Accelerating the Waterfowl Production Area Acquisition - Phase VII
This proposal accelerates the permanent protection of 900 acres of wetlands (225 acres) and grasslands (675 acres) as Waterfowl Production Areas open to public hunting in Minnesota.
Conversion of grassland and wetlands for other uses have not only contributed to many native species population
declines, but also impacted water quality, groundwater recharge cycles, and natural flood cycles. Permanent
acquisition and restoration of grasslands and wetlands is one of the major tools we have for reversing this trend.
This seventh phase of the WPA acceleration program acquired and restored a total of 1,506.35 acres of grasslands
and wetland habitat as permanently protected WPA’s managed by the USFWS.
Pheasants Forever and USFWS staff collaborated to generate a list of parcels with landowners who had the desire
to sell. The parcel’s ecological impact was evaluated using landscape level planning tools developed by the USFWS
Habitat and Population Evaluation Team (HAPET). These tools utilize Thunderstorm Maps to predict productivity
of breeding waterfowl, grassland birds, and other wildlife species for the potential parcel and surrounding area. By
utilizing these tools, we were able to focus efforts in areas where acquisitions and restorations will make the
greatest impact on the landscape and thus these additional acres of WPA are very beneficial to wildlife and public
recreation.
Pheasants Forever notified counties prior to acquisition of lands. Once acquired, the UFWS will make a one-time
Trust Fund payment to the County where the property is located. Additionally, the USFWS will make annual Refuge
Revenue Sharing payments for all fee lands within the respective counties.
Once acquired, wetlands on each parcel were restored by installing surface ditch “plugs” and or breaking
subsurface tile. Some wetlands may also have had sediment removed to create proper substrates for wetland
function and vegetative growth. Grasslands were restored by planting a high-diversity native seed mix of grasses
and forbs that are regionally appropriate to the area. As with all restoration work there are challenges that come
from weather and working with private contractors but we did not face any major issues.
$7,620,000 in the first year is to the commissioner of natural resources for an agreement with Pheasants Forever to acquire land in fee to be designated and managed as waterfowl production areas in Minnesota, in cooperation with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. A list of proposed land acquisitions must be provided as part of the required accomplishment plan.
263 Wetland acres, 1,221 Prairie acres, and 24 Forest acres (for a total of 1,508 acres) Protected in Fee without State PILT Liability.
Federal, Private, PF