Working Today to Preserve Tomorrow

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Read about conservation easements and enhanced tax incentives under "Tools and FAQ's"

Nebraska Environmental Trust Grant
The Nebraska Environmental Trust has granted Northern Prairies Land Trust a three-year $705,000 grant to continue our habitat work on private lands in Nebraska. This is the second grant of this nature and we are very grateful to the NET. The award of this grant is also a special compliment to our Nebraska employees who work hard to implement many worthwhile projects. This combination of high quality people and significant funding has allowed prairie and woodlands restoration on a landscape-wide basis.

Conservation Innovation
Ducks Unlimited, along with its affiliated land trust, Wetlands America Trust (WAT) and Northern Prairies Land Trust teamed up to leverage additional conservation funding for South Dakota. Through funding provided for wind tower mitigation, Northern Prairies purchased a height restriction and conservation easement from WAT on 960 acres of land in McPherson County located within the 85th percentile of the identified whooping crane migration route. 

Ducks Unlimited and WAT also pledged to use the funding paid for the easement for additional conservation measures in South Dakota. Many times this funding is used as match for additional federal funds through habitat preservation programs, particularly the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, which supports the Prairies Without Borders project and the Harvey Dunn Grassland Preservation Project.

Local Riparian Easement Programs Rise Again
There are two riparian easement programs operating to protect the local watersheds.  The programs involve both a revival of a proven program, the Big Sioux River Conservation Easement Program, now entitled East Dakota Riparian Restoration and Protection Project, (EDRRPP) and the initiation of a new program as part of the Central Big Sioux River Watershed Project.  

EDRRPP was initiated by East Dakota Water Development District (EDWDD) and is sponsored by Northern Prairies with funding provided through EDWDD and the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources 319 grant program. It will cover the same nine-county area as EDWDD in eastern SD. The Central Big Sioux River Watershed Project is sponsored by the Moody County Conservation District, and Northern Prairies is assisting with the riparian easement aspect of that project. This project will cover the lower portion of the Big Sioux River Watershed, and offers a variety of conservation practices in addition to easements.

First Central Big Sioux Riparian Easement
The first riparian easement in the Central Big Sioux River Watershed Project was granted in February on property in Minnehaha County. The Big Sioux River runs through the heavily wooded portion of this property and is subject to significant erosion problems. By agreeing to incorporate the protective buffer the landowner is taking action to help improve water quality in an area just upstream from South Dakota's largest city, Sioux Falls. The easement was purchased with funding from Sioux Falls

Missouri River 2011 Flood Impacts – Northern Prairies holds two easements which are in the floodplain of the Missouri River.  These easements were dramatically affected by the record flooding along the Missouri River.  One of the sandbars contained hundreds of small cottonwoods which were scoured clean, but the structure of the sandbar itself remained intact.  Another easement contained a backwater channel reconstruction which was substantially flooded but now that the water has receded, it appears that the natural vegetation and habitat held up very well.

For a Profile on the Wilson Historic Easement, see Landowners Tab.

Scenic Photos

How Important is the Tallgrass Prairie?

• Native tallgrass prairie is the MOST ENDANGERED ecosystem in North America. (Kansas State University)
• Native prairie root systems are the BEST natural soil anchors on earth.
• One acre of established prairie can produce 24,000 pounds of roots. (Iowa State University)
• One acre of established prairie can ABSORB 9 inches of rainfall per hour before runoff occurs. (University of North Iowa)
• One acre of established prairie will INTERCEPT as much as 53 tons of water during a one-inch hour rain event. (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
• Prairie foliage represents a surface area 5 to 20 times larger than the soil area beneath it. (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
• Natural competition of prairie plants REDUCES the occurrence of weeds in an area. (Iowa State University)
• Greater prairie diversity creates greater biotic barriers to PREVENT weed invasion. (University of Minnesota )
• One acre of reconstructed prairie can produce more net bioenergy than land used to grow corn for ethanol. (University of Minnesota)

  Click here to see a poster of prairie plants and their root system.
  

The Value of Green Space
Recent publications have outlined health and well-being benefits of green space and commons in urban landscapes as well as the economic paybacks of parks and open space. Case studies are contained in Restorative Commons: Creating Health and Well-Being through Urban Landscapes, edited by Lindsey Campbell and Anne Wiesen, published by USDA Forest Service at www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/8810 , or additional copies can be obtained from USDA Forest Service, Publications Distribution, 359 Main Rd, Delaware, OH 43015, and Fax: (740) 368-0152. The Trust for Public Lands just released Conservation: An Investment That Pays; The Economic Benefits of Parks and Open Space; available at their web site www.tpl.org .

HOW FINE-TUNED ARE YOUR BIRD IDENTIFICATION SKILLS?

Gerhard Assenmacher, a landowner in south-central Nebraska, who donated a conservation easement to Northern Prairies, has photographed a wonderful collection of birds located on his property.  Click here to see how many you can identify.