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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOshkosh Sustainability Plan - Environmental Conservation DRAFT - 25 July 2025Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025 30 July 2025 DRAFT Chapter: Environmental Conservation Introduction Urban and rural development have historically had dramatic negative consequences for the natural environment. However, Oshkosh is committed to sustainably managing the impacts of human activity. The natural environment includes everything that supports life on land, in water, and in the air. Mitigating the impacts of human activity on nature requires continuous identification, preservation, and management of environmental features while development activities occur. We have a responsibility to conserve the wide variety of benefits provided to plants, wildlife, and people by the natural environment. These benefits translate to nearly all aspects of our quality of life. They impact the food we eat, manage stormwater, control diseases, provide outdoor space for recreation, support tourism, benefit physical and mental health, and more. This chapter addresses the conservation and management of the natural environment. Conservation includes habitat restoration, surface water quality, and the preservation of ecosystems. Management involves balancing the relationship between urban development and the natural environment, such as caring for natural areas within the city and integrating nature throughout developed areas. If we recognize the benefits provided by nature, we are more likely to preserve and maintain it as an essential part of our quality of life. Past Accomplishments The City of Oshkosh has already made progress towards sustainability with the following accomplishments: • Completed the Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan in 2024 to identify park needs • Planted native vegetation and shoreline vegetation to promote biodiversity and reduce mowing/maintenance • Replacing diseased ash trees citywide and expanding tree canopy cover with street trees • Updates underway to stormwater ordinance to improve runoff impacts to ecosystems • Replaced streetlights with “Lumex” fixtures to reduce light pollution • Deployed upgraded street sweepers, upgraded parking lot drainage, installed stormwater detention basins, and expanded leaf collection to reduce nutrient and contaminant runoff into waterways • Installed a back-up drinking water intake system and installed tertiary wastewater treatment systems • Recognized as Tree City USA for exceptional tree management standards and Bird City USA for exceptional bird protections • Installed green stormwater infrastructure bioretention and permeable pavement on municipal properties • Using brine pre-application for road ice and snowplows to reduce de-icing salt use • Transitioned from annual to perennial landscaping on municipal properties Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025 30 July 2025 DRAFT Background This section is organized around the naturally integrated concepts of conservation and management. Within these two concepts, there are three areas to consider: air, land, and water. While there is overlap between these three areas, dividing them is useful for thinking about their unique properties and how to conserve, manage, and enhance them. Air. Conservation and management of air resources means protecting, maintaining, and perhaps even improving air quality. This can be somewhat tricky to consider in the context of local action, because although there can be positive and negative local impacts, air is a common shared resource that does not respect municipal boundaries. Therefore, addressing air quality tends to occur at a higher level of government than the municipal level. Air quality is generally regulated by the Clean Air Act which is implemented in Wisconsin by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on behalf of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Outdoor and indoor air quality standards are regulated separately: Outdoor air quality: Outdoor parameters are defined by National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Under the federal Clean Air Act, they include six principal pollutants: carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen, ozone, particulate matter (PM), and sulfur dioxide. Air pollution degrades air quality, and it is further affected by variables of wind through mixing/dilution, temperature, precipitation, and smoke from wildfires. Outdoor air pollution can come from mobile sources like cars and from stationary sources like factories. Where people are near these sources, air quality is a concern. That concern often becomes an equity disparity when disadvantaged communities are located closer to sources of mobile and stationary pollution. Accurate analysis of outdoor air quality parameters in Oshkosh is not available, although seasonal and episodic occurrences of exceeding NAAQS for ozone and PM have been documented. These continue to be monitored at the federal and state levels. Indoor air quality: Indoor parameters are separate from NAAQS for a number of reasons. Indoor pollutants have less ability to mix/dilute, so pollutants like volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are more likely to concentrate indoors. As a result, indoor air quality standards are stricter than outdoor standards. Indoor air pollution is not subject to swings in wind, temperature, and precipitation. Rather, it is oftentimes due to off-gassing from VOCs contained in common household products like carpets, cleaning supplies, and electronics. Indoor air emissions sources are regulated by the Wisconsin DNR, US EPA, and/or the Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) Administration, among others. Indoor air quality problems are not generally considered a problem in Oshkosh compared to other communities and are not discussed further in this Plan. However, if that changes in the future, the issue should be revisited. Figure x: Some of the Factors that Affect Urban Air Quality | Source: https://firststreet.org/city/oshkosh-wi/5560500_fsid/air Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025 30 July 2025 DRAFT While outdoor and indoor air quality regulations are set at the national and state levels, issue identification and enforcement often occur at lower levels of government. Problems are often detected at the local level, sometimes by direct observation and/or data. Available data: Air quality predictive data is available online, for instance IQAir, but that data is not based on actual air quality monitoring in Oshkosh, rather it is based on satellite data.1,2 The research organization First Street also provides useful air quality estimations with their Air Factor index.3 The Wisconsin DNR has air quality monitors installed at key locations around the state, although none in Winnebago County, and sometimes supports ambient air monitoring near industrial facilities. Although Oshkosh’s local air quality is speculative, it is not suspected to be cause for concern. Idling vehicles also produce localized air quality issues. In addition to wasting fuel and potentially damaging the engine, the air quality impacts of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter are well documented. They are particularly harmful to young children, and some schools and areas with loading zones have created no idle policies.4 The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh has a policy aimed at eliminating unnecessary vehicle idling on campus property. With time, the vehicle industry may mitigate this issue with strategies like shutting off when stopped or not running for a specified time. However, industry changes will take time to phase in. There are tools that local governments may use to conserve and manage air quality, and those can take the form of outreach and pollution prevention. Taken a step further, those tools may involve transportation management, energy efficiency improvements, and smart growth strategies. While data is generally not available to predict the positive impact of local government conservation actions on air quality, the literature suggests that local governments are involved in issue identification, education, and outreach.5 Land. What we do on the surface of the land naturally has impacts to our air quality and, through stormwater runoff, stream flows, and lake drainage, to our water quality. Conserving our land’s resources and managing them wisely can have a positive impact on how we enjoy land and how air and water quality ultimately fair. It is not just conserving natural areas of land that counts; conserving and managing land throughout and around Oshkosh is just as important. Terrestrial wildlife habitat on land must also be intentionally managed to protect biodiversity and maintain the balance of ecosystems. Land Cover Types: Our urban areas boast not only developed land, but also forests, agricultural lands, grassland, and wetlands. One cover type often blends into the next, with hard boundaries at municipal lines seldom etched and rarely permanent. Conservation and management of Oshkosh’s land cover types can take various forms including: • Urban: Generally impervious cover provided for efficiency and functionality, sometimes to the detriment of aesthetics where standards are lacking. • Buildings: Seldom do we consider managing land on top of buildings, but one way to look at buildings is that they grow from the ground up, displacing native vegetation. A solution to losing that vegetation is to install green roofs or other green areas on rooftops. This unique solution will not work everywhere; other options include providing non-vegetated rooftop stormwater detention, ground-level enhancements, or offsets to building imperviousness. A new green infrastructure plan for Oshkosh would consider these options. Zoning requirements for landscaping provide stormwater benefits and vegetative cover, but general landscaping is not Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025 30 July 2025 DRAFT enough to offset the impervious surface of large pavement areas without intentional engineering for stormwater capture. Further, older developments have occurred before landscaping requirements were adopted, and they may require intervention through retrofits. • Paved walkways, roads, and campuses around buildings: The urban environment is connected with transportation systems that primarily serve motor vehicles, but other modes of transportation are also included in this cover type. Paved walkways and streets are often lined with terrace trees that include benefits such as, urban heat island cooling, stormwater management, habitat, beauty, increased property values, and more. • Compacted surfaces: Lawns may look natural, but because of prior construction, compaction, foot traffic, and the use of herbicides that destroy the soil structure, they may be compacted. Compacted surfaces repel water or make infiltration extremely slow, acting more like impervious surfaces. • Permeable surfaces: These are areas where stormwater and snow melt can penetrate the surface of the land and may include grasses, trees, shrubs, other vegetation, and hard surfaces such as permeable pavers that are engineered to allows stormwater to pass through. • Forests: Forests are not typically a dominant cover type in urban areas like Oshkosh, but tree stands and forests do exist. Their conservation and management are important