This programmatic proposal accelerates the protection and restoration of 1,073 acres of strategic prairie grassland, wetland, and other wildlife habitats as State Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) open to public hunting. Pheasants Forever (PF) will be protecting parcels that build onto or create a corridor between existing protected lands which will be transferred to the MN Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) to be included as a WMA. All acquisitions will occur within the prairie, prairie/forest transition, and metro planning regions.
This proposal accelerates the strategic permanent protection of 1,003 acres (241 wetlands and 762 grasslands) of Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs) open to public hunting in Minnesota. Pheasants Forever (PF) will strategically acquire parcels that are adjacent to existing public land or create corridors between complexes. All acquisitions will occur in the prairie, prairie/forest transition, or metro regions.
This Phase 2 partnership will accelerate USFWS wildlife habitat easements to restore and protect 775 acres of private grasslands and pothole wetlands in west-central Minnesota, and restore 50 additional prairie-wetland acres too. These "working land" conservation easements allow delayed haying and grazing while protecting restored wetlands and prairie grasslands for nesting ducks, pheasants, and other wildlife.
This proposal accelerates the strategic permanent protection of 611 acres (122 acres of wetlands and 489 acres of grassland habitat) of Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs) open to public hunting in Minnesota. Pheasants Forever (PF) will strategically acquire parcels that are adjacent to existing public land or create corridors between complexes. All acquisitions will occur in the prairie, prairie/forest transition, or metro regions.
This is the twelfth phase to accelerate the protection and restoration of 540 acres of strategic prairie grasslands, associated wetlands and other wildlife habitats as State Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) open to public hunting. Pheasants Forever (PF) will be permanently protecting strategic parcels within the prairie, prairie/forest transition, and metro planning regions which will be restored and transferred to the MN Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) to be included as a WMA.
Funding provided through this appropriation enhanced 5,024 acres of wetland habitat. Eight wetland and shallow lake infrastructure projects were competed that enhanced 1,643 acres of wetland. Cattail spraying using a helicopter outfitted with an OHF-purchased spray unit and impacted impacted 1,762 acres. Work by the Region 3 Roving Habitat Crew enhanced 1,619 acres of wetland. Finally, survey and design work was initiated on four projects to prepare for future construction.
Many of Minnesota's wetlands have been lost and the remainder degraded. Recent tiling and ditching have accelerated this situation. Through this program, shallow lakes and wetlands were designed, constructed, and intensively managed to benefit wetland wildlife and Minnesota residents. Habitat accomplishments from this proposal have enhanced 19,365 acres of wetlands and shallow lakes to benefit waterfowl and wetland wildlife. Work was accomplish through constructed infrastructure, cattail control, and a significant prescribed wetland burn.
This appropriation funded 283 projects totaling 21,953 acres. The two largest types of enhancement were 112 woody removal projects totaling 10,160 acres and 134 prescribed burns totaling 10,082 acres. Additionally, we seeded 30 sites totaling 1386 acres, put in infrastructure for conservation grazing of 236 acres on 3 sites, conducted 3 oak savanna enhancements totaling 42 acres, and treated 47 acres of invasive species on 2 sites.
This program of on-the-ground conservation projects increased the wildlife and ecological values of forest communities on Minnesota's public forestlands. Restoration and enhancement projects in this program enhanced more than 10,000 acres of forest.
This Phase 3 partnership will accelerate USFWS wildlife habitat easements to protect and restore 1,400 acres of private grasslands and pothole wetlands in west-central Minnesota, and restore an additional 140 prairie-wetland acres. These "working land" conservation easements allow delayed haying and grazing while protecting restored wetlands and prairie grasslands for nesting ducks, pheasants, and other wildlife.
This Phase XIII proposal permanently protects and restores 659 acres of Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs) open to public hunting in Minnesota. Pheasants Forever (PF) will acquire parcels that are adjacent to existing public land or create corridors between complexes. All acquisitions will occur in the prairie, prairie/forest transition, or metro regions. Acquired properties will be restored to the highest extent possible with regard to time and budgets.
This proposal accelerates the protection and restoration of 792 acres of strategic prairie grasslands, associated wetlands and other wildlife habitats as State Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) open to public hunting. Pheasants Forever (PF) will be permanently protecting strategic parcels within the prairie, prairie/forest transition, and metro planning regions. These acquired properties will be restored to the highest quality wildlife habitat feasible and transferred to the MN Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) to be included into the WMA system.
