• REVIEW AND APPROVALS
FERGUS FALLS WETLAND MANAGEMENT DISTRICT • Fergus Falls, Minnesota
ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT
Calendar Year 1994
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.5-1-9:5' Date
• Fer us Falls Wet1and Management District Fergus ails, Min ota
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•
• INTRODUCTION
TABLE OF CONTENTS II
A. HIGHLIGHTS 1
B. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS 1
C. LAND ACQUISITION
1. Fee Title ...... 2 2. Easements ...... 4 3. Other ...... 4
D. PLANNING
1. Master Plan ...... Nothing to Report 2. Management Plan ...... 6 3. Public Participation ...... 10 4. Compliance with Environ. and Cultural Resource Mandates ...... 10 5. Research and Investigations ...... Nothing to Report 6. Other ...... Nothing to Report
E. ADMINISTRATION
1. Personnel ...... ~ ...... 15 2. Youth Programs...... 19 3. Other Manpower Programs ...... 20 4. Volunteer Programs...... 21 5. Funding ...... 21 6. Safety ...... 22 7. Technical Assistance ...... 23 8. Other ...... 25
F. HABITATMANAGEMENT
1. General ...... 38 2. Wetlands ...... Nothing to Report 3. Forests ...... Nothing to Report 4. Croplands ...... 41 5. Grasslands ...... 43 6. Other Habitats ...... Nothing to Report 7. Grazing ...... Nothing to Report 8. Haying ...... 45 9. Fire Management ...... 46 10. Pest Control ...... 48 11. Water Rights ...... 53 12. Wilderness and Special Areas ...... Nothing to Report 13. WPAEasement Monitoring ...... 53 14. Private Lands ...... 55
G. WILDLIFE
1. Wildlife Diversity ...... 56 2. Endangered and/or Threatened Species ...... 61 3. Waterfowl ...... 63 4. Marsh and Water Birds ...... 70 5. Shorebirds, Gulls, Terns and Allied Species ...... 71 6. Raptors ...... 72 7. Other Migratory Birds ...... 72 8. Game Mammals ...... 73 9. Marine Mammals ...... Nothing to Report 10. Other Resident Wildlife ...... 73 11. Fisheries Resource ...... 73 12. Wildlife Propagation and Stocking ...... Nothing to Report 13. Surplus Animal Disposal ...... Nothing to Report 14. Scientific Collections ...... Nothing to Report 15. Animal Control...... 73 16. Marking and Banding ...... Nothing to Report 17. Disease Prevention and Control...... Nothing to Report
H. PUBLIC USE
1. General ...... 75 2. Outdoor Classrooms - Students ...... 75 3. Outdoor Classrooms- Teachers ...... 77 4. Interpretive Foot Trails ...... 78 5. Interpretive Tour Routes ...... Nothing to Report 6. Interpretive Exhibits/Demonstrations ...... Nothing to Report 7. Other Interpretive Programs ...... Nothing to Report 8. Hunting ...... 78 9. Fishing ...... 80 10. Trapping ...... ·...... 80 11. Wildlife Observation...... 81 12. Other Wildlife Oriented Recreation...... Nothing to Report 13. Camping ...... 81 14. Picnicking...... 81 15. Off-Road Vehicling...... 81 16. Other Non-Wildlife Oriented Recreation ...... Nothing to Report 17. Law Enforcement ...... 81 18. Cooperating Associations ...... Nothing to Report 19. Concessions ...... Nothing to Report
I. EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES
1. New Construction ...... 83 2. Rehabilitation ...... Nothing to Report 3. Major Maintenance ...... Nothing to Report 4. Equipment Utilization and Replacement ...... Nothing to Report 5. Communications Systems ...... Nothing to Report 6. Computer Systems ...... 89 7. Energy Conservation ...... Nothing to Report 8. Other ...... Nothing to Report
J. OTHER ITEMS
1. Cooperative Programs...... 92 2. Other Economic Uses ...... Nothing to Report 3. Items oflnterest ...... 93 4. Credits ...... 95
K. FEEDBACK 96
L. INFORMATION PACKET (Inside back cover) INTRODUCfiON
The Fergus Falls Wetland Management District (District) was established in 1962 with the advent of the Accelerated Small Wetlands Acquisition Program. The District encompasses Otter Tail, Grant, Douglas, Wilkin and Wadena Counties in west central Minnesota.
The District currently manages 217 Waterfowl Production Areas (VIP As) totaling 41,279 acres. These WP As are managed for optimum waterfowl production using techniques such as upland cover, water and seasonal predator management.
A total of 973 perpetual wetland easement contracts covering 20,891 wetland acres are also administered by the District. These wetlands are protected from draining, filling, leveling and burning. Management consists of monitoring the wetlands and enforcement of the easement provision. In addition, numerous short-term leases are administered by the District covering restored wetlands and farm program lands. The entire five-county area is considered part of our private lands program.
The Fergus Falls WMD lies within the transitional zone between the flat glacial Red River Valley lake bottom to the west and the timbered areas to the east. Within the transitional zone lie glacial moraines that contain many wetlands. These wetlands range from small ephemeral basins to large lakes. The woodlands to the east gradually start as oak savannah, phasing into oak-ash communities on the higher sites with willow-tamarack shrub swamps of the lower sites. Major rivers within the District include the Red River of the North, Otter Tail, Pelican, Mustinka and Rabbit which flow west of the continental divide into the Hudson Bay drainage and the Chippewa, Pomme de Terre, Long Prairie, Wing and Redeye Rivers which flow east into the Mississippi drainage.
The recent history of the Fergus Falls District's five-county area shows that it was a new frontier just a short time ago. The area was the scene of frequent clashes between the Chippewa (Ojibway) and Sioux (Dakota) Indians before and after white settlers moved into the region. Buffalo rings, mounds, flintstones and arrowheads are frequel)t signs of the region's past. The first white people in the Fergus Falls District were French and English fur traders and explorers. There are records of fur traders in Otter Tail County dating back to 1792. Settlers began arriving around 185 8, but the Sioux uprising of 1862 in southern Minnesota caused many of the people to leave the area. Joseph Whitford, the man who named Fergus Falls, was killed by Indians who mistook him for a deer.
Here, at the forest edge, annual rainfall totals about 24 inches. This region historically was covered by bluestem tall grass prairie on the west phasing into oak savannah to the east. The coming of settlement in the late 1800's brought suppression of wildfires. Woodlands have moved west taking over many areas that were once prairie or savannah.
The Northern Pacific and Great Northern Railroads arrived in 1871 and 1879, respectively. They provided vital links with grain markets in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth and helped farmers move from making a subsistence living to making a profit on their crops. The current economy of the area is heavily dependent upon agriculture, although tourism and recreation play an important role. A. HIGHLIGHTS
The Minnesota State Legislature passed a bonding bill for establishment of environmental learning centers across the state of Minnesota. This bill included $3 million for establishment of the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center (Center) in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Plans are underway to construct this Center on the Town send WP A and it will be operated by the Service.
On October 6, Regional Director Sam Marler, Ducks Unlimited National Director of Development Del Case, Natural Resource Conservation Service State Conservationist Gary Nordstrom, Otter Tail County Commissioner Andy Lindquist and Dane Prairie Township Officer Tiny Holm broke ground for the Stang Lake Restoration. This complicated private lands restoration involves a 300-acre meandered lake that was drained in 1907.
In mid-August Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish Wildlife and Parks Don Barry visited the Wetland Management District and toured a variety of projects.
At the end of the year, Luther (Si) Melby, maintenance worker at this station for the past 22 years, announced he was going to take the early-out retirement option at the beginning of 1995. Si's inventive mind and knowledge of the WMD's history will be greatly missed.
B. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS
The winter of 1993-1994 brought one of the largest snowfalls on record which resulted in excellent, brimming wetlands in the spring of 1994. Summer temperatures and rainfall were moderate which lent itself to a good field season. The winter of 1994-1995 welcomed above normal temperatures. 2
Runoff from a heavy snow-pack and good spring rains filled wetlands to the brim, creating exceHent breeding habitat for waterfowl and other water birds. (CRV 6/94)
C. LAND ACQUISffiON
1. Fee Title
The status of fee acquisition as ofDecember 31, 1994 is:
No. Of Wetland TotJII Total No. Of Total CYTracts Acres Acres No. Of Mgmt. Wetland Total Goal Acres County Optioned Optioned Optioned Tracts Units Acres Acres
Douglas 0 0 0 117 53 3,436 9,762 17,120
Grant 2 40 83.65* 149 52 3,770 10,018 18,854
OtterTail 0 0 0 383 105 6,691 19,341 35.705
Wilkin 0 0 0 19 7 681 2,158 2,977
Totals 2 40 83.65 668 217 14,578 41,279 74,656
*Includes an exchange of2.20 FWS a= for 5.85 acres of private land. 3
Fee acquisition was down from 1993 due to concerns from the county commissioners about in lieu-of-tax payments, and more emphasis on fee acquisition in WMDs to the south.
The one fee tract purchased was an inholding to the Hansen unit in Grant County. An exchange took place to resolve a long standing incompatible use involving a center pivot irrigation system which crossed Service lands. A total of2.20 acres ofPomme de Terre WPA was traded with an adjacent landowner for 5.85 acres of his property. A differential payment was made for the extra acreage.
All of our fee purchases require extensive networking with local landowners, townships, sportsmen's groups and county commissioners. In each case, certification by the appropriate county is necessary for the acquisition to move ahead. Often many issues such as drainage of adjacent lands, future road ROW needs, weed problems that may develop, public hunting and potential trespass on neighbors lands, etc., need to be resolved before county certification can be received. The most threatening issue by far has been the loss of tax base to local governments.
The Refuge Revenue Sharing Act provides for yearly payments to local units of government which are the primary collectors for general purpose real property taxes. Funds for these payments steadily declined from 1980-1987. Payments for FY 87 bottomed out at 59 percent of the entitlement while payments for FY 90 were 93%, 90% in FY 91, 82% in FY 92 and are again moving downward with 78% in FY 93. The following payments were made in April 1994 for FY 93.