to maintaining a host of environmental benefits often called “ecosystem services.” In addition, they are often related to the concept of biodiversity.6 • Agricultural Lands: While urban areas tend not to host large agricultural businesses, the role of agriculture in supporting city populations and economies is well established. From fresh farmers markets to urban agriculture gardens to Community Supported Agriculture (CSA; a system where customers pay for farmers’ produce in advance), land dedicated to food production and local food in and around Oshkosh is land well used. • Grassland: Grasslands, also known as prairies, provide diverse habitats and water holding capacity in and around cities. In Oshkosh, the Oshkosh-Larsen Trail Prairies is a state wet-mesic prairie that provides ecosystem services for the surrounding landscape. Events like “Low Mow Summer” seek to capture ecosystem services in cities, as do native gardens and plantings throughout Oshkosh. • Wetlands: Noteworthy wetland areas around Oshkosh include Terrell’s Island, Shangri La Point Nature Preserve, and Lake Winnebago. Like in nature, wetlands in cities help manage flooding, purify groundwater, and provide unique wildlife habitat. They also offer opportunities for ecotourism and carbon sequestration. Spanning all of these land cover types are parks. Oshkosh has several parks and nature centers for walking, sitting, and other forms of recreation comprising 417 acres. This equates to 6.22 acres/ 1,000 residents. Oshkosh has 4.55 acres of municipally-owned parks per 1,000 residents, below the NRPA- recommended range of 6.25-10.50 acres per 1,000 residents. However, Oshkosh’s ratio doesn’t account for the additional benefits of parks and open space across the region such as the 270-acre Winnebago “Ecosystem Services” refers to the many and varied benefits that humans get from a well-managed natural environment. Services include everything from producing food and water to regulating climate and disease. These healthy ecosystem benefits are crucial for human well-being and contribute to the high quality of life in Oshkosh. Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025 30 July 2025 DRAFT County Community Park. Parks are unique for their ability to protect and enhance ecosystems. In Wisconsin, planning for public parks may be administered through a community’s comprehensive outdoor recreation plan (CORP), other units of government, senior centers, “friends” non-profit organizations, schools, and others. Oshkosh’s CORP was adopted in 2024. Parks and open spaces present great opportunities to provide environmental services and green infrastructure planning. Oshkosh is fortunate to host a diversity of parks that provides a range of environmental benefits. Biodiversity: Urban biodiversity is critical to maintaining a healthy balance in nature that surrounds and supports life in cities around the globe, and Oshkosh is no exception. Whether providing shade trees when it’s hot, interesting living landscapes that provide a sense of well-being, or balancing populations of urban squirrels, urban biodiversity keeps nature thriving and in check.7,8 Scientists believe we are in the midst of a sixth great mass extinction. The World Wildlife Foundation reports that species are disappearing at an estimated rate of 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than is natural and otherwise expected. Wisconsin is not immune to these extinctions. From bats to bees, species in Wisconsin have become extinct in recent generations due to things like habitat degradation/loss that is oftentimes due to urbanization, climate change that drives warming temperatures and larger storms, and pesticides/herbicides. Some of these factors are within Oshkosh’s control to eliminate or at least minimize.9 Trees provide critical habitat for wildlife. Oshkosh has recognized the connection between trees and birds by earning recognition as a Bird City USA. The benefits of trees in cities are well established, but the benefits of birds are less known. Birds are significant because they control insects, help with pollination, are ecosystem health indicators, and provide recreation through bird watching, aesthetics, and general human wellbeing. Birds need trees and trees need birds; urban dwellers need both. Protecting bird habitat is critical in Oshkosh; a 1970 study found that the bird population has declined by 3 billion in the US and Canada, but it is not too late to help reverse the trend. Oshkosh is fortunate to have a Forestry Division focused on maximizing tree cover by maintaining what is growing now and establishing/maintaining a variety of trees for the future. In addition to birds, all wildlife provides and needs biodiversity and the ecosystem services that accompany it. This encompasses a host of other plants and animals plus their associated communities. Biodiversity plans are oftentimes nested with municipal green infrastructure plans and may center on focal species native and desired in an urban area. Soil Health: The dynamics affecting the soil immediately beneath the ground surface have far reaching implications for what happens above ground and deep below it. Healthy soil is crucial to a thriving community and the environment. It is the foundation for the food we grow, supports biodiversity, sequesters carbon, and manages stormwater. Typical urban interventions to support soil health include compost amendments, avoiding chemical use, and limiting soil compaction only to where it is needed for infrastructure. Water. The important characteristics of water include temperature, volume, and quality. Natural water temperatures are mostly by nature with limited impacts from human interventions like tree shading, but A focal species is a priority conservation plant or animal to prioritize for conservation efforts because they benefit so many other species. It can be designated as part of a biodiversity or other plan to help rally resources around protecting and managing what’s important. Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025 30 July 2025 DRAFT water volume and quality are greatly affected by humans. Humans withdraw, treat, use, and return water, sometimes in different quantities and almost always in different qualities. The water that exists on earth today is all the water that we will ever have, so preserving water quality is essential to sustainability. In Oshkosh, the water environment includes surface water, groundwater, and the wetland interface that is often between the two. Surface water includes Lake Winnebago which serves as Oshkosh’s drinking water source, the Fox River, Sawyer Creek, and other smaller surface water bodies. Groundwater resources are not generally used for municipal purposes in Oshkosh. Wetlands are very important in Oshkosh and can be found in several notable complexes discussed under land cover types. There are many ways the City of Oshkosh can improve local water quality. Those include channeling stormwater through green infrastructure, potentially implementing local soil regulations for all construction sites regardless of size, reducing/eliminating the use of chemical herbicides/ pesticides, and limiting salt use. Oshkosh has already begun reducing salt use by switching to brine preapplication before snowstorms. Oshkosh has and follows regulations to protect water quality. In addition to the DNR standard for construction sites less than one acre, Oshkosh’s code (by reference to Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services under s. SPS 321.125 Wis. Adm. Code) regulates construction site erosion and sediment control for one- and two-family dwelling construction. Still there may be a gap in what construction sites are regulated for erosion and sediment control, specifically those with three or more dwelling units and other land uses that cause less than one acre of site disturbance. Considering regulating all sites could further improve water quality. In terms of water quantity, Oshkosh rarely suffers from drought and sometimes suffers from too much water. Oshkosh is working now to alleviate localized stormwater flooding and should continue those efforts. Supplementing that with more green infrastructure is likely only to improve stormwater management and reduce the likelihood of localized flooding. Implementing a green infrastructure awards program, something that is low cost and low commitment, may be one way to highlight good actors and spark additional efforts. For additional reading on municipal environmental conservation, check out: 1 Oshkosh Air Quality Map | IQ Air: https://www.iqair.com/us/air-quality-map/usa/wisconsin/oshkosh 2 Oshkosh Air Quality | IQ Air: https://www.iqair.com/us/usa/wisconsin/oshkosh?srsltid=AfmBOopZFt3oNkhL7VaZ1i4kVxJdy- HjZ2LwSUBITnvYh733Q-RsPfTJ 3 Oshkosh Air Factor Index | First Street: https://firststreet.org/city/oshkosh-wi/5560500_fsid/air 4 Idling Reduction for Personal Vehicles | US Department of Energy: https://afdc.energy.gov/files/u/publication/idling_personal_vehicles.pdf 5 What local government can do about air quality: https://www.boisestate.edu/bluereview/local-governments-air- quality/ 6 Oshkosh Urban Tree Canopy Analysis | Wisconsin DNR: https://www.itreetools.org/documents/375/WDNR_Oshkosh_reports.pdf The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District implemented a low-cost/low- effort “Green Luminary” award to spotlight good stormwater actors, catalyzing better stormwater behavior.10 Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025 30 July 2025 DRAFT 7 Ecological benefits of birds and trees: https://www.thebirdsthetrees.com/ 8 North American bird population decline | Cornell Lab: https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/bring-birds-back/ 9 What can we do about the 6th great mass extinction? | World Wildlife Foundation: https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/what-is-the-sixth-mass-extinction-and-what-can-we-do-about- it#:~:text=Paris%20Agreement.,and%20support%20WWF's%20conservation%20efforts 10 Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Green Luminary award: https://www.mmsd.com/what-we-do/green- infrastructure/green-luminaries Goal(s): a) Conservation: Protect and maintain aspects of Oshkosh’s natural environment to protect human health, agriculture, and natural beauty for generations to come. b) Management: Manage ecosystems within Oshkosh and promote biodiversity to maintain the balance between natural and manmade environments and better connect people to the environment. Recommendations 1. Air Quality: Monitor known air quality index sites and continue to take no action unless/until warranted. • Lead Responsibility: Planning Division • Time Frame: Ongoing • Implementation Details: o If there is an issue with air quality suspected, consider following Madison, WI’s example of installing air quality monitors. See sidebar text box for more information. 2. Idling: Review policy for idling vehicles on City property, including public streets, and update. • Lead Responsibility: Planning Division or the Transportation Division • Time Frame: Short term (<3 years) • Implementation Details: o Using UW Oshkosh’s policy as an example, consider where no-idling policies may be appropriate in the City, including at school and day/care drop-offs, churches, and other locations where vehicles may idle. Create and implement a policy that involves public education. 