Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

OutdoorMN News - DNR crews see productive winter of prairie habitat restoration


Rick

Recommended Posts

  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

With the buzzing of chain saws and constant drone of heavy machines, the landscape on the Lac qui Parle Wildlife Management Area in west-central Minnesota is changing. Contractors are busy removing trees from the prairie as part of a wildlife habitat restoration project. 

-5-300x189.“We’re enhancing grassland and removing invasive buckthorn on this parcel known as the Chippewa Prairie,” said Walt Gessler, Lac qui Parle area wildlife manager with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “There are two more projects similar to this that we hope to finish in 2018.”

Gessler added that the restoration is important because Chippewa Prairie is one of the largest contiguous prairies in the state.

As a result, there have been a number of inquiries – both positive and negative – to Gessler’s office this winter and early spring by curious hunters and birdwatchers who are asking questions about the cutting of trees on their favorite areas. It’s a practice seemingly at odds with longstanding management principles.

It’s not just at Lac Qui Parle. Tree removal is a common practice on state and federal wildlife lands in western Minnesota.

“People are confused when they see groves of trees getting cut down on their favorite hunting lands,” said Greg Hoch, prairie habitat team supervisor. “It’s understandable, because we’ve been told for generations how planting trees is good for wildlife. But it’s not the case when you’re managing for species that historically lived on prairie and grasslands.”

Over the last 30 years, researchers have found that upland game birds like pheasants and prairie grouse are less likely to thrive when nesting near trees that provide habitat that can be attractive to predators like red fox, raccoons and owls. Furthermore, many nongame grassland species require habitat totally free of trees. Birds like dickcissels, meadowlarks and bobolinks tend to return to areas that are restored to their original, tree-free environment. And deer still prosper in grassland environments. Management such as tree removal simply reflects that research.

“Our former management practices were to either plant trees or to stay ‘hands-off,’” Hoch said. “What we’ve learned is that grasslands are dynamic and need frequent disturbance by fire, grazing or periodic droughts. In the last two centuries, we’ve suppressed wildfires, eliminated the wild herds of bison and elk, and we’ve been in a wet cycle since the early 1990s. Together these factors have allowed trees to grow on our remaining grasslands.”

This new practice eliminates invasive trees like Russian olive, Siberian elm, and buckthorn.  Native trees such as cottonwood, green ash and boxelder also are cut down when growing in areas being managed for grassland wildlife. Their removal also eliminates a seed source, which helps keep new woody growth at bay.

But not all the trees are cut. Oak savannahs remain, as do other native trees like bur oak, black willow or black walnut that are left in appropriate places like creek bottoms or river corridors.

The DNR has employed this management practice for the past two decades, according to Hoch. In 2016, woody removal on grassland wildlife management areas totaled just over $1 million, most of which was funded by Outdoor Heritage Fund dollars. The Outdoor Heritage Fund uses one-third of the sales tax money generated by the Clean Water, Land and Legacy amendment.

Less than 1 percent of Minnesota’s original prairie remains, so the work to properly restore this threatened ecosystem is important. Many of the non-governmental organizations that partner with the DNR also are working to restore these rare grasslands. Groups like Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, The Nature Conservancy and many local clubs raise money for habitat restoration or perform the work themselves.

As for Gessler, it’s been a productive winter in his work area and he is confident this work will soon be productive for grassland species, too.

“The frozen ground allowed our contractors to get a lot of projects finished. We hope to get the last of our winter projects finished before April 15,” Gessler said.

For more information about work done by DNR wildlife in all areas of the state, visit mndnr.gov/areas/wildlife.

Discuss below - to view set the hook here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.