County Revenue Sharing Payment
Douglas $ 21,386 Grant $ 27,399 Otter Tail $ 49,803 Wilkin $ 5 644 Total $104,232
The payment ofless than 100 percent of entitlements, as well as the short-fall between 100 percent of entitlement and the real property taxes continue to cause county commissioners to question or not certify each tract when brought to them for certification. Implementation of the "County Trust" program in FY 92 helped to partially solve this problem. This program allows for a trust payment to the county at the time of the purchase of fee tracts. The income from this trust is designed to make up the deficiency between actual real estate taxes and the estimated revenue sharing payment. This program solves the deficiency for some new tracts but the shortfall remains for other tracts, especially highly agricultural lands and purchases made from 1961-1992. As county budgets get tighter and tighter, these certifications become more difficult to obtain. The counties recognize that even with implementation of the "County Trust" program they still are losing tax base on some tracts the Service purchases. 4
2. Easements
The status of easement acquisition as of December 31, 1994 is:
Cumulative Totals for District CY Easement CY Wetland Wetland Total Goal County Tracts Acres Acres Acres Acres Douglas 4 100 5,510 27,360 31,226 Grant 2 14 3,198 13,583 20,737 Otter Tail 11 191 12,110 63,419 75,290 Wilkin _Q _Q __ll1 ___2ll 1,430 Total 17 0 305 20,991 105,293 128,683
Easement acquisition was about the same as the 1993 levels with a total of 305 acres of wetlands protected.
In the past 5-7 years, our easement program has proven to be very successful when combined with private lands activities. Every landowner who restores drained wetlands on his/her property is subsequently offered a perpetual easement on the restored wetlands.
3. Other
Since 1987, the Service has taken various management leases known as free leases, piggyback leases ($5 per acre payment) and wildlife development agreements. Essentially, all ofthese agreements have granted the Service rights to some management practice, most often wetland restoration and/or predator control.
In addition to the above agreements, the Service had 84 ten-year leases covering 1,3 51 wetland acres and 3,657 upland acres. These leases were set up by the Mid-Continent Waterfowl Management Project and were turned over to the Wetland Management District for management. Three of these leases terminated in 1993, 55 in 1994, with the remainder in 1995. 5
The following table shows the various leases and agreements obtained since 1985.
Year Proiect Restorations Enhancements Number Acres Number Acres 1984 & 1985 Mid Continent Leases 388 1,760 ------& 1986 1987 Piggyback Leases and Free 53 97 29 56 Leases 1988 Wildlife Development 57 113 87 272 Agreements 1989 Wildlife Development 30 56 85 166 Agreements 1990 Wildlife Development 33 47 105 357 Agreements
1991 Wildlife Development 14 19 61 247 Agreements 1992 Wildlife Development 22 46 78 325 Agreements 1993 Wildlife Development 57 97 67 195 Agreements
1994 Wildlife Development 111 293.2 0 0 Agreements
Totals 765 2,528.2 512 1,618
The Tintah Slough NWR proposal remained rather dormant during 1994. The 3,400-17,000 acre project area lies on the northwest edge of Grant County in the Red River Valley. The area has a history of spring and summer flooding problems which would be alleviated with restoration of a large flat wetland. On March 25, 1991, a public seeping meeting and hearing was held with the Bois de Sioux Watershed District. Further progress on the project has been held up until topographic information on the project site can be obtained and analyzed to set accurate boundaries, structure locations and management plans. Late in the year, the Bois de Sioux Watershed District's engineer prepared a preliminary engineering report on the project. This report detailed restoration of the wetland, as well as a management scenario that provided both wildlife and flood control benefits. The report was submitted to the Regional Engineering and Ascertainment Offices. 6
An old refuge proposal to preserve the remaining 1% of Minnesota's native prairie was resurrected in 1991 and continued to move ahead in some fashion during 1994. National emphasis on ecosystem management makes the Northern Tall Grass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge proposal a high priority. The large amount of diversity among the flora and fauna of these remaining prairie tracts gives them a high priority for protection. In 1993, a preliminary project proposal was approved by the Director, and coordination meetings held with the Minnesota DNR and The Nature Conservancy (TNC). A strategy is being developed which makes fee or easement acquisition of these native prairie tracts only part of a larger program including private lands, as well as other Federal, State and local programs. A meeting was held to explore extending the proposal to North and South Dakota as indicated in the Washington Office's response to the Preliminary Project Proposal. It was decided to meet with various partners in the four states to investigate a project covering the entire Northern Tall Grass Prairie ecoregion. The Regional Ascertainment Office prepared a draft prospectus for this proposal.
D. PLANNING
2. Management Planning
A major effort by this station was put into the Ecosystem Plan for the Upper Mississippi River/Tallgrass Prairie Ecosystem. The plan was the result of a number of meetings with all the project leaders in the ecosystem. The final goals for the plan include:
To restore, enhance and protect water quality and quantity that approaches natural hydrologic functions.
To restore, enhance and protect high quality and rare resources.
To prevent the loss, degradation and fragmentation of existing habitats/communities and restore, enhance and protect habitats/communities to alleviate such loss, degradation and fragmentation.
To improve public understanding of fish and wildlife resources and issues, increase public involvement in fish and wildlife conservation and increase and improve partnerships to accomplish common resource goals. 7
This is a typical scene in the Fergus Falls WMD. Not really, but this is the direction the Service is heading with our ecosystem approach to management. (CRV 5/94)
The station continued to participate in a complex-wide objective setting and planning exercise in which all the stations in the wetlands program identified high priority resource needs, as well as focus areas. The focus areas would be where the District would concentrate their staff and money. This exercise is ongoing, and we are at the point of identifying management actions needed to address high priority needs although opportunity and focus sometimes don't mesh.
The District went through the Refuge Operating Needs (RONS) budget exercise to address the widening gap between base funding needs and amounts appropriated. This exercise gave us an opportunity to identify the basic purposes for the station and the lack of funding and staff necessary to carry out these activities.
A Haying, Grazing and Farming Environmental Assessment was written by Biologist Sue Julison for the entire Minnesota Waterfowl and Wetland Management Complex. The plan was needed to comply with the compatibility lawsuit directives coming out of the Washington Office.
The annual amendments to the Prescribed Burning Plan and the Pesticide Use Proposals were prepared and submitted for approval. Resource Inventory Planning (RIP) cards were prepared by Biological Technician Vukonich for all new fee tracts. He also prepared development plans 8 for several tracts of land purchased in recent years. These detailed plans were submitted to W AM3 and approved for implementation.
Planning also continued on the proposed North American Prairie Wetlands Learning Center. Near the end of the year a draft Public Use Plan was prepared for the Learning Center and is currently under review.
The Prairie Wetlands Learning Center is located south ofFergus Falls at the 210 by-pass and I-94 interchange just west of the Otter Tail County fairgrounds.
The Center's goals include:
Advancing public and private stewardship responsibility for the Prairie Pothole Ecosystem and to bring about understanding of the multiple values of prairie wetlands and grasslands.
Provide Environmental Education from Pre-K through Ph.D. on the prairie wetland ecosystem using hands-on activities, displays, workshops, seminars, general indoor and outdoor learning activities, featuring classrooms, outdoor amphitheater, boardwalks, demonstration sites and nature trails.
Emphasize the role of private lands, groups and individuals to the wetlands and wildlife ofthe Prairie Pothole Region ofNorth America, as well as the methods of sound ecosystem restoration, enhancement, protection and management that are economically, politically, socially and legally viable.
Serve as a forum for conflict resolution over wetland-related issues involving the conservation, development and agricultural communities throughout the Prairie Pothole Region.
Create an all-encompassing partnership through cooperation and volunteerism between private, local, State and Federal organizations involved with natural resources in the Prairie Pothole Ecosystem.
Development at the Center is underway on the 300 acres ofland which include 27 wetlands, 16 acres ofvirgin prairie and approximately 175 acres of restored prairie grasslands. The drained wetlands on the property have been restored, and a remodeled barn on the site has been set up as an interim environmental education center. During the fall of 1993, the District began a limited environmental education program. Private organizations and school groups have shown a high level of interest in the Center. Activities have already included involving FF A and high school biology classes in the restoration ofwetlands on the site. Funds from local donations were matched by the Service and are being used to bring the barn up to standards, as well as development of environmental education facilities including nature trails, kiosks, boardwalks, an outdoor teaching amphitheater and activity area. 9
Worken seal the new crushed asphalt nature trail at the Center. (IWB 9/94)
The Friends of the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center, a local support group, approached State Representative Bob Anderson seeking State bonding funds for construction of a new larger facility. After all the dust settled on the 1994 Minnesota State Legislative Session, a bill for $3 million in planning and construction funds for this Center was passed and signed. Several meetings have been held with the City ofFergus Falls (the recipient of the funds), the Minnesota Department ofNatural Resources (DNR) (the agency through which the funds will be funneled), the Friends of the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center and the Service to work out the planning, construction and operation of the facility. When completed, the proposed facility will include exhibits, classrooms, a multi-purpose room, offices and an auditorium.
The District has several North American Waterfowl Management Projects including Niemackl Lakes, Lightning Lake and Inman-Elmo. The Service is an active participant in the Niemackl Lakes project which has received $500,000 in funding from the State of Minnesota. In the early 1990's, this project was submitted as a North American Waterfowl Project and was rejected. Efforts are underway to resubmit the project in a new format. Objectives for this 35,000-acre watershed project include water quality improvement, flood damage reduction, enhancement of fish and wildlife habitat, reduced soil loss and increased recreation and education opportunities and the quality of those opportunities. Several key aspects of the 10 project include non-native rough fish removal from the 21 shallow lake basins in the watershed, restoration of 25% of the 1, 500 drained wetlands in the watershed and treatment of soil erosion through buffer strips and grassed waterways.
3. Public Participation
The only activity that took place in this area during 1994 involved providing information to the public on the establishment and operation of the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center. Meetings involved either groups going to the Center to view the facilities and habitat, or Service employees providing programs about the Center's programs.
4. Compliance with Environmental and Cultural Resource Mandates
District staff are involved in an increasing number of construction projects each year. Because Service interests are so widespread across the District, most highway projects in the District will impact either a WP A or an easement. When this occurs, the project must be evaluated in terms of upland and wetland impacts. District staff work with the Highway Engineers to avoid impacts if possible; if this cannot be done, they suggest methods to minimize them. Finally, all impacts that cannot be avoided are mitigated. When appropriate, right-of-way permits, Special Use Permits, Section 4(t) Statements, Environmental Assessments, and Archaeological Resource Reviews are prepared.
Mitigation for wetland impacts on Service lands consists of the restoration of a drained wetland of the same type as the one that was lost, at a 1:1 acreage ratio. The restored wetland is then protected by a perpetual easement that is donated to the Service. Mitigation sites are located as close to the job site as possible, and banking is discouraged. No mitigation is allowed on property that the Service already owns.
District staff also review impacts to private land to ensure that State and Federal laws are followed. Most highway projects in the District use Federal funds, and because of this, all wetland impacts must be mitigated, whether on public or private land. The local highway departments have been very cooperative in following environmental regulations, and request Service input on most oftheir projects.
