Restoring and Enhancing Minnesota's Important Bird Areas, Phase 3

Audubon Minnesota will advance conservation in northwestern Minnesota with the third phase of Restoring and Enhancing Minnesota's Important Bird Areas (IBA). This Program will continue to expand the Outdoor Heritage Funds legacy of restoration and enhancement of Minnesota's natural heritage. Our Program places an emphasis on Minnesota's IBAs as they are essential to maintaining healthy and diverse bird populations in the state. The Tallgrass Aspen Parklands (TAP) region alone supports over 279 bird species (143 regular breeding species, 22 permanent residents, and over 114 migrants or winter residents) including sandhill cranes, waterfowl, northern harrier, yellow rail, and greater prairie chicken. Gray wolves, moose, elk, fisher, and the American badger are among other wildlife found in the region. The Prairie Parklands supports 140 regular breeding species, 23 permanent residents, and over 115 species that do not breed in the region but depend on critical habitats for migration. The Prairie Parklands is important to 139 species of greatest conservation need (SGCN). This geography contains the meeting point of three of the four ecological sections in Minnesota creating an array of habitats in close-proximity.
While enhancing and restoring habitats within IBAs is a primary goal, we recognize that some of the greatest conservation opportunities exist within the agricultural matrix of the Minnesota Prairie Conservation Plan due to the loss of grassland and wetland habitats in recent years. In phase three, we will expand our habitat focus to include two Prairie Parkland/Eastern Broadleaf Forest counties (Mahnomen and Norman) and the northwestern counties that compose the TAP (Polk, Red Lake, Pennington, Marshall, Kittson, Roseau).

We will expand the available habitat for priority bird species by utilizing a variety of activities: native seed enhancements, management of brush and tree species, invasive species control, as well as prescribed fire. Projects will be targeted and selected based on a prioritization model that focuses on core habitat, conservation estate, acres of remnant habitat, and habitat condition. Restoration and enhancement projects will include a site assessment, including a rapid analysis of habitat suitability for priority species and habitat condition as well as documentation of prescribed habitat management actions (photo points) and recommended follow up actions for future management.

We will continue to work closely with local U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff to identify habitat needs on public lands in these key geographies. Audubon will write Habitat Management Action Plans, get necessary permits, and complete enhancement and restoration work to create better habitat for target species.

Audubon, with assistance from the MN Natural Resources Conservation Service, will reach out to private landowners and prioritize Wetland Reserve Program Easements (WRP/WRE) that have Wetland Reserve Plans of Operations. These plans are road maps for habitat work for each specific easement. Audubon will assist with habitat identification and prioritization, develop Habitat Management Action Plans for a select number of easements, and conduct habitat work.

These partnership efforts will deliver effective means of enhancing and restoring ecologically significant land for the benefit of birds, wildlife, and people of northwestern Minnesota.