Hennepin County assists communities with natural resource identification, inventory, and assessment. This information allows local governments to manage growth and promote the protection and restoration of their remaining natural resources and open spaces.

Classification system

The tool used to complete the inventory is the Minnesota Land Cover Classification System (MLCCS). Developed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources-Metro Region, in cooperation with other state, federal and local agencies, the MLCCS is unique in that it categorizes urban and built up areas in terms of land cover, rather than land use. 

The classification system consists of five hierarchical levels. The most general information is recorded at a Level 1 while the most detailed information is recorded at a Level 5. A series of hierarchies exists for the two land cover types, Natural/Semi-Natural and Cultural.

Examples of the two cover types

Natural/Semi-Natural Cover Types 

  • Level 1 - General growth patterns (forest, woodland, shrubland, etc.)
  • Level 2 - Plant types (deciduous and coniferous trees, grasslands, forbs, etc.)
  • Level 3 - Soil hydrology (upland, seasonally flooded, saturated, etc.)
  • Level 4 - Plant species composition (floodplain forest, rich fen sedge, jack pine barrens, etc.)
  • Level 5 - Similar to Level 4 

Cultural Cover Types1

  • Level 1 - Presence of built-up elements (built-up vs. cultivated land)
  • Level 2 - Dominant vegetation (trees, shrubs, herbaceous)
  • Level 3 - Plant type (deciduous, coniferous, etc.)
  • Level 4 - Percent of impervious surface or soil hydrology
  • Level 5 - Specific plant species 1 

This cultural classification is unique in that it emphasizes vegetative land cover instead of land use, thus creating a land cover inventory especially useful for resource managers and planners. 

Completed Natural Resources Inventories

In Hennepin County, Natural Resource Inventories have been completed at a Level 4 or 5. Listed below are the natural resource inventory reports that have been completed for Hennepin County municipalities.

Please note that the information provided in the listed reports was accurate when the data was collected and recorded. Land cover in Hennepin County is in constant flux due to development or other human alteration. In many cases, more refined and detailed information has been collected and analyzed since these reports were completed. If you are interested in the most recent information for a particular location, please contact Dave Thill at 612-348-0124 or david.thill@co.hennepin.mn.us.

Please note that some of the reports are large file sizes and may take awhile to download.