In 1994, the District was involved in twenty-two projects, sixteen of which impacted Service interests. A brief summary of each project follows:
* Indicates that the project impacts Service lands or easements o Indicates that the project impacts privately-owned wetlands
o* Minnesota Trunk Highway 59: In 1984, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT) performed a reconstruction project on Highway 59. The project involved the lowering of several culverts and ditch grades in violation of Executive Order 11990, which states that no wetlands may be drained with federal 11 funds on public works projects. Some corrective work was done in 1986, but MNDOT has yet to fulfill a requirement to restore a 10-acre drained wetland as mitigation for the impacts of the project. MNDOT has been ordered to seek mitigation, and District staff suggested eighteen suitable sites for wetland restoration in the vicinity of the project. Only one site was seriously pursued by MNDOT in 1994, and it was not eligible for mitigation because it had been restored by the Service. o* Grant County State Aid Highway # 11 (26-611-15): The conflicts resulting from this project have not yet been resolved. The County constructed a special ditch and lowered a culvert in exchange for a slope easement from a landowner. This action drained a wetland, which was then planted to a commodity crop. Violations of Executive Order 11990, Federal Highway Administration Regulations, the Swampbuster provisions ofthe 1985 Food Security Act, and Section 404 ofthe Clean Water Act were investigated. Both the USDA and the Army Corps ofEngineers had required restoration of the wetland that was drained. A restoration plan was developed by the NRCS and the Service, but the Swampbuster violation was overturned at the national level during the final days of the Bush administration. The restoration of the wetland by the County Highway Department is once again being pursued, this time under Executive Order 11990.
* Erhards Grove Township Road #T -829 and T -807: A right-of-way permit was issued for this project, which impacted one wetland on an easement, and it was completed in 1991. The mitigation has not been completed, and is scheduled for the spring of 1995.
* Erhards Grove Township Road #T-864: The right-of-way permit for this project, which impacted one wetland on an easement, was issued in 1991, and the work has been completed. The mitigation site is the same as for project T-829 and T-807 . ./ o* Douglas County Highway #36 (SAP 21-636-02): District staff reviewed this project in 1990 to discuss wetland impacts on both Service easements and private property. The County applied for a right-of-way permit and received it in 1992. A mitigation site was secured by a perpetual easement. The project was completed in 1993, including the restoration of a drained wetland as mitigation, but the mitigation site has not yet been donated to the Service. o* Douglas County Highway #87 (CP 21-87-01): District staff reviewed this project in 1991 to identify wetland impacts on private land and on two Service easements. A right-of-way permit was issued in 1991, and the project was completed in 1992, including the mitigation site. The mitigation site has not been transferred to the Service, due to questions about the title to the property. o* Grant County State Aid Highway 10 (SAP 26-610-14): District staff reviewed this project in 1992 and found that it would impact both a SeiVice wetland and a State 12
Protected Waterway. Impacts to Service uplands will be temporary. The County has requested a temporary slope easement for the project, and is currently looking for a site to mitigate the wetland losses. o* Mavis Slough Pumping Project - MNDOT: MNDOT requested a permit to pump water from a wetland on a WP A in order to relieve flooding on a private driveway. Special Use Permits were granted for the pumping in 1992, 1993, and 1994, but only as a temporary solution. MNDOT has now routed the overflow across private land. o Otter Tail County Highway 14 (SP 56-614-XX): District staff reviewed this project in April of 1992 and evaluated wetland impacts on private land. No Service properties will be affected. The Highway Department has completed the rough grading for the project and used a mitigation bank to mitigate wetland losses.
* Aastad Township Road: The Township government requested a Special Use Permit to rebuild a road that passes through the Hoff-Fronning and Bakke WP As. A permit was issued after an archaeological resources review was completed, and the project was finished in the fall of 1994. o Otter Tail County State Aid Highway 31 (SAP 56-631-04): The County plans to realign and widen a road that will impact five wetlands, three of them State Protected Waters. The County is seeking mitigation sites for the project, which is scheduled for 1995. o Otter Tail County State Aid Highway 35 (SAP 56-635-21): The County plans to rebuild a road that will impact seven wetlands. They used a mitigation bank for the project, which is scheduled for 1995. o* Otter Tail County State Aid Highway 3 (SAP 56-603-XX): The County plans to rebuild a road that passes through the Duenow WP A and will impact twenty wetlands on private land. They are seeking a mitigation site for wetland losses and are preparing a temporary slope easement application for upland impacts on the WP A. The project is scheduled for 1995. o Otter Tail County State Aid Highway 75 (SAP 675-22): The county plans to rebuild a road that will impact three wetlands. They used a mitigation bank for the wetland impacts, and have partially completed the project.
* Willard J. Patty Electric Line: A landowner had requested permission to establish a right-of-way through the Nicholson WPA for a buried electrical cable. An Environmental Assessment was prepared as part ofthe right-of-way procedure, and the request was denied. 13
* Harlan Haugen Tile Line: A neighbor to the Rossow WP A requested a permit to install a tile line across the WP A in order to drain water from erosion control terraces. A Special Use Permit was issued after an archaeological resources review was completed.
*Loren Frigaard Tile Line: A neighbor to the Ten Mile WPA requested a permit to repair a tile outlet on the WP A. The tile served to drain prior-converted wetlands on private land. Because the tile line was in place prior to Service acquisition of the property, a Special Use Permit was issued for the project.
o Glendalough State Park Entrance Road (SAP 56-600-14): The State plans tore route the entrance road to a State park. This road must pass through a scrub-shrub wetland which cannot be avoided. The State plans to mitigate the loss by the removal of fill from two wetlands in the park. This fill was placed in the wetlands many years ago, when the land was under private ownership.
o Berger Development Corporation - Berger Lake: A private development corporation submitted an application to the Otter Tail County Office ofLand and Water Resources for a permit to construct a new road along the shore of Berger Lake. The road would pass beneath an active bald eagle nest. The Service recommended that the road be re routed to pass no closer than 660 feet from the nest, and the developers agreed to do this.
*Lawrence Township Road Repair: The Township requested a temporary construction permit for the repair of a road that borders the Mud Lake WP A. A Special Use Permit was issued after an archaeological resources review was completed, and the work will be finished in the summer of 1995.
* Runestone Electric Tree Trimming: An electric company requested permission to trim trees on the Pomme de Terre and Elbow Lake WPAs. The trees were beneath an overhead electric line. A Special Use Permit was issued and the project was completed in the spring of 1994.
*Urness Township Road Backsloping: The Towsnhip requested permission to back slope on the Rolling Acres WP A in order to widen the road and facilitate snow removal. A Special Use Permit was issued after an archaeological resources review was done, and the project was completed in the spring of 1994.
5. Research and Investigation
The Twin Cities Field Office contaminants staff undertook a study to determine surface water concentrations of widely used herbicides in "isolated" and "co-owned" wetlands in the District. The purpose of the study was to determine whether, and to what extent, wetland basins, both adjacent to and isolated from, agricultural lands contained measurable concentrations of 14 herbicides. Identification of individual herbicides were determined by chemical analysis. All water samples were taken during the 1993 growing season.
All isolated "reference" wetlands were found to have concentrations of commonly used herbicides even though fields adjacent to these wetlands have not been farmed for many years. These results strongly suggest the existence of aerial drift and/or precipitation deposition of herbicides into these "isolated" wetlands.
Five co-owned wetlands sampled in the Fergus Falls District were adjacent to small grains, soybeans, small grains/alfalfa or small grains/soybeans. Minimal or no target herbicides were detected from April through June. Elevated concentrations of various herbicides were detected in several of the July samples.
Lillemoen WP A had elevated alachlor concentrations throughout the growing season. However, minimal concentrations of alachlor and triazine herbicides were detected throughout the growing season at the other WP As. None of the specific common herbicides ( atrazine, cyanazine, metolachlor, alachlor, atrazine metabolites) were found by chemical analyses in any Fergus Falls District co-owned wetlands throughout the sampling period. Also, no dicamba (Banvel) or bromoxynil (Buctril) was identified by chemical analysis during the growing season. An elevated concentration ofbentazon (Basagran) (1.8 ppb) was measured in July at Lillemoen WP A. Elevated concentrations of imazethapyr (Pursuit) was measured at Knollwood, Lillemoen, and Spink WPAs during different time periods. April detections ofthe herbicide ( 1. 7 ppb) occurred at Lillemoen WP A. July detections of the chemical (3. 0 ppb and 6.3 ppb) occurred at Knollwood and Spink WPAs, respectively.
The wetland complex as well as the land use associated with wetland basins and the surrounding uplands has been recognized as an important factor influencing waterfowl recruitment in the agriculturally-influenced prairie pothole region ofMinnesota. Pesticides (herbicides and insecticides) that enter wetland systems may have direct or indirect toxic effects on aquatic plants and invertebrates, and may directly or indirectly affect the reproduction and survival of aquatic birds (including Federally-listed endangered species) by altering food and cover.
Findings from this survey suggest that "typical agricultural use" of herbicides in the west central agricultural area of Minnesota may potentially impact the water quality of prairie potholes and thus the flora and fauna that inhabit and utilize the wetlands. Specifically, some temporary, seasonal and semipermanent wetlands are acquiring surface water concentrations of some herbicides from agricultural runoff which may adversely influence the wetlands' biota. Concentrations detected have been determined to impact primary producers (such as planktonic and filamentous algae), as well as floating plants and some shallow-rooted broadleaved submergents. Grasslike perennials such as cattails, rushes, sedgesl and reeds were likely unaffected by herbicide concentrations measured in this study. 15
E. ADMINISTRATION
1. Personnel
Following are the list of personnel for calendar year 1994:
Kevin Brennan, Wetland Manager, GM-13 PFT Willard Steffen, Refuge Operations Specialist, GS-12 PFT Sue Julison, Wildlife Biologist, GS-12 PFT Jim Piehl, Wildlife Biologist, GS-11 PFT Timothy Julison, Refuge Operations Specialist, GS-9 PFT Todd Hauge, Wildlife Biologist, GS-9 PFT Tim Bodeen, Refuge Operations Specialist, GS-9 PFT Chuck Vukonich, Biological Technician, GS-7 PFT Pauline Wtziarde, Admin. Tech., GS-6 PFT Penny Petersen, Office Assist., GS-5 CS Luther Melby, Maintenance Worker, WG-7 Larry Childs, Maintenance Worker, WG-8 Kristine Wicklund, Forestry Technician, GS-5 CS Troy Boschee, Forestry Technician, GS-5 CS
{lrR) Piehl, Stetlen, T. Julison, Petersen, Melby, Brennan (SBJ 7/94) 16
(L-R) Wicklund, Child!!, Vukonich, Wiziarde, Hauge, S. Julison (RW 7194)
(L-R) Boschee, Trapper Wilken (SBJ 7/94)
This year was relatively mild in terms of changes in the staff at this station. 17
Todd Hauge was promoted on May 15th from GS-7 to GS-9 Wildlife Biologist. Todd handles most of the station's small wetland restoration program.
