Overall Project Outcome and Results
This project focused on paying professional services related to the conveyance of habitat corridor lands to the DNR by HCP partners. Parcels acquired from HCP partners will be placed in public ownership and administered as State Wildlife Management Areas.
Project goals were to pay professional services as parcels are conveyed to DNR by nonprofit HCP partners. During this appropriation only Pheasants Forever (PF) projects were conveyed to DNR.
OVERALL PROJECT OUTCOME AND RESULTS The goal of this project was to improve habitat for waterfowl and other species that utilize wetlands on the Leech Lake Reservation in addition to analyzing a long term wild rice data set to determine if waterfowl numbers are influenced by rice abundance. A number of techniques were utilized to accomplish this work.
OVERALL PROJECT OUTCOME AND RESULTS This 2010 grant was supplemental to the sixth phase (2009) of our Shorelands Protection project. This grant provided acquisition capital needed to complete two urgent projects that otherwise we would not have been able to complete. One project protects important shoreline along Lake Superior, while the other project protects shoreline along the Little Pine River. Collectively, these two easements protect 99 acres of critical habitat and protect more than 7,000 feet of fragile shoreline.
DU will help state and federal wildlife conservation agencies protect (Part 3c) managed shallow lakes for waterfowl wildlife within HCP project areas by securing permanent DU conservation easements.
Pheasants Forever provides coordination, mapping, and data management for the Habitat Corridors Partnership. Funds are being used to coordinate the partnership, guide strategic outreach and implementation efforts, manage project data, and provide reporting and mapping of accomplishments.
The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe is working within the Leech Lake Reservation boundaries to address loss and degradation of aquatic habitat for wild rice and waterfowl. Efforts will include regulating water levels on shallow lakes by controlling beaver activity and conducting periodic water level draw-downs, reseeding of approximately 200 acres of wild rice, and implementing adaptive management based on analysis of wild rice productivity.
An estimated 200 acres of lands acquired through this phase of the Habitat Corridors Partnership are expected to be transferred to the state for designation as Wildlife Management Areas (WMA). The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is using these funds to conduct habitat restoration on these new WMA lands, as well as develop the infrastructure necessary for public access to them.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is coordinating efforts to improve habitat for aquatic species and protect water quality on lakes, streams, and their surrounding sensitive shorelands. A total of up to 3.5 miles or 35 acres of water bodies in Kandiyohi, Otter Tail, Rice, or Stevens Counties are expected to benefit from restoration activities including installation of aeration systems, development of spawning areas, installation of native vegetation, and stabilization of stream banks.
