We've helped protect nearly 600,000 acres across the Midwest. In Kansas, our Go Zero program has planted native oak and hickory trees along the Kansas side of the Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge, restoring more than 775 acres pf forestland.
Go Zero restored 776 acres of native oak and hickory trees along the Kansas side of the Marais des Cygnes NWR. As the forest matures, it is expected to trap an estimated 260,500 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The Marais des Cygnes planting received gold validation in July 2009 and was certified by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) under its SCS Greenhouse Gas Verification Program.
Learn more about this project here.
Read the gold validation announcement here.
Click here to download the project design document.
Read the interview with Tim Menard, wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to learn how reforestation at Marais des Cynges NWR is helping wildlife, specifically birds, in the area.
As concerns mount over the high costs and long-term environmental impacts of fossil fuels, wind has become an increasingly important sector of the energy industry. In 2009, the U.S. wind industry supported 85,000 jobs in all 50 states. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that within the next 20 years, 20 percent of the nation’s electricity could be generated by wind.
Of course, more wind power means more wind turbines.
In the Midwest, alternative energy is a burgeoning business. Ohio alone has the potential to generate at least 10 percent of its electricity from wind in the next decade—enough to power more than 1.5 million homes.
It’s a promising start, but wind’s future is far from certain. There is no federal regulator for wind power projects, which has led to a patchwork of state and local regulations across the Midwest. As a result, wind energy developers have been frustrated by protracted, unpredictable and fragmented responses from the natural resource agencies in these states—and the agencies themselves have missed key opportunities to protect fish and wildlife.
A growing number of proposed wind facilities across the Midwest have been delayed or even abandoned because endangered or threatened species—such as the Indiana bat and the piping plover—live at proposed site locations.
How can we protect wildlife as wind energy inevitably expands?
We're working on that.
To speed up the approval of wind energy plants while protecting endangered or threatened species the Fund is preparing a Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP) that covers 27 million acres and 30 federally listed species that may be impacted by future wind energy projects across the Midwest region.
That's a pretty big plan.
To prepare this plan we're working with a coalition of eight states—Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio as well as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and representatives of the wind energy industry. This multistate and multispecies approach means that the wind industry can count on consistent conservation guidelines across these eight states.
By providing streamlined permit conditions, the MSHCP helps developers and operators take a more strategic approach to choosing sites and designing projects. At the same time, the plan ensures that the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service can protect listed species mandated by the Endangered Species Act and still support an energy source that lowers global greenhouse gas emissions.
That's definitely a "wind-win" situation in the Midwest.
Photos: Wind turbines on farmland in Indiana / Jennifer Tomaloff, Flickr (top); Indiana bat / Adam Mann Environmental Solutions and Innovations/USFWS; Piping Plover / hjhipster, Flickr
Stretching more than 2,300 miles from Three Forks, Montana, to St. Louis, Missouri, where it joins the Mississippi River, the Missouri River has sustained the people and wildlife of the Great Plains for centuries. Today, the Missouri River supports a wide variety of interests and uses—agriculture, commerce, conservation, energy, natural resources, recreation, residential and urban uses and water supply—all of which are part of a multi-stakeholder preservation effort known as the Missouri River Recovery Program.
Through the Missouri River Recovery Program, the Corps is working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, American Indian tribes, state agencies and other agencies and organizations to restore some of the natural characteristics of the Missouri River, thereby allowing the river to support a thriving population of native species while providing for current social and economic values.
As part of this effort to enhance the Missouri River and restore critical wildlife habitat, the Fund joined forces with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to protect 2,400 acres—and nearly seven miles of river frontage—in Cedar County, Nebraska. We purchased the property in July of 2009 and transferred it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers three months later.
The property was identified as the highest priority for the Missouri River Recovery Program. Consisting of riparian and cedar forest, grassland and cropland, the property sits between the Missouri River and a steep bluff and may have been host to an Omaha Indian village in the early 1800s. A large chute or side channel of the Missouri River once ran through the property helping to form an island known locally as St. Helena Island.
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, explorers of the country’s Louisiana Purchase and water passage to the Pacific, camped across the river in August 1804. The Conservation Fund has helped protect nearly 30,000 acres along the ten-state route of Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery expedition, including several sites along the Missouri River.