Tim Bodeen was promoted on August 24 from Refuge Operations Specialist GS-7 to GS-9. Tim's duties include the station's RECD programs and operation of the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center.
In 1993, the station's two WG-7 maintenance positions were audited by the Twin Cities Personnel Office and it was found that both were doing WG-8 duties. Both positions were recommended for upgrade but this was turned down at the W AM level. The station was required to consolidate the duties in one position which was advertised in the vacancy announcement. Larry Childs, who occupied one of our WG-7 Maintenance Worker positions, was selected and promoted to the new WG-8 maintenance position effective January 9, 1994.
Penny Petersen, who occupies a career seasonal administrative position, was placed in nonpay status from February 20, 1994, to May 23, 1994. Penny was promoted from Office Clerk GS- 303-4 to Office Assistant GS-303-5 on December 11, 1994. Penny handles many ofthe station's administrative duties including payroll and building sales.
Kris Wicklund and Troy Boschee were hired to fill the two temporary GS-462-5 Forestry Technician positions. Kris Wicklund entered on duty March 6, 1994, and was terminated October 15, 1994. Troy Boschee entered on duty April25, 1993 and was terminated November 15, 1994.
The Forestry Technician positions have been filled annually and were submitted for recruitment as career seasonal. Selections were made and approved as GS-462-5 Forestry Technicians with Troy Boschee and Kris Wicklund being converted to career seasonal on November 13, 1994. Both individuals worked a minimum number of days to meet requirements for placement and testing, spending the remainder of the year in nonpay status.
Dick Wilken was selected to fill the WG-500 1-3 Trapper position and worked from March 28 to July 23, 1994. This is Dick's seventh year with the program and he is considered one of the top trappers in the state.
The cooperative agreements between the college and the FWS require the Service to pay 25- 30 percent of the student's base salary, as well as their FICA taxes, with the colleges picking up the remainder ofthe salary costs.- 18
Full-Time Career-Seasonal Temporary
FY 1994 II 3
FY 1993 II 4
FY 1992 II 2 5
FY 1991 10 2 6
FY 1990 10 6
FY 1989 9 6
FY 1988 8 6
FY 1987 8 3
FY 1986 7 3
FY 1985 7 4
FY 1984 7 6
FEE ACRES, MANAGEMENT UNIT, STAFF DAYS AND DOLLARS Permanent and Career Fiscal Total Fee No. Mgt. Seasonal Temporary YACC/YCC Year Acres Units Staff-Dan StafT-Davs StatTDan Dollars 1984 33,602 208 1,725 325 537 $339,975 1985 34,349 208 1,725 310 191 $503,300 1986 35,942 209 1,725 434 197 $435,950 1987 36,742 209 1,925 645 117 $491,000 1988 37,582 209 2,340 820 120 $477,700 1989 38,433 209 2,455 345 120 $443,900 1990 39,483 210 2,785 541 120 $619,799 1991 39,585 210 2,895 614 80 $707,733 1992 40,440 213 2,621 516 80 $652,366 1993 41,195 217 3,055 455 0 $729,979 1994 41,279 217 3,055 350 0 $1,022,370 19
2. Youth Programs
The District employed three youths through a local summer employment program. The youths did a variety of work ranging from rock pile cleanup, fence removal, nest dragging and other miscellaneous tasks.
(L-R) Lance Knudson, Ken Helberg, Jason Preston (SBJ 6/94) 20
3. Other Staff Programs
Two Work Study students from Concordia College in Moorhead and one from the Fergus Falls Community College spent the summer doing various projects for the District. Jon Femling worked from May 2 to August 26, 1994, Kirk Beller worked May 13 to August 26, 1994, and Chad OlschJager worked from June 1 to August 31 , 1994. Kirk, Jon and Chad were assets to the District during the summer. They were ambitious, enthusiastic and willing to be participants on any project assigned.
(L-R) Femling, Beller, Ol.schlager (SBJ 8/94)
Due to medical problems, Green Thumb Worker Charles Hebron left employment with the District in June. He eventually became a resident of one of the local nursing homes. 21
4. Volunteer Programs
For the third and second year in a row, Tom Carlson and Vivian Ratliff, respectively, continue to volunteer their time doing various projects for the District. Vivian was honored this year as Volunteer of the Year. Again, their valuable assistance provides much needed help during staff shortages.
(L-R) Volunteers Tom Carbon and Vivian Ratliff (SBJ 7/94)
5. Funding
Year 1120 1221 UJO 1261 1262 3110 9120 Total
FY88 $37,500 $247,300 $225,400 $5,000 $515,200
FY89 $15,000* $264,600 $156,300 $5,000 $440,900
FY90 $20,000 $68,000 $327,766 $191,733 $5,000 $7,300 $619,799
FY91 $10,000 $4,750 $85,600 $340,833 $171,750 $15,000 $39,800 $707,733**
FY92 $1,417 $4,000 $88,400 $333,130 $177,936 $5,600 $30,200** $640,683
FY93 $37,750 $76,300 $350,631 $220,986 $5,600 $36,712 $727,979
FY94 $95,000 $12,500 $362,800 $195,470 s 5,600 $35,000 $706,370***
*An addition of$3,000 in 1120 funds was given to the District from the Complex. **Includes $40,000 of Job Order Funds. ***In additioo, $300,000 in 4672 and $16,000 in 4673 Flood Moneys. 22
6. Safety
The District had no reportable accidents this year in driving or in other work-related activities.
The District staff participated in quarterly safety meetings during the year with the focus on defensive d·riving. This schedule allows each employee to accomplish the required eight hours of defensive driving training every two years, by policy. In the meantime, impromptu safety meetings are conducted when situations arise where a safety discussion is obviously warranted.
Maintenance Worker Childs represented the District on the three-member safety committee which coordinates and organizes the quarterly safety meetings for all employees at the Fergus Falls office. He was assigned the task of becoming the station "expert" on Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) regulations for the District. He identified and purchased two very pertinent safety manuals Including the "OSHA Facilities Marking Manual" and "Compliance Audits Essential Check Lists for OSHA, EPA and Other Key Agencies" to assist in efforts to identify safety deficiencies. Safety has been a priority for years, but we still find deficiencies. All employees are encouraged to be on the alert for safety deficiencies so everyone can be aware of the deficiency and, more importantly, so the problem can be corrected.
Childs attended a training session on "Safety Clothes" and he updated an employees "Right to Know Center" and stocked it with up-to-date Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS). Some MSDS are difficult to obtain even though merchants are supposed to, by law, provide them to a customer upon request.
In July a citizen reported a wooden barrel full of mysterious white powder on Lightning Lake WP A . He said he noticed it while tearing down an old building by permit. The barrel was damaged and appeared to have been dropped. Some of the powder had leaked onto the ground. It appeared to be ordinary barn lime but really didn't fit the description and it had a herbicide-like smell to it. The Regional Office Contaminants Section was contacted and they put us into contact with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). Ms. Diane Fier Tucker ofMPCA ruled that it had been a "midnight drop" and said the state would pick up the tab for disposal. She advised treating the substance as hazardous and requested that a sample be sent in for testing. In the meantime MPCA contracted a Hazardous Materials Handling Company to clean up the material. The barrel, powder and contaminated soil were placed in special containers and put into storage at an Otter Tail County facility. There it remained until testing proved that it was indeed ordinary bam lime! We were informed that it could be disposed of at the local landfill. 23
Hazardous Materials Handling Company coUects barrels, powder, and contaminated soil from Lightning Lake WPA. The material turned out to be ordinary bam lime. (CRV 8/94)
7. Technical Assistance
Brennan serves on the Agricultural Curricula Adult Advisory Committee for the Fergus Falls School District. Courses such as Natural Resource Conservation and Advanced Natural Resource Conservation have been put into the Ag curricula. A wildlife management contest has been incorporated into Future Farmers of America (FFA) activities.
Brennan provided information to Babe Winkelman Productions on waterfowl recruitment and habitat for a syndicated television show.
Assistance was provided to the Fergus Falls Fish and Game Club in managing their One-Mile property near the District's Headquarters WPA The assistance involved boundary location and maintenance, as well as management of the native prairie.
Vukonich oversees the local Wildlife Food Plot Project which includes updating the project pamphlet, sending out notices of the annual banquet and coordinating the judging of the food plots. 24
Vukonich is a board member of the Minnesota Prairie Chicken Society. He attended three board meetings and helped set up the annual meeting. The group has funded new research on the winter ecology of the prairie chicken in Minnesota and emphasizes awareness of native prairie and prairie chickens in the public schools and the community.
Assistance was provid.ed to the Otter Tail County Office of Land and Water Resources on wetland delineations.
Piehl has been working on the Niemackl Watershed Technical Committee since 1992. The watershed consists of35,000 acres of primarily agricultural land, including 21 shallow lakes with severe water quality problems and 1,500 drained wetland basins. The Niemackl Watershed Restoration Project involves improving water quality, flood reduction, fish and wildlife habitat, and recreation through citizen participation with Federal, State and local governments and nongovernmental agencies. This project is unique in that it was initiated and is run by a Citizen's Steering Committee which is made up oflandowners from each township in the watershed.
Piehl attends the Consolidated Farm Services Agency (CFSA) Conservation Review Group Meetings in West Otter Tail, Ea~t Otter Tail, Grant, Douglas and Wilkin Counties twice each year.
Piehl and Brennan worked with West Otter Tail, Douglas, and Grant County NRCS and SWCD staffs reviewing Water Bank, Reinvest in Minnesota, and Permanent Wetland Preserve proposals.
Piehl worked with the Evansville Sportsmen's Club to plan and conduct their annual wetland tour and breakfast.
Piehl helped the Extension Service plan and conduct an Agriculture and the Environment tour.
Piehl conducted a tour of the heron and egret nesting island on Pelican Lake.
Piehl and S. Julison planned the summer meeting of the Minnesota Chapter of The Wildlife Society regarding impacts of aquaculture on small wetlands.
S. Julison attended several meetings of the Grant County Environmental Advisory Council.
S. Julison attended a mitigation banking meeting, sponsored by the Board of\Vater and Soil Resources, to explain Service mitigation policy.
