The Yellow Medicine River Watershed District will contract with the Water Resource Center at the Minnesota State University - Mankato to complete a Geographic Information System (GIS) terrain analysis for the watershed using recently completed LIDAR data in southern Minnesota. Analysis will concentrate on the impaired reaches of the Yellow Medicine River Watershed and its tributaries. This inventory will utilize the State of Minnesota LiDAR elevation datasets to create many datasets through the analysis of this elevation data.
Using Minnesota Outdoor Heritage Fund dollars allocated in this grant, American Bird Conservancy (ABC) completed 2581 total acres of habitat enhancement on protected public lands in the northern MN Golden-winged Warbler focal area and 480 acres of acquisition adjacent to the Four Brooks Wildlife Management Area with assistance from The Conservation Fund.
Restore 3,647 acres of public forest to help meet wildlife and recreational goals within six Minnesota conservation plans, leverage $500,000 from outside sources for forest restoration on private lands and keep Golden-winged Warbler off the ESA.