This proposal accelerates the strategic permanent protection of 915 acres (220 wetlands and 695 grasslands) of Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs) open to public hunting in Minnesota. Pheasants Forever (PF) will strategically acquire parcels that are adjacent to existing public land or create corridors between complexes. All acquisitions will occur in the prairie, prairie/forest transition, or metro regions.
This proposal accelerates the protection of 1,030 acres of strategic prairie grassland, wetland, and other wildlife habitats as State Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) open to public hunting. Pheasants Forever (PF) will be acquiring tracts that build onto or create a corridor between existing protected lands which will be transferred to the MN Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) to be included as a WMA. All acquisitions will occur within the prairie, prairie/forest transition, and metro planning regions. These areas have seen the greatest decline in upland and wetland habitat.
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.
This proposal accelerates the protection of 900 acres of prairie grassland, wetland, and other wildlife habitat as State Wildlife Management Areas open to public hunting.
This proposal will address a backlog of shallow lake and wetland habitat work that will otherwise go unfunded. These projects will address work called for in the Minnesota Prairie Conservation Plan, Long Range Duck Recovery Plan, and Shallow Lakes plan.
We propose restoration and enhancement of prairie and savanna on WMA’s, SNA’s, and Native Prairie Banks in Minnesota and restoration and enhancement of bluff prairies on State Forest Land in southeast Minnesota.
We protected 22.3 miles of trout streams and 1.3 miles of lakeshore via easements (585 acres in total), and 7.4 miles (504 acres) of lakeshore through fee-title purchase. We enhanced shoreline habitat on 524 acres of riparian land, and instream habitat on 3.1 miles of trout streams and 0.5 miles of warmwater rivers.
The table below provides a short summary of the acres and sites accomplished. We enhanced or restored 59,495 acres in 458 separate habitat projects.Project Type # Sites # AcresFencing for conserv grazing 6 721grassland conversion 33 1,124Invasive Species Control 43 1,599mowing 3 104Prescribed burn 214 48,368Restoration 13 123Woody Removal 146 7,457
This program will complete the initial WMA site development on 1,500 acres of land acquired in the Accelerated Prairie Grassland WMA and Accelerated Wetland WMA Acquisition programs to meet standards for inclusion in the Outdoor Recreation System. This program will also accelerate the restoration, enhancement and management of at least 5,180 acres of native prairie vegetation on existing public lands.
This program will protect and restore 700 acres of new wetland wildlife habitat in wetland complexes in Minnesota through fee title acquisition. Title of all lands acquired will be held by the State and designated as Wildlife Management Area open to hunting, trapping, fishing and compatible outdoor recreation uses.
This program will accelerate the improvement and protection of shallow lakes and large wetland habitat critical to migratory waterfowl and other wildlife in Minnesota by improving water quality and rejuvenating aquatic ecology in turbid shallow lake basins. DU will enhance eight (8) or more strategically-selected shallow lakes that have been legally designated by for wildlife management purposes by Minnesota DNR that total 6,000 wetland acres by engineering and implementing construction of water control structures, pumps, and fish barriers on their outlets.
Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will cooperate to permanently restore and conserve approximately 800 acres of grassland and 400 acres of wetland as Waterfowl Production Areas in western and southern Minnesota. All lands acquired through this grant proposal will be owned and managed by the Service as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
This program will acquire and develop approximately 730, acres of new Wildlife Management Area (WMA) lands. New WMA acquisition acre targets by LSOHC Sections will be consistent with the recommendations of The Citizens Advisory Committee report of 2002? Wildlife Management Area Acquisition The Next 50 Years. Additionally, this program will protect 275 acres of native prairie as state Scientific & Natural Areas (SNAs) and perpetual Native Prairie Bank (NPB) easements.
This program will increase populations of a variety of game and non-game wildlife species by protecting and enhancing forest habitats on which wildlife depends. This program of on-the-ground forest conservation projects will amplify the wildlife value of forest communities on DNR administered forestlands. Our forest enhancement will treat 4,472 ac. These activities are not conducted as part of the DNR's commercial timber operations. Additionally, our program will acquire 404 acres of forestland that contributes to habitat complexes and other high priorities.
This programmatic partnership between the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Ducks Unlimited (DU) will accelerate enhancement, restoration, and protection of shallow lakes and wetlands important to waterfowl. This partnership will assess, design, and implement shallow lake and wetland enhancement, restoration, and protection projects to address the most important wetland issues facing waterfowl and other wetland wildlife in Minnesota.