Bodeen attended several Conservation Easement Review Team meetings to set up conservation easements on RECD inventory properties in Douglas and Wadena Counties. 25
Private Lands
Much of our private land work involves wetland restoration, but more and more landowners are asking us for advice and assistance on other habitat management projects. Often a landowner has a "40" or and "80" and wants advice on how to "make it better for wildlife". This gives us the opportunity to work with the landowner on native grass seeding, shrub plantings, wildlife food plots, wetland restoration, bluebird boxes, wood duck boxes, recommendations on haying and grazing, and often helping them enroll their land into other government programs. These programs include the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Reinvest In Minnesota (RIM), the Federal Water Bank Program (WBP), the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP), and Minnesota's Permanent Wetland Preserve (PWP). At this time, there is no funding for the WBP. This is unfortunate, since it has been very popular with landowners. Many landowners are not interested in perpetual programs and the WBP has been the only way of establishing some wildlife habitat on their land.
We worked with two landowners this year who wanted to establish native grasses and forbs on their land. They paid for the seed and did the seed bed preparation; we provided technical assistance and did the seeding with our equipment. The landowners signed Wildlife Management Agreements for a ten year period. One site was five acres and the other, ten acres. More landowners would probably be interested in establishing natives if the seed wasn't so expensive. For example, one landowner added twelve pounds of native forb seed to his grass mixture for a ten-acre seeding, and it cost him an additional $1,000.
We continue to work toward the restoration of Stang Lake, a 300-acre drained meandered lake in Otter Tail County. The perpetual flowage easement, which required 25 signatures, has been approved by the Minnesota Land Exchange Board. Our petition to work on the county ditch has been approved by the Otter Tail County Board of Commissioners. Engineering ofthe earthen fill for the dam was contracted out to TKDA of Minneapolis and the water control structure has been engineered by Service engineers in the Regional Office. Their estimate for the cost of construction was $430,000. The project went out for bids in July of 1994 and the lowest bid came in at $480,000. Since all bids were too high, the engineers went through a Value Engineering exercise to bring down the cost. We also did some soil boring and determined that there was good quality clay material near the construction site, which should lower the bids. The project will go out for bids again in February of 1995. Hopefully, we will get a bid that is within budget and we can raise the road and build the water control structure in 1995. 26
This photo taken in 1908 shows the damage caused by the accidental drainage of Stang Lake. Workers were attempting to route a ditch through the 300-acre lake, but tbe water blew out the sandy soils near the outlet, causing the entire lake to drain within bours. (Photographer unknown)
We had a groundbreaking ceremony at Stang Lake in October of 1994 where we recognized the contributions ofDucks Unlimited, the NRCS, the Wall Lake Association, the landowners, county commissioners and everyone else who has contributed to the project. We had very good press coverage of the event from radio, television and newspapers. After the ceremony, we had an "open house" at the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center which also gave some exposure to the Center. 27
Stang Lake groundbreaking ceremony. From left to right: Tiny Holm, Dane Prairie Township Offacer; Sam Marler, Regional Director; Del Case, Ducks Unlimited National Director of Development; and Gary Nordstrom, Natural Resources Consenration Service State Conservationist. (SB.J 10/94)
The Service is beginning to place more emphasis on non-game wildlife and neotropical migrant birds. We have had many opportunities to work with the public on this topic. Most of our effort has been spent on public awareness - giving talks and slide shows. We are also getting more posters and brochures which are very effective in explaining to the public just what neotropical migrant birds are.
We are working with local conservation clubs on a variety of projects. Most projects involve wetland restoration but they have also contributed time and money to build bluebird and wood duck boxes, advertise for wetland restoration, build parking lots on WP As, pay for the costs of preliminary engineering on larger wetland restoration projects and give us political support at the county and State levels of government. This support has been a very valuable part of our private lands program. We hope to keep this support through open lines of communication and attending club meetings and fund-raisers.
The District had another successful year restoring drained wetlands, with 111 restorations completed on Conservation Reserve Program, Water Bank and other private lands. The restorations recreated 292.3 acres ofwater and required the cooperation of32landowners. 28
The restorations consisted of96 ditch plugs, 9 tile breaks, 1 tile riser, 4 scrape-outs and 1 elbow on a culvert.
To publicize our restoration program, four local sportsmen clubs sponsored a full page ad in a weekly shopper-type publication. This publication is distributed free to approximately 35,000 residents. The ad was purchased by Otter Tail and Wilkin County Chapters ofPheasants Forever, Fergus Falls Fish and Game Club, and Coots Unlimited at a price of$175.28 each.
The District also sent out letters describing our restoration program to 1,200 property owners. This list oflandowners was obtained with the cooperation of the Auditor's office in Douglas and Otter Tail County. We chose several townships in each county that have a high potential for wetland restorations. The counties then generated the list of landowners in those townships.
The District received $10,728.00 from Ducks Unlimited to pay for the construction cost of39 restorations. These restorations required the cooperation of 13 landowners and recreated 94.0 acres of water.
Below is a table showing the restorations funded by Ducks Unlimited.
DUCKS UNLIMITED RESTORATIONS Jed Anderson 14 33.0 FL $3,751.50 Mark Anderson 1 2.4 FL $240.00 .., Ron De Cesare .) 6.9 FL $901.00 Donald F ondrick 5 6.6 FL $1,665.00 Carl Hallman 1 16.8 FL $756.00 Roger Hanson 2 3.2 FL $397.50 Earl Haukos 1 4.0 FL $132.00 Ritchie Johnson 2 4.8 CRP $743.00 Ralph Papenheim 1 3.6 FL $672.00 Peter Prestrud 1 8.0 FL $530.00
Mark Schouweilwer 1 1.8 CRP $160.00 .., Richard Stegeman .) 1.8 FL $276.00 William Tappe 4 2.0 FL $504.00 Total 39 94.0 $10,728.00 29
The District's Wetland Restoration Program received $5,464.00 from the Delta Waterfowl Foundation to assist in the restoration of wetlands on seven sites. These funds helped to complete 27 restorations, recreating 72.7 acres of water.
Below is a table showing the sites funded by the Delta Waterfowl Foundation.
DELTA WATERFOWL FOUNDATION PROJECTS Ron Okerstrom 5 29.3 FL $1,975.00 Thomas Boehm 4 16.0 FL $1,081.00 Dan DeVries 8 10.2 FL $786.25 Earl Haukos 1 4.0 FL $300.00 George Locher 7 9.8 FL $849.00 Greg Mosey 1 1.2 FL $148.75 Edward Starke 2 2.2 FL $324.00 Total 28 72.7 $5,464.00
The District received a $3,500.00 contribution from Wildlife Forever to repair three sites that had been damaged or lost due to the heavy rain, and for the restoration of two drained wetlands.
Below is a table showing the projects funded by Wildlife Forever.
WILDLIFE FOREVER RESTORATION PROJECTS Lawrence Kloos repair CRP $759.00 Marcus Olson 2 3.8 FL $1,002.00 Lyle Pattison repair FL $985.00 Myrtle Sandberg repair CRP $744.00 Total 2 3.8 $3,490.00
The Douglas County NRCS provided technical assistance on the restoration of 16 wetlands on two sites enrolled in the Water Bank Program. The NRCS surveyed, designed, and supervised the construction of all 16 restorations. The Service paid for construction and provided materials necessary to complete the restorations. The 16 restorations recreated 42.7 acres of water and required the cooperation oftwo landowners. 30
With the first of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) contracts due to expire in 1994, the U.S. Department of Agriculture extended them for one year, without consultation with Congress, to give Congress some time to discuss and prepare a new Farm Bill. At this writing, the fate of CRP is unknown. Even with this scenario hanging over CRP during 1994, we still were able to do some wetland restoration work for a few landowners.
The following tables show the restorations and repairs completed this year.
OTTER TAIL COUNTY
No. of Construction Material Landowner Wetlands Acres Cost Cost Funding Program Total Cost
Thomas Boehm 4 16.0 $82.00 $474.35 FWS FL $1,637.35 $1,081.00 DWF
Harold Busko Jr. Repair $816.00 $389.06 FWS CRP $1,205.06
Lany Carrol 1 2.6 $96.00 FWS FL $96.00
Dan DeVries 8 10.2 $635.00 $251.10 FWS FL $1,672.35 $786.25 DWF
Don Fondrick 5 6.6 $912.00 $179.50 FWS FL $2,756.50 $1,665.00 D.U.
Roger Hanson 2 3.2 $397.50 D.U. FL $397.50
Richard Hauck Repair $120.00 FWS FL $120.00
Earl Haukos 1 4.0 $132.00 D.U. FL $581.50 $300.00 DWF $149.50 FWS
Peter Hoff Repair $360.00 FWS FL $360.00
Willard Jacobson Repair $582.75 FWS FL $582.75
John Jesnowski 6 8.4 $1,235.00 FWS FL $1,235.00
George Locher 7 9.8 $535.00 $204.50 FWS FL $1,588.50 $849.00 DWF
Cv Lvnnes Repair $239.00 FWS FL $239.00
Minnesota DNR 2 4.3 $311.25 $149.50 FWS DNR $460.75
GregMosev 1 1.2 $148.75 DWF FL $148.75
Ron Okerstrom 5 29.3 $1,261.00 $2,451.55 FWS FL $5,687.55 $1,975.00 DWF
Stuart Shebeck 3 32.2 $437.50 FWS FL $437.50
Richard Stegeman 3 1.8 $276.00 D.U. FL $276.00
William Tappe 4 2.0 $504.00 D.U. FL $504.00 31
OTTER TAIL COUNTY
No. of Construction Material Landowner Wetlands Acres Cost Cost Funding Program Total Cost
Tom & Bob Welle Repair $639.00 $204.00 FWS FL $843.00
Norman Wulf 2 12.8 $780.00 $130.00 FWS CRP $910.00
Total 54 144.4 $17,156.00 $4,583.06 $21,739.06
DOUGLAS COUNTY
No. of Construction Material Total Landowner Wetlands Acres Cost Cost Fundin2 Pro2ram Cost
Douglas Aanenson 7 9.2 $1,696.00 $299.00 FWS CRP $,I995.00
Jed Anderson 14 33.0 $3,751.50 D.U. FL $4,138.65 $387.I5 FWS
Mark Anderson I 2.4 $240.00 D.U. FL $240.00
Jeff Brede 5 15.4 $1,438.00 FWS WB $I,438.00
Ron DeCesare 3 6.9 $901.00 D.U. FL $976.00 $75.00 FWS
Dean Elmer 1 4.4 $1,016.00 $443.95 FWS FL $1,459.95
RandvElmer 1 4.0 $1,423.00 $511.15 FWS FL $I,934.15
Carl Hollman 1 16.8 $756.00 D.U. FL $974.40 $218.40 FWS
Ritchie Johnson 2 4.8 $743.00 D.U. CRP $743.00
Lowell Ohren 3 3.4 $240.00 FWS FL $240.00
Rov Pankratz 11 27.3 $2,685.50 $485.80 FWS WB $3,I71.30
Ralph Papenheim I 3.6 $180.00 $184.60 FWS FL $1,036.60 $672.00 D.U.