3. Green Infrastructure: Consider creating a green infrastructure plan that includes biodiversity conservation, sets goals for implementing it, and identifies a pathway to achieve it (including funding, potentially from grant sources). • Lead Responsibility: Planning Division together with Department of Public Works The City of Madison is leading a new collaborative project to install a city-wide network of air quality sensors to help understand air pollution in our community. These sensors will measure particulate matter pollution - small particles that can cause heart and breathing problems. Once installed, air quality data from the network will help our community understand the amount, location, and potential sources of particulate matter pollution. Better information about air quality will help us know when to take action to protect our health and help our community develop strategies to reduce pollution where it is highest. The City is partnering with The Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness, Latino Health Council of Dane County, The Hmong Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Public Health Madison and Dane County. This work is funded by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.12 Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025 30 July 2025 DRAFT • Time Frame: Medium term (3-5 years) • Implementation Details: o Prioritize maintenance of existing facilities and ensure installers of new green infrastructure facilities have maintenance terms in the first few years following the contract for installation to ensure performance. o Before initiating a plan, continue and enhance existing green infrastructure efforts by learning from past experience. Consider how green infrastructure (and sustainable practices in general) fits into every municipal project by considering green infrastructure opportunities during existing design processes, or audit existing processes to look for opportunities to identify green infrastructure opportunities during them. Examples include landscaping, native vegetation, wider terraces, and narrower pavements. o Using existing policy frameworks founded in the Sustainability Advisory Board, initiate this with a scope of work and seek approval from key stakeholders before moving forward. o Include consideration of green roofs, multimodal connections, biodiversity/ecosystem services as they relate to focal species, trees (and tree hardiness), native vegetation, focal species, and soil health. o Use strategies such as composting that turn waste products into resources to create efficiencies like better water retention and nutrients for local food production. o Consider reducing/eliminating the use of chemical herbicides/pesticides on public properties to enhance stormwater infiltration and improve biodiversity. At the same time, balance this with the need to control non-native invasive species in right of ways, parks, and other public areas, especially where they can be particularly aggressive, such as along frontage roads. o Continue existing practices of bioretention, permeable pavement, and urban forestry on publicly owned land. o Maintain Oshkosh’s status as a Tree City USA and tree inventory, including ways to enhance/automate that through good green infrastructure planning. o Consider implementing a green awards program, with low cost and high educational value. o Demonstrate environmentally safe landscaping practices in areas surrounding municipal buildings and parking. 4. Regulatory Protections: Consider creating natural resource protection standards for resources such as woodlands, mature trees, wetlands, and steep slopes in the zoning and subdivision ordinances. • Lead Responsibility: Planning Division • Time Frame: Short term (<3 years) • Implementation Details: o Initiate this work with a review of existing regulations and goal setting. o Include, but don’t limit this, to woodlands, mature trees, wetlands, steep slopes and other natural resources of value to the community. o Utilize other Wisconsin cities for good examples, including Greenfield, Franklin, Sun Prairie, and others. Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025 30 July 2025 DRAFT 5. Ecosystem Services: Consider instituting Low Mow Summer to provide ecosystem services throughout the urban environment. • Lead Responsibility: Planning Division • Time Frame: Short term (<3 years) • Implementation Details: o Using lessons learned from prior program implementation, determine if a pay-for- performance model may be implemented at low to no cost. o Implement by hiring an outside organization to accomplish this work at minimal fee. This could be done by hiring a graduate student at UW Oshkosh, aligning with the Winnebago County Master Gardener Association, or other entities that can follow direction on a schedule, bringing needed expertise to the table at low to no cost. o Provide guidance about how to keep no-mow or low-mow lawns looking tidy such as mowing and/or weed eating around perimeters, conducting invasive species removal, and how to establish and maintain native prairie seed mixes. 6. Erosion Control: Consider implementing construction erosion control requirements on sites that disturb less than one acre to minimize downstream sediment loads. • Lead Responsibility: Department of Public Works • Time Frame: Medium term (3-5 years) • Implementation Details: o Consider making erosion control standards more stringent, such as using the Wisconsin DNR’s model ordinance.10 10 Wisconsin DNR Model Erosion Control Ordinance: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/sites/default/files/topic/Stormwater/ModelOrdinances.pdf 12 Enhanced Air Quality Monitoring in Madison, WI | EPA: https://www.epa.gov/arp/madison- wisconsin#:~:text=The%20project%20aims%20include%20activating,in%20order%20to%20gather%20information