Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge to Benefit From Federal Funding

$500,000 Land and Water Conservation grant to help protect more than 500 acres of prairie for wildlife and public access

Minneapolis, MN -- August 9, 2005--A $500,000 federal grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund will support the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service’s efforts in Minnesota and Iowa to protect more than 500 acres within the Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge boundary. Northern Tallgrass Prairie originally covered 25 million acres across parts of Minnesota and Iowa. Today, less than one percent remains, and it stands as one of North America’s most endangered ecosystems. Minnesota Congressman Gil Gutknecht led the effort to secure the critical funding to enable US Fish and Wildlife Service to continue its protection activities. The President is expected to sign the bill into law in August.

“Protecting the tallgrass prairie for future generations is one of our top priorities,” said Jim Leach, Refuge Supervisor, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “This funding provides us with a significant boost to ensure the conservation of wildlife habitat and the potential to provide wildlife-dependent recreational opportunities.”

The Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1999, extends from Northern Iowa through West Central Minnesota. Since its designation, some 1,730 acres have been protected. The Refuge is managed out of Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge in Odessa, Minnesota. The funding will help the service protect more than 500 acres through acquisition and easements.

“This is a terrific investment in natural resources for all Minnesotans,” said Ron Nargang, The Nature Conservancy’s Minnesota State Director. “Less than one-tenth of one percent of tallgrass prairie remains in our state, and it is essential that we take positive steps like this to ensure the survival of our tallgrass prairie and the species that thrive in this ecosystem.”

The northern tallgrass prairie ecosystem provides habitat for more than 40 percent of Minnesota’s 287 state-listed rare plant and animal species. Ten federally listed species are presently known to occur within the project area for the refuge. These species include, the Western prairie fringed orchid and Topeka shiner.

Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge will permanently protect approximately 77,000 acres of native prairie using fee title and easement acquisitions in the two States over the next 25 years. The Nature Conservancy works in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to assist landowners in finding ways to protect their land.

The remaining tallgrass prairie habitats in Minnesota and Iowa are threatened by lack of fire, intensive grazing systems, gravel mining, conversion to agricultural row crops and invasion of exotic plant species. Through easement and fee title acquisitions from willing sellers, the Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge will permanently protect approximately 25% of some of the best remaining remnant prairie habitats in the two States. All native prairie lands that are acquired for the Refuge will be enhanced through management practices such as prescribed burning, managed grazing, and inter-planting or seeding of native plant species. In addition, native prairie habitat will be restored on any buffer areas around these remnants that may be acquired for the refuge, where northern tallgrass prairie has been eliminated by farming or other practices.

Established by Congress in 1965, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is one of the nation’s most successful conservation programs. It is the principal source of federal funding for additions to national parks, national wildlife refuges, national forests and other public lands.

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The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 100 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific.

The Minnesota Chapter has 23,000 members and manages 56 preserves totaling over 70,000 acres. Since the Chapter began in 1958, along with partners it has helped protect more than 300,000 acres in the state, including native prairies, wetlands and woodland communities.