Peter Prestrud 1 8.0 $530.00 D.U. FL $530.00
Mark Schouweiler 1 1.8 $160.00 D.U. CRP $I60.00
Edward Starke 2 2.2 $324.00 DWF FL $324.00
Michael Trov I 1.8 $717.00 $75.00 FWS FL $792.00
Total 55 U5.0 S17,473.00 S2,680.05 S20,153.05 32
GRANT COUNTY
No. of Construction Material Total Landowner Wetlands Acres Cost Cost Funding Program Cost
Lawrence Kloos Repair $270.00 $352.50 FWS CRP $1,381.50 $759.00 WF
Marcus Olson 2 3.8 $1,002.00 WF FL $1,186.60 $184.60 FWS
Lyle Pattison Repair $985.00 WF FL $1,385.00 $400.00 FWS
Myrtle Sandberg Repair $1,185.00 $442.50 FWS FL $2,371.50 $744.00 WF • Total 2 3.8 $4,945.00 $1,379.60 $6,324.60 GRAND TOTAL
Numbers of Landowners No. of Construction Material Total Wetlands Acres Cost Cost Funding Program Cost
.n ll1 293.2 $39,574.00 $8,642.71 $48,216.71
The total cost for construction and materials for our restoration program including the repairs came to $48,216.71 and $39,728.90 without the repairs.
Below is a summary of the program cost.
Total Cost $39,728.90 Cost/Wetland $357.90 Total Acres 293.2 Cost/Acre $135.50 Total \Vetlands 111 Acres/Wetland 2.6 33
1994 SALARY EXPENDITURES FOR WORK ON PRIVATE LAND
Staff Time Hours Cost Permanent Employees 3,440 $58,480.00 Seasonal Employees 600 $5,400.00 Work Study 80 $144.00
Total 4,120 $64,024.00
• Land Designation \Vetland Wetlands Acres ofWater Agreement Restored ConseiVation ReseiVe Program 4 12 28.6 Water Bank 2 16 42.7 Free Lease (No Program) 26 83 221.9 Total 32 111 293.2
Swampbuster
The "Swampbuster" provision ofthe 1985 Farm Bill was designed to prevent operators from draining wetlands for the purpose of producing commodity crops. The penalty for converting a wetland and planting the basin to a commodity crop was the loss of all USDA Farm Program benefits for the year in which the violation occurred. The 1990 Food, Agriculture, ConseiVation and Trade Act changed the Farm Bill. Under the new Act, the conversion of a wetland is in itself a violation and producers may receive graduated payment reductions if they restore the wetland. It also added a number of exemptions and mitigation procedures for wetland conversion. This office was involved in the monitoring, enforcement and assistance with Swampbuster in the following twelve ways:
Wetland Appeals- The NRCS has made an inventory ofthe wetlands in each county and has entered them on maps in each producer's file. Producers who disagree with these wetland determinations can appeal to the District ConseiVationist for that county, who then re-evaluates the determination, with the assistance of the local FWS office, if possible. This year District staff participated in 17 appeals, up considerably from last year although it still seems that the FWS is not consulted on all the appeals. 34
Wetland Impact Reports- Office staff report suspected wetland conversions to the County CFSA office. The NRCS then makes a determination on the effect of the drainage, and if they declare the wetland to be converted, the CFSA takes appropriate action. Five wetland impact reports were submitted in 1994.
Minimal Effect Determinations - This determination is used when a producer's activities have a minimal effect on wetland values. These determinations can not be made without FWS concurrence. One minimal effect request was made in 1994 and it was denied.
Third Party Exemptions - A producer may plant a commodity crop in a converted wetland if the conversion W(!S caused by a third party for purposes other than agricultural production, and if the producer was not associated with the third party through a scheme or device. Third party exemptions cannot be granted without FWS consultation. Ten cases were reviewed this year, and all were granted.
Converted Wetland Non-Agricultural Use- A producer may convert a wetland for purposes other than the production of an agricultural commodity, provided that they obtain approval prior to the conversion. This approval is granted by the NRCS in consultation with the FWS. Three requests were received this year, and all were granted.
Restoration of Converted Wetland- Violation- If a producer has converted a wetland in violation of Swampbuster, he or she may restore that wetland and be back in compliance. Once the wetland is restored under a restoration agreement with the NRCS and the FWS, the producer may farm it when natural conditions allow. In 1994, this office was involved in the restoration ofthree converted wetlands.
Restoration of Converted Wetland- No Violation- If a producer converted a wetland between 1985 and 1990, but did not plant an agricultural commodity on it, he or she may restore that wetland in order to farm it when natural conditions allow. No requests were made for this option in 1994.
Mitigation ofWetland Values- A producer may mitigate wetland values lost from the conversion of frequently cropped wetlands or from the conversion of a wetland between 1985 and 1990 where no agricultural commodity has been planted. The mitigation takes place on a prior converted wetland with the approval of the NRCS and the Service. Two requests for mitigation were received in 1994; one is still pending and the other proposal was dropped because it was deemed to be too expensive by the producer.
Converted Wetland Technical Error- If a producer converts a wetland because of incorrect information provided to him by the NRCS, the wetland normally does not have to be restored, but the error must be recorded in the State NRCS office. No cases occurred in 1994.
Replacement of Wetland Values- A wetland that has not been frequently cropped may be converted and replaced by the restoration of a prior-converted wetland if the objective of the 35 conversion is not solely the production of an agricultural commodity. One replacement request was made in 1994 and that was denied.
Good Faith Exemptions- A person who is in violation of Swampbuster, but did so unintentionally, is eligible for graduated sanctions if he or she is actively restoring the wetland under a plan approved by the NRCS and the FWS. No such restorations occurred in 1994.
Allowable Maintenance - Drainage systems through a wetland (W) which existed before December 23, 1985, which serve as outlets for prior converted cropland (PC), farmed wetland (FW), or farmed wetland pasture and hayland (FWP), may be maintained only to the scope and effect necessary to maintain the outlet on the affected prior converted cropland (PC), farmed wetland (FW), or farmed wetland pasture and hayland (FWP). Allowable maintenance will be documented in an agreement between the producer, FWS, and NRCS. Ten cases were worked on, four were granted, three were denied and three are still pending.
The following table summarizes the District's involvement in Swampbuster for 1994. Note that the mitigation, restoration and replacement categories refer to cases that were evaluated, but not all resulted in the restoration of a wetland.
East \Vest Ottl'r Ottl'r Activitv Tail Tail Douelas Grant Wilkin \Vadena Total
Wetland Appeals 0 II 3 2 I 0 17
Wetland Impact Reports 0 3 2 0 0 0 5
Minimal Effect Detenninations 0 I 0 0 0 0 I
Third Partv Exemptions 0 8 0 0 2 0 10
Converted Wetland Non-al!ricultural Use 2 I 0 0 0 0 3
Restoration of Converted Wetland -Violation I I I 0 0 0 3
Restoration of Converted Wetland- No 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Violation l\.liti2ation of Wetland Values 0 0 0 2 0 0 2
Converted Wetland Technical Error 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Replacement of Wetland Values 0 0 0 I 0 0 I
Good Faith Exemptions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Allowable l\.laintenance 2 2 3 2 I 0 10
In addition to the above Swampbuster cases handled by staff at the local level, Manager Brennan was involved in appeals at the NRCS Area Level. In this capacity, Brennan consults with Area Conservationist Jim Ayres on appeals which Ayres receives from the District Conservationists. This NRCS Area includes all the counties in this District, as well as several counties from other FWS stations. Brennan consulted on fourteen area 36 appeals, including eight in East Otter Tail, three in Stevens, one in Pope, one in Becker and one in Wilkin County.
Rural Economics and Community Development
The Food Security Act of 1985 provided new opportunities for the Service to acquire, restore and protect valuable wetlands. These wetland acres are then utilized for fish and wildlife research, conservation and, in some cases, public use. Properties from the Rural Economics and Community Development (RECD) inventory are reviewed to identify wetlands, endangered species habitat and riparian areas. Executive Order 11990 has given the Service the opportunity to recommend deed restrictions on those parcels which have such values.
The 1990 Farm Bill legislation gave the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) the lead role for identifying wetlands on RECD inventory properties. The NRCS's ability to accurately identify all wetlands on RECD inventory properties has become a point of contention. Conservation easements are limited to identified wetland acres. The RECD Easement Review Team, made up of representatives from the FWS, NRCS, CFSA and RECD, review and discuss the economic viability of the property and the proposed conservation easement. Once the conservation easement proposal is approved by the Review Team, it is then forwarded to the RECD's State Director for final approval.
After RECD's State Director approves the conservation easement proposal, a standard language conservation easement document is prepared. This document is recorded in the County courthouses at the time the property sells.
The following table identifies the RECD actions taken in 1994.
# of Easement # of Easement # of Fee Title # of Properties # of Easement Proposals Proposals Transfers Countv Reviewed Proposals Approved Recorded Recorded
Douglas 2 2 I 0 I
Grant 0 0 I I 0
Otter Tail 0 0 0 0 0
Wadena 2 2 2 I 4
Wilkin 0 0 0 0 0
Totals ~ 4 4 2 5 37
The following table summarizes the RECD actions taken before 1994.
# of Easement # of Easement #of Fee Title # of Properties # of Easement Proposals Proposals Transfers Countv Reviewed Proposals Approved Recorded Recorded
Douglas II 8 8 6 3
Grant 2 I I I 0
Otter Tail 7 7 7 5 0
Wadena 18 18 18 13 4
Wilkin 2 2 2 2 0
Totals 40 36 36 27 7
To date, 6,017 acres ofwetlands/uplands have been preserved in conservation easements from available RECD properties.
The Service received the Beminghaus RECD inventory tract (Douglas Co.) in fee title transfer. The tract will become the Beminghaus Waterfowl Production Area. It will be very good waterfowl habitat once all the wetland and upland habitat is restored.
The new fee-title-transferred Rolling Acres property (Douglas Co.) had its upland and wetland habitats restored during 1994.
No compliance flights were made over the easement areas. There were no detected violations.
