Conservation Programs

Working Lands Initiative

In Minnesota's prairie pothole region, the fate of wildlife is largely determined by what happens on private lands. With technical and financial assistance, private landowners can affect landscape changes that would benefit wildlife.

The Working Lands Initiative (WLI) brings together public, private, and non-profit organizations in local project teams to provide assistance to landowners interested in identifying economically viable conservation focus areas and strategies. In some cases, land might be set aside to restore wildlife habitat. Other projects might involve changes in certain agricultural practices in ways that support both wildlife and the economic vitality of the farming operation.

Target areas are those where investments have already been made or major components of habitat are already in place. The "Working Lands" can add the remaining management needs or restoration work to complete the habitat system, causing maximum wildlife benefit on minimal acres.

WLI is currently being promoted in three "target areas" in Big Stone County. Since 2007, in the Barry and Otrey target areas, funds have been distributed to several cooperators willing to apply these conservation practices. In the fall of 2008, funds have been allocated for cooperators in the Correll Target Area. If you are a landowner in any of the three target areas and are interested in becoming a WLI cooperator, please call the SWCD office for more information.

Native Buffer Strip:

There is a new cost-share program to help restore prairie buffers in Minnesota. The Native Buffer Program requires that each Cost-Share Contract have a goal to obtain a minimum of 25 native prairie species. In addition, the seed to obtain this goal must be “source identified” seed from the same ecotype region that the contract is located in.

The program will provide 75% cost-share for establishing the prairie stand. This includes tillage, chemical site prep, seed costs, seeding and establishment (clipping) costs. Contracts will be a minimum of 15 years in length. Most type of riparian lands are eligible provided the 25 species goal is met. The SWCD board can be more restrictive on eligible lands and can set priorities for the program.

The benefits of the program in addition to water quality and wildlife habitat are: haying, harvest for energy production, and seed propagation. These can be conducted for monetary compensation to the landowner. This cost-share practice can be used on other program lands, but any restrictions of those programs still apply. To facilitate native seed production, projects not under other programs can be seeded in species specific strips for ease of seed harvest.

Because of the 25 species minimum and the requirement for “source identified” seed, there are some uncertainties with this program. Will there be a local seed source? If so, will there be 25 species of seed available? What will be the costs per acre for this type of a seeding? What happens with the Cost-Share contract if seed is not available from the local ecotype region? We’ll need to take this program one step at a time and see how things develop.

WRP/RIM (Wetland Reserve/Re-Invest In Minnesota Program:

The State of Minnesota has paired with the Federal Government to stretch its RIM dollars. Currently, RIM money can be pooled with the Federal Wetland Reserve Program to restore previously drained wetlands. The new WRP/RIM Program can pay landowners a higher payment than the two programs could previously pay on their own. Payments for Big Stone County are around $3,000/acre for land with certified crop history.

In addition to restoring wetlands, four acres of upland for every acre of wetland restored is also eligible for the program. This offers landowners an excellent opportunity to restore marginal cropland to its previous wetland condition, provide quality habitat and cover for wildlife, improve water quality and square off the area, making the remainder of the cropland easier to farm.

Participating landowners will enter into a 30 year Federal WRP easement, and a perpetual State RIM easement. The WRP easement is in effect for the first 30 years, after which the perpetual RIM easement takes effect. Landowners must have owned the land to be enrolled for seven years prior to applying for the program.

If you are interested in the WRP/RIM program and would like further details, call the SWCD/NRCS office at 320-839-6149 ext. #3.

Cooperative Weed Management Areas (CWMA)

Cooperative Weed Management Areas are partnerships of federal, state and local government agencies along with tribes, individual landowners and various other interested groups that manage invasive plants in a natural plant community. The interested parties in a CWMA should be located in a defined geographic area, and share concerns with one or more invasive species. SWCDs are the eligible grant applicants for this program. Other organizations may consider applying in partnership with SWCDs to help develop and run the Cooperative Weed Management Area. Grants applications are scored on project specifics and the amount of local contributions and in-kind donation. See CWMA page.

RIM Clean Energy:

This is a new twist to the Reinvest In Minnesota (RIM) program known as RIM CE. The intention for RIM CE is to jumpstart the cellulosic biofuel industry in Minnesota. The State will purchase conservation easements from landowners for the purpose of environmental benefits and establishing a source of biomass for biofuel production. In return, landowners will receive a payment for the easement acres and will also be able to harvest and sell the native grasses to the biofuel industry. With an approved grazing plan, the landowner will also have the option to graze the RIM CE acres.

The easements are required to be a minimum of 20 years in length and consist of at least 5 acres. Tiered payments will be based on estimated market values with the higher payments requiring the most diverse mix of plant species.

The biofuel industry will be assisting in targeting specific areas where these easements would prove most economical. The estimated range for economically transporting biomass is a 50 mile haul radius. There is a plant in Benson and construction of a plant at the UMM Research Center in Morris is underway. Because a large portion of Big Stone County is covered by the 50 mile haul radius of these two plants, landowners may have a new option for conservation on the land and monetary returns as well.

Sign-up for RIM CE is planned for 2009. Watch for more information on this program, or contact the SWCD office for updates.