This program uses a multi-programmatic approach to achieve prioritized aquatic habitat protection, restoration, and enhancement for lakes, trout streams, and rivers across Minnesota. We propose to: i) protect 7.8 miles of shoreline on lakes, rivers and trout streams; ii) effect structural repairs to 2 lake outlet control structures that will integrate fish passage; iii) restore and enhance river and stream functions that will benefit over 50.5 river miles; and iv) enhance 1.4 miles of shoreline habitat on publicly-owned lakeshore.
Five partner organizations of the >25-member Anoka Sand Plain (ASP) Partnership will protect 210 acres of habitat through conservation easement, and restore/enhance 850 acres of Prairie/Oak Savanna, Shallow Basin Wetland, and fire-dependent Woodland/Forest habitats on public and protected private sites, within the Anoka Sand Plain Ecological Region and intersecting watersheds.
Great River Greening (GRG), Anoka Conservation District (ACD), Isanti SWCD (ISWCD), Minnesota Land Trust (MLT), and Stearns SWCD (StSWCD) enhanced 339 acres, equaling 137% of the stated goal of 247 acres, and 0.12 miles of shoreline. Further, MLT permanently protected 86 forest and 181 wetland acres, equaling 334% of the stated goal of 80 acres, and 1.67 miles of shoreline through conservation easement.
The Anoka Sand Plain Partnership restored / enhanced 3,714 acres of priority prairie, savanna, forest, wetland, and shoreline habitat on public lands and waters within the Anoka Sand Plain EcoRegion within the Metropolitan Urbanizing, Forest-Prairie, and Northern Forest regions. Total R/E acreage achieved over the course of the appropriation is 126% of our stated acreage goals, and was accomplished through a robust partnership of four direct recipients improving a total of 16 priority sites including WMAs, state forest, national wildlife refuges, city and county lands.
The Anoka Sand Plain (ASP) Partnership will protect 240 acres of habitat through conservation easement, and restore/enhance 452 acres of Prairie/Oak Savanna, Wetland, and fire-dependent Woodland/Forest habitats within the ASP Ecological Region program boundary, including rescue of 48,000 rare plants to protected areas. These actions will increase biodiversity, habitat connectivity, recreational opportunities, and landscape resilience, which align with the ASP Partnership's strategic plan, DNR Wildlife Action Plan and LSOHC Section priorities.
Great River Greening (GRG), Anoka Conservation District (ACD), Isanti County Parks (ICP) and National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) completed restoration and enhancement (R/E) activities on 1,896, equal to 147% of the planned 1,286 acres, and on 1.2 miles of shoreland, over 17 parcels.
With funding from the Outdoor Heritage Fund and other leveraged sources, the Anoka Sand Plain Partnership restored/enhanced 1,866 acres of priority wildlife habitat within the Anoka Sand Plain and in the Rum River watershed in east-central Minnesota.
This program will harness the expertise, resources, and connections of a broad community of committed conservation stakeholders to significantly elevate restoration and enhancement of oak savannas (Minnesota's most critically imperiled habitat), woodlands and forests on public lands across the region.
The occurrences of contaminants including antibiotics, other pharmaceuticals, and personal care products in the environment have gained increasing attention in recent years because of their potential health and ecological impacts. However, serious gaps remain in our understanding of these contaminants and the significance of the threats they may pose, such as to drinking water. Through this appropriation scientists at the University of St.
This program will permanently protect approximately 1,246 acres (8.9-miles) of lake and warm water stream shoreline through fee title and permanent easement acquisition. Our program will also secure 54 Acres (3.1-miles) of permanent habitat management easements that include angler access on designated trout streams.
This program will protect 300-500 acres of land in the blufflands region of southeastern Minnesota--an area that contains unique and ecologically important prairie, oak savanna and grassland habitat along with outstanding forested bluffs, woodlands, wetlands and cold water trout streams along the Mississippi River.
The Cannon River Watershed Habitat Complex Phase IX program will protect approximately 150 acres in fee, and restore and enhance approximately 93 acres of high priority wildlife habitat within the Cannon River Watershed, including wetlands, prairies, Big Woods forest, and river/shallow lake shoreline. Its goal is to reverse habitat loss, prevent degradation of water quality, improve watershed function, and provide public access.
The Cannon River Watershed Habitat Complex Phase VII program will protect in fee and restore approximately 220 acres of high priority wildlife habitat within and near the Cannon River Watershed, including wetlands, prairies, Big Woods forest, and river/shallow lake shoreline. Its goal is to reverse habitat loss, prevent degradation of water quality, improve watershed function, and provide public access.
