that would value the area at least a million dollars more than previous estimates, and they want to retain some the area for commercial development. Allowing development in these areas could seriously compromise the fen's unique and rare ecological systems.
A rare tour of Seminary Fen
in June 2003
photo: Jeff Strate
Another large threat to Seminary Fen is the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). Plans are in progress to build a bridge over the Minnesota River for construction of Highway 41. Of three possible routes, the preference is for the eastern corridor, which would directly and irreversibly impact Seminary Fen. The DNR, city officials, wetland specialists, and citizen groups have advised MnDOT to select the central corridor, which would allow the bridge to proceed while protecting Seminary Fen. Bridge and highway construction could bring multiple problems to this fragile ecosystem, including significant water-borne pollution during construction, possible changes in water flow patterns that may undermine the fen's viability, and constant polluted run-off from the highway and adjacent development.
The state of Minnesota also has the authority to restrict development and road construction in a fen area. The ecological value of fens was recognized in statute in 1991, when wording to protect calcareous fens was included in the Minnesota Wetlands Conservation Act. The state has exercised its authority in a situation across the river similar to Seminary Fen's where the Savage Fen was threatened by a new road; however, MnDOT has stated it intends to seek an exemption from state environmental laws from the Legislature in 2004.
The City of Chanhassen management plan for the Bluff Creek watershed, which includes the Seminary Fen, states categorically that the Seminary Fen should receive the highest level of protection to avoid declines in wetland quality. The Chaska 2020 management plan states that a large portion of this area is scheduled to remain in open space preservation.
A rare tour of Seminary Fen
in June 2003
photo: Jeff Strate
CURRENT SITUATION
Citizen action to this point has been low key. The Sierra Club in partnership with the DNR and the Friends of the Minnesota Valley has been educating fen landowners and neighbors. Seminary Fen has never been closer to permanent protection through the potential acquisition and transfer to DNR. Yet, time is running out. If the transfer to DNR does not take place before MnDOT selects the eastern corridor for its Highway 41 bridge project, then Seminary Fen, one of the rarest wetlands in the world, could be lost forever.
IF YOU WANT TO GET INVOLVED
Monitoring potential road building activity in the fen area is one way to help protect the fen. The Sierra Club actively opposes the selection of the eastern corridor for the Highway 41 bridge. For updates on activity, call the Sierra Club chapter office or the Friends of the Minnesota Valley. (See Directory of Contacts and Resources for contact information.)
The Embrace Open Space campaign has more information on Seminary Fen and other open space treasures around the Twin Cities.