Tallgrass Prairie Acres Purchased in Minnesota

Environmental News Service ^ | 08/01/2002

[cogitator]

Tallgrass Prairie Acres Purchased in Minnesota

POLK COUNTY, Minnesota, August 1, 2002 (ENS) - Two conservation groups have teamed up to buy 450 acres of virgin tall grass prairie to protect habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife.

The parcel is part of a 1,080 acre tract purchased by The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land (TPL). The project is the first phase of a 2,800 acre protection effort involving the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and private landowners.

Located in northwest Minnesota in Polk County, the land will create a 3.5 mile long corridor connecting the Conservancy's Pankratz Prairie Preserve to Chicog State Wildlife Management Area.

A section of the newly purchased tallgrass prairie. (Photo by Tom Evers, courtesy The Nature Conservancy)

Funding for the purchase came from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund which created the Wildlife Corridors program, a statewide program designed to combine the conservation expertise of non-profit and government agencies throughout Minnesota to acquire and protect land critical to wildlife habitat.

The Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCMR) prioritized the funding for this project.

"These are the results state leaders envisioned when they created the Wildlife Corridors program," noted Susan Schmidt, Minnesota director of the Trust for Public Land. "So much can be accomplished through partnerships like this. Wildlife Corridors gives flexibility to conservation groups and the state to protect key lands gaining a higher quality habitat network in an economically sound way."

TPL will sell the northern parcel of the property to The Nature Conservancy for native seed harvest for use at Glacial Ridge, the largest prairie wetland restoration project in U.S. history, and, to date, the Conservancy's largest Minnesota project, covering 24,500 acres. Glacial Ridge lies just to the northeast of the newly acquired prairie.

"The Nature Conservancy will ultimately transfer the parcel to the Minnesota DNR for use as a wildlife management area," said Ron Nargang, state director for the Conservancy. "This acquisition is a classic win/win. It protects a key prairie parcel, boosts our ability to complete restorations at Glacial Ridge, and will preserve the historic public hunting opportunities on the property."

The Wildlife Corridors Project was established by the 2001 Legislature to restore the fragmented landscape corridors that connect habitats for the state's fish, wildlife and plant populations.

Under a broad partnership, the Wildlife Corridors project provides for a statewide coordination of existing federal, state and private land and water conservation programs. The project focuses existing programs and resources towards identified habitat corridors for the benefit of all of Minnesota wildlife.

[cogitator]

This caught my eye because I have an uncle that lives near there (I grew up in Wisconsin).

[Alberta's Child]

Interesting article, in light of a radio interview I heard last year with an environmentalist who has led similar efforts in western Canada. According to him, the whole "Safe the Rain Forests" movement is a pile of crap being led by misguided people who don't know much about science and nature. He said that most types of trees can grow even in highly-developed areas (the Northeastern U.S., for example, has more trees today than it did in colonial times), but the earth cannot replace wild grasslands very easily because the plants and animals that live in them rely more on uninterrupted stretches of open space than forest creatures do.

[B.O. Plenty]

....."Two conservation groups have teamed up toBUY450 acres of virgin tall grass prairie"....This is the way it is supposed to be done instead of making some helpless varmit help you do your dirty work taking land without paying for it.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

B. O.....
was he in Snuffy Smith or Lil Abner ?

[Free the USA]

Index Bump

[kms61]

I agree, although there are some on FR who object even to that....IMHO conservatives have dropped the ball by not seeking out innovative, private sector based ways to protect the environment. There are a few out there on the cutting edge in this regard, but not enough. By being against big government environmental schemes without offering reasonable alternatives, it sets up an either/or strawman for the democrats to knock down.