“Preservation of this property is a significant step forward for the Missouri River Recovery Program and is critical to bringing back least terns, pallid sturgeon, piping plovers and bald eagles to the area,” said Clint Miller, the Fund's Upper Midwest field representative. “We appreciate the commitment of conservation-minded landowners who are helping to restore the Missouri River and build a natural legacy that will benefit current and future generations.”
Photo (top) by: Dmitry Mozzherin/Flickr
Home to the headwaters of the Mississippi River, Hudson Bay and the Great Lakes, the Upper Midwest boasts an abundance of natural resources. Here, pristine waters sparkle beneath vast forests of spruce, fir and sugar maple, traveling a time-honored journey through the communities of America’s heartland.
But sprawl and land sales increasingly threaten this iconic region, which has long sustained both wildlife and thriving communities. To protect this rare landscape, The Conservation Fund has, since 1985, joined with public agencies, private land trusts and landowners to safeguard nearly 360,000 acres of recreation areas, wetlands, working forests and wilderness in the Upper Midwest.
Minnesota's Northwoods
In a landmark conservation deal, Minnesota has taken a major step to protect valuable wildlife habitat in its Northwoods region. Governor Tim Pawlenty announced that a team of public and private partners, including The Conservation Fund and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, have preserved more than 51,000 acres of working forest—almost 80 square miles—in Itasca and Koochiching counties, providing key habitat for the Canada lynx, gray wolf, American black duck and American woodcock, and dozens of other valued species.
Chippewa National Forest embraces 400,000 acres of lakes and wetlands and a crowd of red and white pine, sugar maple and basswood trees that house diverse wildlife, including the highest breeding density of bald eagles in the lower 48 states. The Fund has teamed with the U.S. Forest Service to acquire more than 60 acres of sensitive shoreline along three popular lakes in the forest, as well as an 80-acre island harboring old-growth forest.
Brule River State Forest, Wisconsin
Together with Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, The Conservation Fund has added nearly 6,000 acres of working forestland to the Brule River State Forest, preserving important wildlife habitat and timberlands while also offering more opportunity for the public to hunt, canoe, camp and fish. The Fund tapped its Great Lakes Revolving Loan Fund, largely supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, to acquire the forestland from Wausau Paper.
Palisades Preserve, Illinois
With the aid of a loan from The Conservation Fund, the Great Rivers Land Trust and other partners protected 430 acres of bluffland overlooking the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers to create the Palisades Preserve. Described as one of the best remaining examples of undisturbed, biologically important lands in Illinois, the preserve’s oak and hickory forests look much as they did 100 years ago. The land supports many species of conservation concern and is located in the largest flyway in North America for migrating birds.
Great Lakes Revolving Loan Fund
In 2002, The Conservation Fund launched its Great Lakes Revolving Loan Fund with a generous grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Using capital from this source, the Fund provides technical assistance and bridge financing to nonprofit land trusts working to preserve resources within the Great Lakes Basin – the nation’s most significant freshwater ecosystem. To date, this revolving fund has helped protect nearly 20,000 acres, valued at nearly $56 million, across the region.
Mississippi River Revolving Fund
Across the Mississippi River corridor, from Minnesota to Louisiana, The Conservation Fund is working to support the protection of wetlands, wildlife habitat, working landscapes, greenways and other natural areas. Since 1994, the Fund’s Mississippi River Revolving Fund, established
with a lead grant from The McKnight Foundation, has supported 34 conservation projects, valued at nearly $21 million and involving 17 partners, that protect more than 14,500 acres along the iconic Mississippi.
In 2002 The Conservation Fund launched its Great Lakes Revolving Loan Fund with a generous grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Using capital from this source, the Fund provides technical assistance and bridge financing to nonprofit land trusts working to preserve resources within the Great Lakes Basin - the nation's most significant freshwater ecosystem. By 2007 the Mott Foundation's $7.3 million gift allowed the Fund and its partners to protect nearly 20,000 acres, valued at nearly $56 million, across the region.
