Restoration of Black Terns in North and South Dakota
Implementing Organization
US Department of the Interior
Overview
DWH Project Funding
$6,250,000
Known Leveraged Funding
$0
Funding Organization
Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees (NRDA)
Funding Program
Natural Resource Damage Assessment NRDA
Details
Project Category
Environmental
Project Actions
Species Restoration
Targeted Resources
Birds/Bird Habitat
Project Description
This project will protect approximately 2,000 wetland acres and 1,000 grassland acres on private lands in the Prairie Pothole Region of eastern North and South Dakota with conservation easements established with willing landowners. Based on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) experience working in this region, the Trustees anticipate that sufficient habitat acreage would be available from willing landowners to meet project objectives and that it will likely take three to five years to complete all of the easements. Previous surveys of occupied wetlands support the Trustees’ estimate that >1,000 individual black terns would be present on project wetlands when habitat conditions are optimum. While optimal conditions would not be present on every wetland, every year, over time wetland habitat on conservation easements is expected to exhibit the full-cycle of hydrologic conditions necessary to periodically support breeding and/or foraging black terns. In addition to black terns, these habitats would accrue benefits to several other wetland-dependent avian species injured by the DWH spill. All habitat conservation actions will be implemented, as part of ongoing FWS conservation programs in the Dakotas. In these, two states alone, there are over 1,200 private landowners on waiting lists to have their property evaluated for additional FWS wetland and grassland conservation easements. The FWS has partnered with hundreds of private landowners in the Dakotas in recent years to acquire voluntary conservation easements. However, landowner interest continues to exceed the programs’ available funds. The DWH NRDA funds identified for black ter...click on "More Info" link below
Contact
Jeffrey Gleason(352) 493-0238
Jeffrey_Gleason@fws.gov
Project Website
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