Heron Lake Area Conservation Partnership
The Heron Lake Area Conservation Partnership (HLACP) will permanently protect 402 acres of prairie and wetlands within the Heron Lake watershed in southwest Minnesota. The landscape has less than one percent of its pre-settlement wetlands remaining. The HLACP will use conservation easements and fee-title land acquisition to protect and restore high-value wetland and prairie lands identified as critical habitat for many Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN). Tracts will be prioritized and landowner outreach targeted to maximize wildlife habitat conservation benefit and financial investment.
Heron Lake was once a water bird production and migration area of international significance. The vast beds of wild celery and robust stands of bulrush, combined with a seemingly endless prairie around the lake, supported an awe-inspiring number of colonial water birds, waterfowl, and other migratory birds. Observations recorded around the turn of the century reported 700,000 staging canvasbacks, 50,000 nesting Franklin's gulls, and hundreds of thousands of other migratory birds using Heron Lake and surrounding marshes.
With the movement of settlers to the area, the prairie ecosystem was converted to an intensive row crop landscape. This conversion resulted in the drainage of 99.3% of the original wetlands, destruction of 99% of the native prairie, and loss of many species of native flora and fauna. Agriculture was not the only threat. As towns grew, so did their contribution to natural resource degradation.
An increase in the quality and quantity of waterfowl and wetland wildlife habitat within the Heron Lake watershed is critical. This partnership aims to protect and restore prairie and wetland habitats, the first concerted effort of this type in many years. Efforts are supported by the Heron Lake Waterfowl Working Group, a recently formed partnership of conservation and government organizations focusing on restoration efforts within the watershed.
Heron Lake Watershed District Conservation Technician:
The HLWD will hire a Conservation Technician to proactively contact prospective landowners, explain options for flood-prone land, build relationships to develop conservation opportunities, and assist with implementation. Tracts will be targeted within priority areas using a combination of conservation plans and models. Local coordination and outreach to develop partnerships with landowners and local officials is key to project success.
Conservation Easements:
The HLWD Conservation Technician will coordinate with MLT and other partners to identify landowners interested in managing their lands for wildlife habitat in perpetuity. Landowners will submit proposals to MLT using a competitive request for proposal (RFP) process that will rank properties based on ecological value and cost, prioritizing the projects that provide the best ecological value and acquiring them at the lowest cost to the state. MLT will secure approximately 156 acres of permanent conservation easements and develop restoration/habitat management plans for eased acres. Lands eased will not be open for public use, however partners and the HLWD Conservation Technician will inform landowners and encourage enrollment in the State Walk-In Access Program. The HLWD and MLT, in cooperation with DU, PF, and USFWS Partners Private Lands Program, will restore/enhance wetlands and associated upland habitat on conservation easements.
Fee acquisition:
DU and PF will coordinate with the MNDNR and USFWS Windom Wetland Management District on potential fee-title acquisitions. DU and PF will work with willing sellers to purchase and restore two tracts or 246 acres of land strategically identified within the HLWD, and then donate the parcels to the MNDNR as a WMA or USFWS as a WPA, where they will be managed in perpetuity.
$4,493,000 the second year is to the commissioner of natural resources for agreements to acquire land in fee for wildlife management under Minnesota Statutes, section 86A.05, subdivision 8, or to be designated and managed as waterfowl production areas in Minnesota, in cooperation with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; to acquire land in permanent conservation easement; and to restore and enhance wildlife habitat within the Heron Lake Watershed as follows: $1,450,000 is to Ducks Unlimited; $1,181,000 is to Pheasants Forever; $801,000 is to the Heron Lake Watershed District; and $1,061,000 is to Minnesota Land Trust, of which up to $120,000 to Minnesota Land Trust is for establishing monitoring and enforcement funds as approved in the accomplishment plan and subject to Minnesota Statutes, section 97A.056, subdivision 17. A list of proposed acquisitions must be provided as part of the required accomplishment plan.
Agriculture lands are converted to grasslands to sustain functioning prairie systems - Lands near existing protected lands will be acquired or eased and restored back to functioning wetlands and native grass and forbs for waterfowl, ring-necked pheasants, pollinators and other prairie and wetland dependent wildlife. Lands will be transferred to the MNDNR or the USFWS to provide additional prairie habitat and public use. Restored lands that become WMAs or WPAs will be monitored by area MNDNR or USFWS staff and managed to optimize conditions for wildlife. Lands eased will be stewarded by MLT in perpetuity and actively managed in partnership with landowners to ensure continued wildlife habitat benefits long after restoration
DU, Private, NAWCA, HLWD, NHLGPA, PF, Private, Federal, Private Landowners and USFWS Private Lands Program