Mid-Continent Leases
The Service has 81 ten-year leases with private landowners covering 1,3 51 wetland acres and 3,657 upland acres in Otter Tail, Douglas and Grant Counties. Four ofthese leases expired in 1993, 56 expired in 1994 and 21 will expire in 1995. We have been working with the landowners to encourage them to enroll these areas into Water Bank Program (WBP), Reinvest In Minnesota (RIM) or the Permanent Wetland Preserves (PWP) programs. The SWCD and NRCS offices have also been working with these landowners to facilitate their involvement in these programs. We have purchased two of these properties, and have taken wetland easements on 22 properties. So far, seven properties have been tiled and drained, and two properties have been tilled. The wetlands on these two areas are under easement. One landowner has enrolled in the PWP and many others have applied for the various programs. 38
F. HABITAT MANAGEMENT
1. General
The native seed harvest for 1994 was fair on native prairies and poor on the Bellmore WP A big bluestem prairie. Ideal seasonal growing conditions and hot, dry conditions during early September caused a very early seed ripening in most species. Unfortunately private combines were not available until a week and a half after the prime ripening period and much of the seed had already shattered.
A 60-acre field seeded to indigenous ecotypes (originally from Agassiz Beachline WP A) was harvested on Bellmore WP A . Harvesting seeded areas such as Bellmore has its special weed problems, and legal seed is obtained with some difficulty. A Bladex 90 D.F. application at 2.5 lbs./acre A. I. to control foxtail (Setaria spp.) will probably be necessary in the spring of 1995 or 1996.
Two wet prairies harvested included 35 acres on the Townhall Prairie owned by TNC and 50 acres on the Rice Elliot Scientific and Natural Area (SNA) owned by the Minnesota DNR. One half of the harvested seed was given to the Minnesota DNR to be used for seeding new SNA land. About 50 acres of a private mesic native prairie, owned by Dana Nelson, was also harvested. All of these prairies were located in eastern Wilkin County and were burned during the spring.
All areas were harvested with two Gleaner combines using 14 foot grain headers. The screens and blowers on the Gleaners could be more finely tuned than on a Massey Ferguson (used in 1992) which resulted in considerably less seed being blown out the rear of the combine. The total cost of the seed harvest for 1994 was $4,715, which included $3,995 for combining and $720 for rental ofthe private prairie.
The summary ofthe 1993-1994 harvest is as follows:
Harvest Area: Bellmore Waterfowl Production Area (W-2)- 60 acres. Harvest Date: September 26 and 27. Vegetation: Local origin seeding, 1987 (from Agassiz Beachline WPA, OT-60). Yield: 2, 782 lbs. bulk Pure Live Seed: 1,613 lbs. Results of Seed Test: 74% purity, 79% germination. Custom Combining Cost: $1,500.00 Estimated Dominants: big bluestem, switchgrass.
Harvest Area: Rice Elliot Prairie (SNA)- 50 acres, and Townhall Prairie (TNC)- 35 acres, Wilkin county Harvest Date: September 21. Vegetation Type: Mesic native prairie. 39
Yield: 3,375 lbs., bulk. District share- 1,725 lbs., bulk. Custom Combining Cost: $2,495.00 Estimated Dominants: Big bluestem, lndiangrass, little bluestem, rough and tall blazing star, purple and white prairie clover, Maximillian sunflower, prairie cordgrass, leadplant, prairie dropseed, golden alexander, goldenrods, meadow rue, and a variety of asters. Trace amounts: Prairie lily, gentians.
Harvest Area: Private prairie, Dana Nelson, Wilkin County - 50 acres. Harvest Date: September 21 Vegetation Type: Mesic native prairie. Yield: 766lbs., bulk (cleaned). Custom Combining Cost: $960.00 Site Rental: $720.00 Estimated Dominants: Tall and rough blazing star, little bluestem. Trace amounts: Purple prairie clover, gentian, golden alexander, Maximillian sunflower, black-eyed Susan, prairie lily, prairie cordgrass and a variety of asters.
Two seed harvesting contracts, totaling $3,514, which were awarded to JeffEvander of St. Cloud, Minnesota, were closed out. The contracts were let in June of 1993 for hand harvesting seeds from local ecotype native grasses and forbs on mesic native prairies. One contract covered the harvest of native prairies located in Otter Tail and Wilkin Counties, and the other covered Douglas and Grant Counties. Harvest sites included WP As, Minnesota DNR Wildlife Management Areas, private land and land owned by TNC.
In 1994, $418.50 was charged to the Grant/Douglas County contract. A total of $2,013.80 was charged to both contracts since 1993. 40
This purple prairie clover is one of many species harvested from private prairies within the District. (fJ7/94)
Hand-Harvest Results:
I Seed Hand-Harvest- 1993 & 1994 I Species Weight Month Harvested Harvest Location in lbs. Blazing star 13 Sept., 1993 Foxhome & Kettledrummer Prairies (TNC)
Porcupine grass 22 July, 1993 Alexandria Moraine Oxeye 1 Sept., 1993 Alexandria Moraine Golden alexander 1 Aug., 1993 Foxhome, Kettledrummer & Townhall Prairies Upland aster 1.5 Seot. 1993 Alexandria Moraine 41
I Seed Hand-Harvest- 1993 & 1994 I Species Weight Month Harvested Harvest Location in lbs. Purple & white prairie 1.5 Oct., 1993 Alex. Moraine clover New England aster 0.2 Sept., 1993 Alex. Moraine Stiff goldenrod 17.5 Oct., 1993 False gromwell 2 July, 1993 Glacial Moraine Stiff tickseed 0.3 Glacial Moraine Asure aster 2 Sept., 1993 Glacial Moraine Buffalo bean 10 July, 1993 Glacial & Alex. Moraine Total (1993) 72 Little bluestem 17 Sept., 1994 Glacial Moraine Purple prairie clover 7 Sept., 1994 Glacial Moraine
~ White prairie clover .) Sept., 1994 Glacial Moraine Total . (1994) 27
4. Croplands
A Food Plots
In 1994, the Wetland Management District had 15 com/soybean/small grain food plots totaling 124.4 acres on WP As for wintering resident wildlife. A 15-acre food plot on Meadows WP A was canceled because of lack interest by the Kent Rod and Gun Club (permittee). The area has now become a weed problem because it was too wet to seed to native prairie in 1993. The Minnesota DNR at Glenwood maintains three crib feeders on WP As in Douglas County.
In addition to food plots on fee lands, there were three food plots totaling 9.2 acres on the Mid-Continent Ten-Year Lease areas. ·
Com and soybean production on food plots was generally fair to poor. This can be attributed to a very cool and wet growing season. 42
Corn Food Plots- 1993
Acres Condition Harvest/ Name No. Lefl Cooperator Crop Weeds Exolres
Otter Tail County
Braukmann WP A 106 9.3/4.7 Albert Huwe. Jr. _&ood-exc. clean April, 9S
Horstman Loomer WP A 2 6.7/3.3 FF Fish & Game Club com/soybean fair pigeon-grass April, 9S
OscarWPA 49 Mike Haarstad com excellent clean November. 96
Rabbit River WP A 53 4/3 FF Fish & Game Club com-good clean May6, 9S
A!!assiz WPA 60 6/3 LouisObowa com/sovbeans:good clean April, 95
PCA WPA 81 0/3 Stalker Lake soybeans good clean April, 95 Sportsmen's
Busko WPA 52 1015 Jeff Busko com/sovbeans good clean April, 95
Busko WPA 52 1015 Stan Rund com/sovbeans weedy canceled in 94
WPATotal
Otter Tail CountY Total 43/25.7
Grant Countv
Spink WPA 13 6.6/3.3 Todd Ronhovde sovbeans/com excellent April, 95
Grant County Total 6.6/3.3
Douglas Countv
RegerWPA 2 5.510 Millerville Sportsmen's com. good clean March, 95 Club
Olson WPA 21 0/6 Evansville Sportsmen's nothing planted poor, solid March, 95 Club thistle
Fedje WPA 32 0/12 Evansville Sportsmen's com-good clean March, 95 Club
McDowell WPA 47 6/3 Gilbert Kuhnau com/buckwheat weedv 1\farch. 9S
Sabolik WPA 31 0/.75 DNR Glenwood com-good clean April I. 1994
Hudson WPA 4 1015 Marvin Eblin com/small grain good March. 95
Dahll!fen WPA 34 crib Minnesota DNR
Sellevold WPA 29 crib Mirmesota DNR
Rachel WPA 5 crib 1\linnesota DNR
Dou!!las Countv Total 21.5/26.75
Grand Total 71.1155.75 43
B. Cash Rent
A total of364.5 acres were farmed under the cash rent program in 1994. The program allows a permittee to crop the land for a fair market rent, and is designed to leave a weed free seedbed suitable for no-till seeding of native grasses and forbs. Areas to be seeded to native prairie in 1995 were planted with soybeans. Treflan was used in most cases to control foxtail and pigeon grass. Most areas were sprayed with Basagran for Canada thistle control. Two thousand six hundred and seventy-one dollars ($2671.00) was added to the revenue sharing fund in 1994 as a result of the cash rent program.
Rate/ Co. Unit No. Acres Acre Total Crop Weeds Permittee Expires
OT Busko 52 7 small grain good Jeff Busko 6-01-97
OT Mandt 63 35 not Planted good Lawrence 10-01-96 Kozitka
OT Stang Lake 26 15 $15 $210 soybeans good Timm Fabian 6-15-95
G Germundson 22 13 com good Ted Myron 6-01-97
G Preuss 19 23 small grain good Ted Myron 6-01-97
G Redhead Slough 26 14 $5 $70 small grain good Daryl Liebl 6-15-97
D J.l. Case 51 174 $ 1 $174 \ll soybeans, good Kim Johnson 11-30-93 renewed \ll com untill996
D Odens 35 23.5 $5 $117.50 soybeans very Dennis Shores 6-15-96 poor w Meadows 4 60 $35 $2,100 small grain good Thomas Amhalt 6-15-96
Totals 364.5 $2,671.50
Acres coming out of cash rent in the spring of 1995 will have Roundup applied prior to native prairie seeding.
5. Grasslands
A total of657.5 acres were seeded with a native prairie mixture by force account. Areas seeded included 383 acres on fee title lands, 260 acres on Minnesota DNR lands, and 14.5 acres on private lands.
All of the areas, excluding the private lands, were seeded with Service 1992 native seed mixture which was predominantly locally-harvested originally from native prairies. Small amounts of commercially obtained northern-origin grasses were added to the mixture. The private lands were seeded with a mixture provided by the landowners. 44
Adequate moisture and wann temperatures made ideal growing conditions during the wann season. All new seedings where checked in late August and each showed at least 4 inches of new growth.
