Moose Habitat Collaborative, Phase IV - NE MN Forest Habitat Enhancement
The Ruffed Grouse Society (RGS), in collaboration with federal, state, county, tribal, university and non-governmental organizational (NGO) partners, seeks to continue the successful work of previous Moose Habitat Collaborative (Collaborative) grants to stabilize/sustain Minnesota's moose population by enhancing ~8,000 acres of cover/forage habitat for moose. The project builds on the Collaborative's Phase I-III efforts to improve degraded forest habitats by increasing stand complexity through mixed density/cover type planting methods which enhances overall moose habitat across the landscape. Also, non-grant timber harvests planned in coordination with this grant increase the occurrence of early successional/forage.
Moose have an iconic status in Minnesota and are a critical component of the cultural identity, hunting heritage and recreational economy of northern Minnesota. Over the past two decades Minnesota's moose population has dramatically fallen, from an estimated 8,840 in 2006 to this year's (2020) estimate of 3,150. Due to a growing public concern and state listing in 2013, the following actions have been undertaken to date:
- the Minnesota Legislature directed the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to establish a Moose Advisory Committee (MAC; August 2009 report).
- primarily based on MAC report recommendations, the DNR completed a Minnesota Moose Research and Management Plan (Moose Plan; December 2011). The strategic vision for this plan is: "Moose have intrinsic value and are recognized for their importance to Minnesota. To the greatest extent possible, moose shall be managed for ecological sustainability, hunting, and viewing opportunities." This plan includes objectives for research, high quality habitat, social science considerations, and dissemination and use of plan information.
- to address research objectives, significant efforts/projects have been undertaken to date: an adult moose mortality study (2013-16), moose calf mortality study (2013-17), and a winter nutrition study (2016-2020).
- to address habitat objectives, significant habitat management efforts have been accomplished through the Moose Habitat Collaborative and related LSOHC Moose Habitat Collaborative grants they have received for Phase I (2,049 acres, $914,100 in grant funds), Phase II (5,164 acres, $1,996,400 grant funds), as well as currently funded Phase III (proposed 10,000 affected acres, $1,938,000 in grant funds).
Due to the success of Moose Habitat Collaborative Phase I-III grants, Collaborative partners would like to build on this success through a FY22 LSOHC grant which will target another ~8,000 acres to enhance/affect at a grant request of ~$1,809,000.
This effort will again be steered by a broad range of partners that make up the Moose Habitat Collaborative. Current partners and roles are:
- NGOs: Ruffed Grouse Society (new for Phase IV - grant sponsor, program manager duties, fiscal agent), The Nature Conservancy (site, project, and public land administrator coordination), MN Deer Hunters Association.
- Public land administrators: Superior National Forest; MN DNR ? Division of Forestry and Division of Fish and Wildlife; Cook, Lake, St. Louis Counties (site/land manager)
- Tribal authorities: 1854 Treaty Authority, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (research/technical)
- Habitat research: University of Minnesota Duluth, Natural Resources Research Institute (UMD-NRRI, research/technical)
Collaborative partners will again work together to choose sites with forest stands that are either partially harvested, decadent, poorly stocked with trees, or provide such poor forage conditions that they are of little or no benefit to moose. This process is guided by the initial designation of priority moose project/landscape areas, the use of a site level checklist/project documentation form to ensure habitat enhancements are properly vetted, and the use of ongoing site monitoring/validation efforts that serve as a final check/adaptive management step.
$1,809,000 the first year is to the commissioner of natural resources for an agreement with the Ruffed Grouse Society to restore and enhance public forest lands in the northern forest region for moose habitat purposes. A list of proposed land restoration and enhancements must be provided as part of the required accomplishment plan.
Healthy populations of endangered, threatened, and special concern species as well as more common species - As has been noted, moose are iconic to NE Minnesota's forests and a key representative of healthy forest ecosystems; are important to the region's recreational economy; and provide a tribal heritage, cultural link. To sustain these desirable outcomes, this grant proposes to enhance 8,000 acres (from the parcel list of ~40,000 treatment acres) of moose cover and forage habitat enhancement so as to sustain at least the current moose population level of ~3,500 animals. The Collaborative will continue to work with its Tribal and University partners to assess and evaluate effectiveness of its enhancement efforts
Moose habitat collaborative partners