Missouri Coteau Habitat Conservation XVI
Implementing Organization
Ducks Unlimited, Inc.
Overview
DWH Project Funding
$1,000,000
Known Leveraged Funding
$0
Funding Organization
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
Funding Program
North American Wetlands Conservation Act NAWCA
Details
Project Category
Environmental
Project Actions
Land Acquisition/Protection
Targeted Resources
Wetlands/Marshes/Estuaries
Project Description
This is phase sixteen of an ongoing project designed to protect wetland and grassland communities using a landscape level approach to planning and targeting. Ducks Unlimited, Inc. and its partners along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS) is proposing acquire grassland and wetland easements and one fee donated tract in the Missouri Coteau Region of North Dakota to protect 3,503 acres of grassland and wetland habitat for migratory birds. There will also be 333 acres of wetlands and cropland protected. The easements will become part of the National Wildlife Refuge System under the Small Wetlands Acquisition Program. The Missouri Coteau Habitat Conservation Project (MCHCP) landscape contains approximately 2,985,187 acres of native grassland habitat of which only about 375,000 acres are currently protected. The PPJV objective is to maintain all native grasslands by acquiring perpetual grassland easements on another 10.4 million acres of grassland and 1.3 million acres of wetlands. Under this proposal, 3,019 acres of native grassland and 817 acres of wetland habitat will be secured by perpetual easements. In some portions of the MCHCP area with high wetland densities, which attract large waterfowl breeding populations (> 100 pairs/sq. mile), waterfowl nest success is below levels necessary to maintain populations. It has been determined that in order to maintain breeding waterfowl populations, between 30 to 40% of the landscape must be in perennial grass cover suitable for successful nesting. The native grasslands of the Missouri Coteau are essential to the recovery of grassland songbirds.
Contact
Randy W. Renner7013553526
rrenner@ducks.org
Project Website
Audubon Dakota, Ducks Unlimited, North Dakota Wildlife Federation, Private Contributors
None