Harry W. Cater Homestead Prairie SNA
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133 Acres Located from St. Cloud 3 miles SE on US Hwy 10, then E on Co Rd 3 for 2.5 miles to Elk River. Site is accessible by boat downstream on river. Sherburne County Twp 35N Rng 30W Sec 22 Type: Deciduous Woods ECS Subsection: Anoka Sand Plain |
Description:
This SNA, gifted by the family of Harry W. Cater who homesteaded here,
covers a sandy river terrace deposited by glacial meltwaters draining through
here about 10,000 years ago. Fire and herds of grazing bison and elk probably
limited development of woody vegetation. Today's communities include dry,
upland oak savanna, mesic and wet-mesic prairie openings in aspen groves,
floodplain forest along the Elk River, wet meadow and marsh on peat. Of these,
the bur oak savanna and wet-mesic prairie are most significant. Straight-trunked
bur oak trees, grown in open light, cover roughly half the savanna. Clusters of
mixed shrubs--American hazel, Juneberry, and prickly ash--are scattered about
the savanna. Groundcover on the open areas include sedge, porcupine grass, big bluestem, prairie
phlox, and bastard toadflax. In old meanders of the Elk River floodplain lies the wet-mesic prairie
dotted with patches of Bebb's willow and slender willow. Trembling aspen surround the prairie and
shrubs. Cowbane, prairie loosestrife, and the sedge, Carex meadii, indicate prairie diversity
uncommon to this landscape area. Occurrence of these species leaves open the possibility of other
significant discoveries awaiting us on the site.
Bird List 