The Great Lakes Basin includes all of Michigan and portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. This is the world's largest freshwater ecosystem, and contains 20% of Earth's fresh surface water. The basin's sand dunes, coastal marshes, rocky shorelines, rivers, streams and wetlands support a rich diversity of wildlife.
But often the areas with the highest ecological value are also the most sought after for development. And the need to respond quickly to land purchase opportunities is growing. Parcels held by families for years are coming up for sale. Rising property taxes are making it impossible for some landowners to keep their property, and mergers and acquisitions lead commercial owners to sell land for cash.
The establishment of the Great Lakes Revolving Loan Fund addresses the critical need of land trusts and public agencies to respond quickly to land or conservation easement purchase opportunities with ready funding.
Because the average wait for public funds or private fundraising campaigns is 18 to 24 months, the bridge funding provided by the loan fund can make a tremendous difference. In the case of many of the GLRLF projects, homes most likely would have been build on the property and the biological, scenic and public access resources would have been lost forever.
Under the provisions of the GLRLF, short-term loans are made to public agencies and nonprofit land trusts for the conservation of coastal and freshwater sites of high ecological significance. Fund are available for two primary types of transactions: direct loans to land trusts and advance purchase of land on behalf of public agencies and/or nonprofits.
Loans from the GLRLF have helped to protect places including:
With the repayment of loans, the GLRLF will be used again for conservation throughout the Great Lakes region. On average, The Conservation Fund uses revolving funds three times every five years. Because the GLRLF will be continuously at work, it has already preserved land valued well in excess of the $7.3 million corpus provided by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
For more information, contact:
Mike Kelly
kellym@conservationfund.org
989.892.9171
By pioneering innovative approaches to land protection, the Fund and its partners have helped to safeguard more than 26,000 acres of Wisconsin’s most vulnerable wildlife.
In June 2010, we worked with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to protect 2,100 acres along the Totogatic River—one of the few remaining near-wilderness streams in the state. The property includes 12 miles of river frontage and provides habitat for more than 20 Species of Greatest Conservation Need identified in the Wisconsin Wildlife Action Plan.
The Fund facilitated Wisconsin DNR’s purchase from Wausau Paper, headquartered in Mosinee, Wisconsin. DNR will manage the property and provide public access for hunting, fishing, trapping, canoeing/kayaking and hiking.
The Totogatic River flows for 70 miles through five counties in northern Wisconsin, forming a wild and pristine stream in the St. Croix River Basin and the Mississippi River watershed. It earned the state’s designation as a Wild River in 2009—a designation shared with only four other rivers in the state—which ensures the river’s long-term protection from development threats.
“These are incredible additions to public lands in Wisconsin that will now be preserved and enjoyed for generations to come,” Governor Doyle said. “Our natural resources are one of the main reasons why people want to live, vacation, and move here. They are why businesses want to locate here. The future of our state is closely linked to our natural resources, and I’m pleased that, today, that future is looking even brighter with the protection of these lands.”
Read the news release for more information about this project, including funding sources.
We started 2010 by preserving two tracts of prime grassland habitat—totaling 883 acres— adjacent to the Buena Vista Wildlife Area in Wisconsin's last stronghold of the famed Greater Prairie-Chicken. We purchased the land from Blue Top Farms, Inc. and will transfer ownership to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to manage as habitat for a variety of grassland birds, most notably the Greater Prairie-Chicken.
“We’re thankful to our partners—Dane County Conservation League, Golden Sands Resource Conservation & Development Council, Portage County Land Preservation Fund and the Wisconsin DNR – for their involvement in this project,” said Peg Kohring, Midwest director of The Conservation Fund. “No one group alone could acquire the property, but by working together we have made this a huge success.”
Populations of Greater Prairie-Chickens have declined to near extinction over the past century due to the conversion of grassland to forestland and farmland. They once inhabited every county in Wisconsin but are now found in only six counties in the central part of the state.
With the Wisconsin DNR as partner, we also protected five other properties across the state in 2009, including a trout stream prized by fly fishermen in Oneida County, black bear and blue teal habitat in Iron County and a scenic kayak and canoe route along the Wisconsin River’s north shore.
