> On Nov 22, 2025, at 11:19 PM, Steve Weston <sweston2g...> wrote:
>
> Here is the latest on what is happening in the vicinity of 180th Street
> Marsh (aka Marshall's Marsh), the most visited birding location in Dakota
> County.
>
> A few hundred yards up the hill to the southwest of the marsh is a small
> aggregate (gravel) pit that is planning to expand. The company that owns
> the pit has bought the two houses to the north with plans to tear them down
> and mine the land. These houses are the first two houses on the east side
> of Fischer Avenue south of 180th Street.
>
> The neighbors are fighting to keep the pit from expanding. Besides being
> one of the premier birding locations in the region, the marsh ranks as one
> of the highest quality wetlands in Dakota County. Also, the Hastings school
> district has bought land on this wetland as an outdoor science laboratory.
> Is mining a compatible land use with a sensitive, protected wetland habitat
> that is a host to educational activities just a couple of hundred yards
> above the marsh? The township board will be meeting this Monday (Nov 24) at
> 6:30 at 118 Park Avenue South in Vermillion to consider whether there are
> enough environmental issues to warrant requiring an environmental
> assessment worksheet (EAW). The second item on the agenda of this special
> meeting (called with only 3 days notice) is whether to grant the permit for
> the expansion.
>
> Locals assume that because they have included both items on the agenda that
> the issue has already been decided and an EAW will not be required. I have
> heard from contacts I have at Dakota County that they have decided that it
> is in the hands of the township board to decide what action to take. I have
> also heard that the DNR and the local watershed people are not inclined to
> be involved.
>
> I have written a letter to the Township Board requesting a copy of the EAW
> as a representative of the Minnesota River Valley Audubon Chapter (MRVAC).
> MRVAC has led field trips to the area with stops at the marsh. We have also
> invested in the Hastings school district's establishment of the site as a
> dedicated destination for the study of grassland and marsh habitats.
>
> I will be at the meeting on Monday to address our concerns and I welcome
> anyone who is concerned about the future of the 180th Street Marsh to join
> me.
>
> Steve Weston
> On Quigley Lake in Eagan, MN
> <sweston2g...>
>
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