On February 21, 2025 MNTU’s design engineers on its Trout Brook project, Emmons & Olivier Resources, Inc (EOR), received a Water Resources Excellence award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Minnesota for our recent stream habitat restoration project in Miesville Ravine County Park Reserve.  We collaborated with Dakota County Parks and the MNDNR to restore this local gem. 

Across two contiguous stream projects in 2019 and 2023, MNTU worked closely with EOR to restore critical riparian habitat in the park, enhancing both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The park, known for its diverse natural features, including oak savanna, bedrock bluff prairie, mesic hardwood forest, sedge meadows, and groundwater springs, is also home to Trout Brook, a coldwater trout stream with wild brook and brown trout populations.

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Altogether, the restoration of 5,600 linear feet of Trout Brook focused on improving stream function and habitat using bioengineering techniques such as talus slope benches and rock outcrop refugia. Additional habitat enhancements for nongame and terrestrial species included vernal pools, basking logs, and brush pile dens for herpetofauna, and snag trees and nesting banks for birds. (You can read more about these non-game habitat features in the February issue of Trout Unlimited Minnesota’s March 2025 newsletter). Also, the MN DNR recently stocked heritage brook trout in the reach, which now has key habitat features to support all life history stages of this native species.

A key component of the project was the removal of over 10 acres of invasive species, followed by reseeding with native vegetation to restore plant diversity. Our local TCTU chapter has worked with both EOR and Dakota County Parks to continue invasive species removal throughout the corridor. In addition, during construction, a state-threatened plant was discovered, requiring careful mapping and transplantation to ensure its preservation in coordination with the MNDNR. For this piece of the project, MNTU and also partnered with the University of Minnesota’s Landscape Arboretum.

The Trout Brook stream restoration has been a success.  MNTU will continue working with EOR and our construction contractor, Barth Construction, to monitor and maintain the site through October 2026. Funding was provided by the Outdoor Heritage Fund.