Prairie Heritage Fund - Acquisition and Restoration, Phase 2
This program will protect 900 acres of priority prairie grassland, wetland habitat, and native remnant prairie (if available) as state wildlife management areas (WMA). In addition, acquired lands will be restored and/or enhanced to prairie and/or wetland habitat. Once complete, these WMAs will provide quality grassland/wetland habitat complexes that will benefit a myriad of game and non-game species and will provide public recreational opportunities for the citizens of Minnesota.
The threats to wildlife habitat in the farmland regions of Minnesota are constant and increasing. Development pressures from urbanization, industry (e.g. wind, gravel) and agriculture put our existing habitats in constant jeopardy. Minnesota is also losing significant acreage of grassland habitat (approximately 70,000 acres last year) in the farmland region of Minnesota due to expiring CRP contracts. Now it is even more urgent to provide the vital permanent, high quality habitat complexes on a landscape level to protect and maintain wildlife populations. In addition, providing a place for Minnesotans to hunt, trap, fish and otherwise recreate in the outdoors are urgent needs, and needs we can deliver right now.
To help slow and reverse the loss of habitat and declining wildlife populations, Pheasants Forever and our partners will protect (fee acquisition from willing sellers) 900 acres of high priority grassland, wetland habitat, and native remnant prairie (if available) as state wildlife management areas (WMA). Striving to build landscape level habitat complexes that will protect and sustain wildlife populations, 17 of the 20 potential projects are additions to existing WMA's and all projects have been developed in consultation with the local DNR managers. DNR Commissioner approval will be received for any project funded under this proposal.?
All acquired lands will be restored and/or enhanced. Acquired croplands will be restored to diverse grasslands and wetlands to the fullest extent. Enhancement to existing prairie grasslands and wetlands will also occur as determined by the DNR Manager and PF Biologists. Enhancements could include undesirable woody vegetation removal, water control structure installation, inter-seeding within grasslands to increase diversity and structure, managed grazing, invasive species control, or any other activity that improves the diversity and health of the prairie-wetland habitat complex. We will use as diverse of a seed mixture as reasonable for the site to achieve diversity and quality functional habitat using plants native to Minnesota.
Pheasants Forever's network of 76 Minnesota chapters and 24,000 members have been actively involved in protecting and restoring lands in partnership with the Minnesota DNR for 27 years. Wildlife Management Areas have proven to be an invaluable tool in protecting and sustaining habitat and the myriad of species that call them home. WMA's provide many recreational opportunities and are enjoyed by thousands of Minnesotans every year.
Working with numerous partners throughout the state of Minnesota, Pheasants Forever acquired 1,020.7 acres of land from willing sellers within the project area of Minnesota. These lands have been enrolled into the state Wildlife Management Area (WMA) System and will be protected and managed in perpetuity by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. In addition, these newly acquired WMAs will provide public access and recreational opportunities for ALL Minnesotans, so fundamentally important to our outdoor heritage.
More specifically, a total of 9 parcels were acquired within Mower, Dakota, McLeod, Pope, Wright, Pipestone, Kandiyohi and Todd Counties. A total of 10 landowners were presented with offers and PF was successful in securing 9 of those parcels (90% success rate). Offers to landowners were based on appraised values and seemed to be competitive with the market at the time. Most projects were closed early enough in the project period, and therefore the agricultural land boom of 2012 seemed to have little affect on our ability to secure parcels. Parcels were identified in conjunction with DNR wildlife professionals and based on criteria in addition to minimum WMA standards that included: habitat restoration potential, landscape scale significance, presence of significant natural communities, future expansion potential, and multiple benefit analysis.
In total, $3,014,821.38 of Outdoor Heritage Funds were matched with $501,571.03 of non-state funding to complete this work. We are slightly short of our match goal on this appropriation ($23,428.97). However, when looking at all of our WMA acceleration appropriations, we currently are exceeding our match goals by over $425,000 and expect that number to grow.
Striving to build upon past investments in wildlife habitat conservation and landscape level habitat complexes that protect and sustain wildlife populations, 6 of the 9 parcels are additions to existing WMAs or are adjacent to existing permanently protected lands. All parcels acquired have been restored and/or enhanced to as a high quality as practicable. All agricultural row crops on these parcels have been restored to native grassland/wetland complexes. The grasslands were restored using a broadcast or drill seeded method with a diverse mix of native grasses and forb species. Wetlands were restored using a combination of tile breaking, sediment removal, dike construction, and water control structures. 45 acres of native prairie have been protected, and all parcels have been opened for public use.
$3,015,000 in fiscal year 2011 is to the commissioner of natural resources for an agreement with Pheasants Forever to acquire and restore land to be added to the state wildlife management area system. A list of proposed fee title acquisitions and a list of proposed restoration projects, describing the types and locations of restorations, must be provided as part of the required accomplishment plan. The commissioner of natural resources must agree in writing to each proposed acquisition. All restorations must comply with subdivision 9, paragraph(b).
1020 acres
non-state