Thanks to recent creek restoration and construction, travelers on the Munger trail have been noticing something: the creek. "You can look over and see the creek, both upstream and downstream," says Crystal Payment, Engineer with the Minnesota DNR. "Before, there was 35 feet of embankment over the stream, so you could barely tell that it was even there."
The aesthetics of the location have been improved, now with a welcoming stream bank for people and animals to explore. The ecological structure of the location has been improved as well. An 8x10ft box culvert was removed, and a 200ft steel bridge along the trail was installed. The change allows for a 40-foot wide stream corridor. Stones were strategically placed in the water to maximize brook trout spawning as well.
Conversations about restoration began back in 2010. With the bulk of the project finished, there are still some plans to install interpretive signage to highlight the history and ecology of the area. "This is really the culmination of a 15-year long process," says Payment.
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