Shallow Lake & Wetland Protection & Restoration Program - Phase VII
Ducks Unlimited spent 98% of this ML2018 OHF appropriation and completed the fee-title purchase of four land parcels totaling 607 acres for MNDNR, exceeding our 550-acre grant goals as follows: 233-acre Steinke Tract on the north side of 5,000-acre Marsh Lake on Lac Qui Parle WMA in Big Stone County; 64-acre Erickson Tract on Whitefield WMA in Kandiyohi County; 151-acre Kramer/Tenhassen Farms Tract on Seymour Lake WMA in Martin County; and 159-acre Stoderl Tract to create the new Stoderl Slough WMA in Murray County. DU also restored each parcel through this appropriation with help from MNDNR field staff.
In this Phase 7 of our prairie land protection program in Minnesota, Ducks Unlimited (DU) acquired and restored land with drained wetlands adjacent to existing public lands and shallow lakes for inclusion in the Minnesota DNR's State Wildlife Management Area (WMA) system. DU focused on the acquisition and restoration of lands with restorable wetlands and prairie adjacent to existing WMAs to create functioning prairie-wetland habitat complexes for wildlife and public use. This work addresses the habitat goals in Minnesota's Long-range Duck Recovery Plan, Minnesota's Prairie Conservation Plan, and the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. This work was time sensitive because farmland adjacent to state WMAs is rarely offered for sale for conservation, and tracts are only available for a short time. DU worked in close partnership with the Minnesota DNR Section of Wildlife to identify land tracts for sale of importance to DNR and of significance to wildlife, once restored and protected. DU then hired professional licensed consultant appraisers to determine fair market land value, and purchased land from willing sellers private landowners.
DU negotiated two bargain sale purchase prices saving $29,000, and paid full appraised value for the other two parcels. In each case, DU provided written communication to county boards informing them of our land purchase plans at least 30 days before closing, and addressed county board and township board questions as they arose to further explain our conservation work. No formal objections were made, and all concerns resolved. Following acquisition, DU professional biologists and engineers worked closely with Minnesota DNR field staff to plan and implement both robust prairie and wetland restorations, including diverse native forb/grass seed plantings and complex wetland restorations that required extensive drainage system modifications and expensive sediment removal to restore functioning wetlands for prairie wildlife. Competitive low-bid private contractors were selected to perform restoration earth moving work to restore wetland hydrology, and to remove subsurface drainage tile, sediment, and invasive trees. Minnesota DNR field staff seeded uplands back to native prairie grasslands with abundant pollinator forbs using seed purchased with OHF grant funds. Each of the four land tracts has been successfully transferred to the Minnesota DNR and into the State WMA system, and are fully open to public use, including hunting.
This conservation work was especially important because Minnesota has lost 90% of our prairie wetlands to drainage and 99% of our prairie uplands to cultivation and other land uses. Acquisition and restoration of small wetlands and prairie is critically needed here, especially for breeding waterfowl and other birds in the Prairie Pothole Region of SW Minnesota where DU is focused. The few remaining prairie wetlands and shallow lakes contained within state WMAs or federal Waterfowl Production Areas rarely provide enough optimal wildlife habitat for birds to reproduce due to their small, fragmented size and isolated juxtaposition. Acquisition/restoration drained wetlands and cultivated prairie adjacent to existing public lands and public waters helps create functioning prairie-wetland complexes of habitat for wildlife that are open for public use too.
$4,770,000 the second year is to the commissioner of natural resources for an agreement with Ducks Unlimited to acquire lands in fee and to restore and enhance prairie lands, wetlands, and land buffering shallow lakes for wildlife management under Minnesota Statutes, section 86A.05, subdivision 8. A list of proposed acquisitions must be provided as part of the required accomplishment plan.
This program protected and restored prairie uplands and emergent wetlands, which are identified as critical habitats for many "Species of Greatest Conservation Need" listed in Minnesota's "Tomorrow's Habitat for the Wild & Rare: An Action Plan for Minnesota Wildlife." Specific species listed in the Action Plan as requiring prairie (page 255) include seven species of butterflies and three bird species that are native prairie specialists: chestnut-collared longspur, Sprague's pipit, and Baird's sparrow. In addition to these specific wildlife species listed as SGCN examples in the Action Plan, restored prairie in the Prairie Parkland will provide habitat of significant value for other species listed in Appendix B of the Action Plan too. Restored and protected prairie will provide habitat of significant value for other SGCN including bird species: upland sandpiper, bobolink, burrowing owl, Le conte's sparrow, grasshopper sparrow, eastern meadowlark, swamp sparrow, sharp-tailed grouse, short-eared owl, northern harrier, dickcissel, Henslow's sparrow, and Nelson's sharp-tailed sparrow. Upland nesting waterfowl will also benefit including waterfowl listed as SGCN; northern pintail and lesser scaup, which have both seen declines in continental populations. Wetland associated birds such as trumpeter swan, black tern, American bittern, Wilson's phalarope, and marbled godwit will benefit from wetlands either restored or buffered in the prairie landscape. In short, most of the wildlife species listed as SGCN in the Action Plan need the same restored prairie wetlands and grasslands that waterfowl and other game species need, and acquisition and restoration of wetlands and prairie grasslands adjacent to existing state Wildlife Management Areas often benefits both game and nongame species alike when restored correctly and fully as Ducks Unlimited always strives to do and achieved through this grant.
DU private and federal NAWCA, DU private funds, DU private funds, DU private and federal NAWCA and Private landowner donations