To assess the ecological quality of natural resources in Burnsville (a southern suburb of Minneapolis) and develop a master plan for their protection, preservation, and management, Barr surveyed the ecological quality of the city’s natural areas. We mapped the entire city to identify land cover types and vulnerable areas, evaluated urban forests, and recommended actions to protect and enhance the local trees and vegetation.
The master plan’s priority recommendations included expanding buckthorn and invasive-species control, establishing a buckthorn brush-pickup program for private landowners, creating a boulevard tree-planting program, conducting a disease program for green ash trees, expanding a maintenance program for younger trees, developing a city-center sustainability demonstration project, and reducing deer populations in selected woodland-restoration areas.