Federal Panel OKs $4 Million for Land Acquisition

The federal Migratory Bird Commission on Thursday gave the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service the OK to spend $4 million to buy more than 18,000 acres of land in Polk County for the Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge.

The announcement marks one of the largest purchases ever using Federal Duck Stamp dollars and funds from taxes on firearms and ammunition.

"The purchase of these lands for the Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge symbolizes the tremendous investment our nation’s sportsmen and women have made to natural resources through their purchase of federal duck stamps and through the import duties paid on firearms and ammunition," Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne said in a statement. "Their contribution helps ensure the songs and sounds of waterfowl and other wetland-dependent wildlife will be enjoyed by all Americans for years to come."

Kempthorne is chairman of the Migratory Bird Commission, which meets three times a year to consider funding requests for fish and wildlife projects.

The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit conservation group that purchased the so-called "Tilden Farms" land in August 2000, owns the 18,118 acres that will become part of Glacial Ridge NWR.

The Glacial Ridge project marks one of the largest tallgrass prairie and wetland restoration efforts in U.S. history. The area provides habitat for a variety of wildlife, including waterfowl, prairie chickens and white-tailed deer.

Multistep process

According to Dave Bennett, manager of Glacial Ridge NWR, Thursday’s announcement marks a big step in a process that began in 2004, when TNC transferred about 2,200 acres to the Fish and Wildlife Service to establish the refuge as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System, which the service administers.

Last June, Glacial Ridge was formally recognized as a Migratory Bird Commission refuge, Bennett said. That designation was important, he said, because it allowed Glacial Ridge to pursue funds that are available to the commission from duck stamp sales and taxes on hunting and fishing gear.

Thursday, the Migratory Bird Commission approved Glacial Ridge’s request for funds to acquire the land from TNC. That will happen over the next four years, Bennett said.

No doubt, he said, Thursday’s announcement came as a relief.

"Until (Thursday), we didn’t actually have authority to use specific migratory bird dollars for land acquisition," Bennett said. "Because of (Thursday’s) vote, the secretary of interior now can spend dollars that he’s given at Glacial Ridge.

"We didn’t get a ($4 million) check written to us."

Bennett said TNC essentially will be donating the land, but the Fish and Wildlife Service will use the migratory bird funds to reimburse the conservation group at a level that maintains their nonprofit status.

According to Bennett, the first transfer of about 5,100 acres should be completed by October. That will bring the amount of land the service owns to about 8,000 acres, he said.

Bennett said the service also will look to acquire additional land within the refuge’s federally approved boundary of 35,756 acres. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources owns some of that land, Bennett said, and the rest is privately owned.

The DNR will retain the land it owns in refuge boundaries, he said, but the service is interested in working with private owners interested in selling.

"We’re not buying anybody’s land that doesn’t want to sell it to us," Bennett said. "We’re not going to twist any arms or bang on doors. We just want to let people know that, within that approved boundary, if they would like to have an offer made on their property, we would provide that."

Restoration continues

Bennett said the service plans to continue restoring tallgrass prairie that had been tilled and drained for agriculture and working to maintain the improvements TNC has made through partnerships with state and federal agencies.

Tallgrass prairie is one of North America’s most threatened ecosystems. Minnesota at one time had about 20 million acres of tallgrass prairie, and only about one-tenth of 1 percent remains.

"I think the important emphasis of this whole project is the partnerships that have occurred," Bennett said, all the way from local landowners and county commissioners, to TNC and state and federal agencies. "It’s probably one of the more unique partnerships. It’s been partnered at every level."

And, he said, all of those partners have agreed that it’s important to preserve and restore the prairie ecosystem and give people an idea of what the area might have looked like before settlement.

"We’re looking at this not only as a wetland and upland restoration, but as a total landscape restoration effort," Bennett said. "It’s a value to humankind to have these habitats exist and support the wildlife that specifically nest and raise their young within these special places."

The refuge is in the early stages of developing visitor plans, Bennett said, but it will be open to hiking, wildlife watching and hunting, during designated seasons.

Stay tuned, he says; the future looks exciting.

"I truly believe (Glacial Ridge) is going to be a huge success for not only tallgrass prairie ecosystems, but for the citizens that live in and around the refuge and people who want to come here to view the refuge and the prairie."

The Migratory Bird Commission on Thursday also approved more than $24 million in federal funding for projects in Canada, Mexico and U.S. under the North American Wetland Conservation Act. Besides the secretary of interior, the commission is comprised of Sens. Thad Cochran, R-Miss.; and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.; Reps. John Dingell, D-Mich.; and Wayne Gilchrest, R-Md.; Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson.

Dokken reports on outdoors. Reach him at (701) 780-1148; (800) 477-6572, ext. 148; or send e-mail to bdokken@gfherald.com.

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