The Fund has acquired more than 400 acres along the Wisconsin River—one of the largest remaining parcels of Wisconsin River frontage. The property is an important addition to the Lower Wisconsin River State Wildlife Area, which safeguards a sensitive shoreline habitat for vulnerable wildlife species such as the endangered ornate box turtle and trumpeter swan. The cultural values of the land include Native American mounds as well as other artifacts. Portions of a large backwater lake and various sloughs, which provide filtration and other benefits to the river, are included in this acquisition. The Fund transferred the property, which borders the Lower Wisconsin River State Wildlife Area, to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
In concert with the Packaging Corporation of America and Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources, the Fund helped protect nearly 1,000 acres of forestland along the shores of Willow Creek in northeastern Wisconsin. The area harbors two timber wolf packs, as well as bald eagles and osprey, and offers exceptional opportunities for fishing and bird watching.
Thanks to the Fund’s dynamic partnerships, nearly 10,000 acres across the Dakotas—including lands significant to the historic journey of Lewis and Clark—are now permanently protected, shielding the region's natural resources and preserving its unique cultural heritage.
At the Fund, we work to protect America’s favorite places and in 2011 we protected more than 5,500 acres at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. Considered a sacred place by the Lakota, Wind Cave is one of the world's longest and most complex caves and is home to one of America’s most ecologically-significant bison herds. The park now features more than 30,000 acres of mixed-grass prairie and ponderosa pine forest that provides important habitat and an amazing outdoor experience for visitors. Learn more >>
In 2004 the Fund brought together a diverse group of conservation partners to acquire and protect more than 950 acres at the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers. Explored during the historic journey of Lewis and Clark, the Neu Wildlife Management Area supports one of the most important U.S. populations of paddlefish, named for the distinctive shape of their snouts. Project partners included the American Foundation for Wildlife, North Dakota Game and Fish Department, North Dakota Natural Resources Trust, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
With support from the Richard King Mellon Foundation and local conservation partners, the Fund has safeguarded more than 4,000 acres across Nebraska, protecting the fertile soils and heritage areas that define America’s heartland.
For many of us whose water comes from America’s rivers, what happens “upstream” is critical. It determines the quality of our water and how much water we have now and in the future. For many Midwest residents, “upstream” is the Missouri River in Nebraska. The nation’s longest, it travels over 2,300 miles from Montana to join the Mississippi River near St. Louis.
The Missouri River is not just important for people. Ecologically, the river’s non-vegetated sandbars provide nesting habitat for the endangered least tern and threatened piping plover shorebirds, and backwater sloughs allow the endangered pallid sturgeon to spawn.
We have joined forces with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of the Missouri River Recovery Program. Learn more about our work with this program >>
We assisted The Richard King Mellon Foundation in acquiring 400 acres along the Missouri River to preserve an important segment of the Lewis and Clark Historic Trail. This gift, an addition to Ponca State Park, includes more than a mile of frontage on the river and bluffs containing upland game and expansive vistas of the Missouri River Valley. The addition secures important waterfowl habitat and invites canoeists and anglers.
In Missouri the Fund has helped local nonprofits to protect more than 16,000 acres, including the historic Confluence Greenway, which extends from the Gateway Arch in St. Louis to the Mississippi River’s junction with the Missouri and Illinois rivers.
Pershing State Park’s wet prairies and bottomland forests teem with diverse birds, endangered Indiana bats and lush plants. In 2009, we helped add 1,449 acres that the Missouri Department of Natural Resources will restore as habitat and a site for recreation, education and research. The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Ducks Unlimited provided key support for the project as part of the Upper Midwest Wildlife Initiative, which is dedicating more than $10 million over three years, across five states, for projects that fulfill State Wildlife Action Plans. The Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative provided additional significant funding.
Tom Duffus, our Upper Midwest Director, shares how protecting land at Pershing State Park also dramatically improved the life of a local farmer. Read his story.
Thanks to the work of the Fund and its partners in Minnesota, more than 250,000 acres of forestland and open space across the state—including working forests and significant lands along the Mississippi River—will continue to provide important wildlife habitat, migration corridors, water quality, jobs and a wide variety of recreation opportunities.
Keeping with the Fund's goal to save favorite outdoor places, we helped the City of Maplewood acquire 70 acres around the Fish Creek Open Space Area, increasing it by 50 percent.
