The Nature Conservancy Applauds Minnesota’s U.S. Senators for Advocating Funds to Conserve Northern Tallgrass Prairie

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — July 5, 2007— The Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge is expected to receive a boost for future conservation as the result of legislation that recently advanced in the U.S. Senate, which designates $750,000 to conserve additional native prairie within the refuge’s boundary.

Minnesota’s Sen. Norm Coleman and Sen. Amy Klobuchar secured funding for the wildlife refuge in the FY08 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. The Senate is expected to complete the legislation in coming weeks.

“I’m pleased we were able to secure critical funding for the Northern Tallgrass Prairie Wildlife Refuge, which is one of the rarest and most fragmented ecosystems of North America in Minnesota and other states,” said Sen. Coleman. “I will continue to work to conserve these ecosystems by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive with additional funding.”

"We must implement land-use policies that conserve open space and farmlands and protect vital wetlands," Sen. Klobuchar said. "By doing so, not only do we maintain important habitat for wildlife, but we also benefit people. Healthy and prosperous communities depend on conservation for clean air and water. We are proud to be able to secure this crucial funding."

The $750,000 would support the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s efforts in western Minnesota and northwestern Iowa to conserve wildlife and native plants 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.

“Our Senators’ leadership and support was critical to the Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge and we thank them,” said Tom Landwehr, assistant state director for conservation programs for the Nature Conservancy in Minnesota. “Native prairie is our most endangered habitat and we have to conserve what’s left.”

The Refuge is managed out of Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge in Odessa, Minnesota.

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.

Through easement and fee title acquisitions from willing sellers, the Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge will permanently conserve 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.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. 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 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.