The Fish Creek Natural Area Greenway stretches from the Mississippi River in St. Paul, through Maplewood, to Carver Park in Woodbury. The heart of the Greenway is Fish Creek and Ramsey County’s 142-acre Fish Creek Open Space. Once pasture land, the tracts currently feature open rolling hills with wide views, prairie remnants, oak and aspen woodlands and a pine plantation. The southwest corner of the site is comprised of Mississippi River bluff land that offers a dramatic vista across the River Valley.
Maplewood had been interested in adding this land to their open space for the past 20 years but it was privately owned and never came up for sale. That is, not until 2011.
When the property went on the market, Maplewood's Parks and Recreation department needed time to get funding in place. Not wanting to miss out to another buyer, they approached the Fund for assistance. We used our Mississippi Revolving Fund, to purchase the property and plan to hold it for two years so Maplewood can raise the necessary funds to make it part of Fish Creek.
At the Fund we believe open space improves the quality of life in a community. That will be the case in Maplewood as the city and and the county will work together with several local non-profit groups to develop and implement a master plan that will guide the restoration and recreational use of the property. Also included is a plan to restore the property’s natural forested and grassland habitats for the benefit of a variety of wildlife species. This is a great win-win for wildlife and people.
Read the news release here.
We helped the YMCA of Duluth permanently protect nearly 300 acres at Camp Miller, which supports outdoor opportunities for more than 2,000 youth each year. It also protects valuable land that has been a top priority for Minnesota DNR's Aquatic Management Area Acquisition Program. Read more >>
In summer 2010, we helped complete the largest land conservation deal in Minnesota's history: the Upper Mississippi Forest project. The project stitches together more than 4,000 square miles of public and private forests, conserves more than 60,000 acres of wetlands and more than 280 miles of stream, lake and river frontage creating a legacy that will live forever. Read more >>
Near the bustling Twin Cities, the Valley Creek watershed supports endangered wildlife, a reintroduced bison herd and one of the area’s healthiest trout streams. In 2008, in partnership with the Minnesota Land Trust, we helped the Belwin Conservancy protect 12 acres at Valley Creek’s headwaters—a key step in our larger effort to preserve area wildlife habitat and enhance water quality. The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation provided key support for the project, as part of a three-year, $10 million environmental initiative to fulfill State Wildlife Action Plans across the Upper Midwest.
The Chippewa National Forest lies at the crossroads of Minnesota's three major ecosystems—prairie and both boreal and hardwood forests. As a result, the Chippewa has the highest breeding density of bald eagles in the lower 48 states and hosts a variety of other wildlife species such as threatened Canada lynx. The Fund teamed up with the U.S. Forest Service to acquire more than 60 acres of sensitive shoreline along three popular lakes in the national forest as well as an 80-acre island harboring old growth forests and bald eagle nests and situated on a popular recreational lake.
With lead funding from the McKnight Foundation, the Fund is conserving open space along the Mississippi River. The Fund worked with the Paul Bunyan Trail Association, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Parks and Trails Council to acquire 400 acres of Mississippi River-front land from Potlatch Corporation. The newly protected hardwood and pine forest links Crow Wing State Park with Paul Bunyan Trail, connects wildlife migration corridors and expands public lands for hiking, biking and birdwatching.
In partnership with The Nature Conservancy, the Fund is protecting a large block of working forest in Lake County. Located at the headwaters of the Manitou and Baptism Rivers—primary tributaries to Lake Superior - the 6,000-acre Manitou Forest project is the largest working forest conservation easement in the state. Home to timber wolves and moose, the Manitou property contains old-growth hardwood forests, lowland conifers, inline lakes and headwater streams. The property is almost completely surrounded by public lands and a signature preserve of old growth forest owned by The Nature Conservancy.
We helped the YMCA of Duluth permanently protect nearly 300 acres at Camp Miller, which supports outdoor opportunities for more than 2,000 youth each year. It also protects valuable land that has been a top priority for Minnesota DNR's Aquatic Management Area Acquisition Program.
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1655 N. Fort Myer Drive, Suite 1300
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Phone: 703-525-6300
Fax: 703-525-4610
Email: postmaster@conservationfund.org