I 1994 Native Grass Seeding I County Unit No. Acres Preplant Condition Seeding Date Otter Tail Townsend 80 46 wheat stubble/bean 6-24-94 stubble Haiby 20 20 bean stubble, clean 6-02-94 Rabbit 53 10 plowed food plot 6-23-94 River Stang Lake 26 18 bean stubble, dead 6-26-94 bromegrass
Douglas Odens 35 30 bean stubble, weedy 7-14-94 Rolling 54 156.7 bean stubble, weedy 7-01-94 Acres Benson 44 44 bean stubble, weedy 6-05-64 Spink 13 13.7 bean stubble, clean Island Lake 41 27.6 bean stubble 7-15-94
Wilkin Meadows 4 17 old food plot, plowed 10-12-94 donnant
Manston DNR 260 1;2 sunflower 6-20-94 stubble, 112 bean stubble, weedy
Total 643 45
I 1994 Native seed Mix I Species lbs. PLS/Acre Seeds/sq. ft. (~erm.+ dorm.) Big bluestem 6 22.8 Sideoats grama 0.5 2.75 Switchgrass 0.5 4.5 Blue grama (killdeer) 0.25 4.75 Green needlegrass 1 4.1
Slender wheatgrass 1 3.6 Indiangrass trace Tall and rough blazing star trace Maximillian sunflower trace Purple prairie clover trace Golden alexander trace Tall meadow rue trace Prairie dropseed trace Prairie lily trace
Totals 9.25 45.25
8. Haying
A total of 685 acres was hayed or mowed on nine WP As associated with predator fences. Cover removal around the Kube WP A predator fence was not done because of extremely rough terrain conditions.
Haying for cover reduction outside of predator fences is done in early September in an effort to force ducks to nest inside the fence during the following spring. Starting in 1995, this practice will be discontinued to reduce the workload connected with managing predator fences. This will also give the District an opportunity to study nest densities in relation to the lack of cover removal outside the predator fences. 46
One hundred and thirty six acres were hayed on four additional WP As for habitat management and weed control purposes.
1994 HaYin~
WPA No. Acres Permittee CoverTvpe Approx. Date
*Bakke OT-99 180 Willard Nelson NB Natives 8/15
*Morrison OT-21 52 Willard Nelson Local Natives 8115
*Knoll wood OT-101 90 Willard Nelson NB Natives 8/15
*Rush Lake OT-56 50 James Johnson NB Natives 8/15
*Mavis OT-98 91 Willard Nelson NB Natives 8115
*Mickelson OT-25 60 Willard Nelson NB Natives 8115
Lien OT-75 51 Thomas Rocholl 1992 seeding, 8/15 local origin
*Busko OT-52 26 Jeff Busko Alfalfa 6/25
*Preuss G-19 67 Fred Symonds NB Natives Mowed(FWS) 10/01
*Demaree G-21 73 Fred Symonds NB Natives Mowed (FWS)I0/01
*Germundson G-22 22 NB Natives MowedFWS 10/01
Pelican Creek G-54 35 Lawrence Larson Alfalfa, Brome 7/15
Odens D-35 24.6 Dennis Shores Alfalfa 7/20
Total 821.6
*Predator fences.
9. Fire Management
Prescribed bums of grasslands on WP As totaled 1, 44 7. 2 acres. The District also burned a privately-owned 75-acre native prairie in eastern Wilkin county to prepare it for a fall seed harvest. The majority of the acreage burned was local origin native prairie seedings. 47
Summarv of 1994 Prescribed Bums
County Other and Native Intro Non (Local) Number Unit Name Prairie Natives Natives Marsh Natives Total Date
OT-53 Rabbit River 27.3 100 44 171.3 4/14
OT-62 Jorgenson 19 2.5 25 45.6 74 4/22
OT-52 Busko 5 45 50 4118
OT-39 Julsrud 32 267 302 5/27
OT-90 Knobel Lake 7 53 60 5125
D-29 Sellevold 16.8 35 28.2 173.7 258.3 5113
D-40 ZicJ...-ur 8 32 40 5/24
D-33 Kensington 5.4 63 68.4 4/21
G-31 Historical 10.5 56 10 139 215.5 5110 Society
G-10 Mud Lake 14.6 16.1 87.6 118.3 5119
W-2 Bellmore 85 85 5/25
Private Dana Nelson 74.8 74.8 74.8 5111
Total 1,517.60
During the fire season three wildfires occurred on WP As on the District. Suppression and control were accomplished by local fire departments. The total cost of suppression was $2,340.
Wildfire Synopsis:
1. Heinola WPA (OT-19) fire- This was a 3.4-acre grassland fire that was discovered at 1538 hrs. on May 17, 1994, and was declared out at 1630 hrs. on May 17, 1994 .. The New York Mills Fire Department responded to the fire and suppression cost was $200. The cause is unknown.
2. Erhards Grove WPA (OT-100) fire- This was a 75-acre grassland fire that was discovered at 1345 hrs. on April 10, 1994, and was declared out at 1530 hrs. on April 10, 1994. The Pelican Rapids Fire Department responded to the fire and suppression cost was $350. The cause is unknown.
3. Odens WP A (D-3 5) fire - This was a structural fire that started in an old building site located on a recently purchased roundout. The fire was discovered at 0445 hrs. on April 28, 1994, and was declared out at 1000 hrs. on April 28, 1994 .. The Evansville Fire 48
Department responded to the fire and suppression cost was $1,790. It was suspected that the fire was caused by a large campfire built by a group of people having a party in the building site.
This past summer was also a busy summer for fighting forest fires. Forestry Technician Troy Boschee was called out on two separate occasions. The first call from July 28- August 16, 1994, involved three separate fires in the Bitterroot National Forest close to Missoula, Montana. The second call was on August 26, which sent Boschee via helicopter to a mountain in the Kootenai National Forest close to Troy, Montana, for an additional two weeks. This was a very exciting and memorable experience for Boschee.
10. Pest Control
The District, as in the past, maintained an aggressive weed control program. The main problem weeds included plumeless and Canada thistle and leafy spurge. The methods of control were by ground spraying and mowing. Ground spraying and mowing for thistle were done by force account and totaled 371.3 acres sprayed and 1,006.5 acres mowed. Because ofbudget constraints, no aerial spraying was done in 1994. A very effective method of thistle control was by fall spraying the new thistle rosettes on previously mowed areas with a mixture of 2,4-D (LV- 4) and a small amount ofBanvel. All other areas were treated with 2,4-D (LV-4) at lib. A. I./acre.
Since 1987, an active leafy spurge control program has been underway. In 1994, a total of 125.4 acres were treated by force account using a spray mixture ofLV-4 and Banvel. Basically, the same areas have been sprayed each year and it appears that some expansion and new infestations ofleafy spurge occurred in 1994.
Monitoring of biological control ofleafy spurge on Klein WP A (D-18) continues. Pam Deerwood, USDA, St. Paul, reported established populations of the flea beetles Aphthona cyarissiae (1989 release) and A. nigriscutis (1990 release). Hopefully, biological control with these insects will become a viable alternative method of controlling leafy spurge in the near future.
2,4-D (LV-4 at 1 lb. A.I./acre) on thistle areas by force account (June- July):
WPA No. Acres Month Julsrud OT-39 10 June Scribner OT-68 30 June Heino Ia OT-19 22 June Knobel Lake OT-90 14 July .., Mavis OT-98 ~ July Otter Tail Totals 79 Spink G-13 10 July 49
WPA No. Acres Month Island Lake G-41 5 July Stony Brook G-42 li Grant Totals 30 Benson D-44 44 June Bellmore W-2 _l Grand Total 161
Leafy Spurge- LV-4 at 1 qt. A.I./acre and Banvel at 1 pt. A.I./acre (Force Account)
WPA Number Acres Comments Reeer D-2 4 no change Klein D-18 38 increased
.... Chippewa Valley D-48 I -' no chanee J.I. Case D-51 5 decreased
Enquist G-3 1 no change
Delong G-11.41 8 no chanee Redhead Sloueh G-26 none found Chenev Trust G-30 2 no chamz:e Historical Society G-31 0.1 decreased I Nordbv G-37 2 decreased Hasemen G-40 0.1 I no chanee .... Island Lake G-41 -' I SE corner bad Hansen G-44 I increased Uphoff G-47 0.2 I decreased Stony Brook G-53 none found Horstman OT-2 1 no chanee Gerlach OT-5 1 remvas1on
C&l'vl Ranch OT-11 1 no chanee Simpson OT-14 I 2.5 increased Scott Crav OT-23 9.5 no chamz:e 50
WPA. Number Acres Comments Mickelson OT-25 1.2 increased
Arfsten OT-24 none found
Tweet on OT-29 1 new site Hoff-Fronning OT-32 1.6 no change Pelican Valley OT-42 2.9 increased Benzerud OT-45 a few plants Wildung OT-46 10 increased
Lightning Lake OT-47 14.2 increased Kube OT-51 1 I decreased Gravel Pit OT-55 not checked ' Rush Lake OT-56 2 no change Tomhave OT-58 5 no change, not treated
Wirth OT-59 2 decreased Agassiz Beachline OT-60 4 no change
Scribner OT-68 0.1 .. remvas10n Grunwald OT-60 0.2 remvas10n Kunz OT-82 2.5 no change Headquarters OT-83 not checked
Nicholson OT-88 0.5 decreased Knobel Lake OT-90 0.2 no change
Iverson OT-91 0.3 most under water Knoll wood OT-101 0.4 new mvas10n Grefsrud OT-103 1.2 increased Fabian OT-104 none found Kube I OT-51 1 I decreased Total I I 133.i0 I 51
Mowing Thistle (force Account) and Fall treatment areas with 2,4-D (at 1 lb. A.I./acre) and Banvel (at 114 lb./acre)
WPA Number Acres Month Acres Fall Mowed Spraved
Stang Lake OT-26 24 August 6
Townsend OT-80 4 July 7
Duenow OT-86 7.6 July
Agassiz Beachline OT-60 1.5 Julv 10
Liehtning Lake OT-47 74.1 Julv Rabbit River OT-53 4.6 July Gerlach OT-5 4.7 July
PCA OT-81 33.6 August
Grewe OT-22 44.5 AU!!USt Mortenson OT-105 8.2 · Aueust
Scribner OT-68 2.2 July
Rush Lake OT-56 4.7 Julv
Julsrud OT-39 107 Aueust Michelson OT-25 4.8 July
Lake Halvorson OT-31 2.9 Julv
Oscar OT-95 15 July 25 Haibv OT-20 19.5 Aueust Backstrom OT-96 60.8 July 33.4
Sethre OT-49 7.2 June
Heino Ia OT-19 59.4 Julv 60
Subtotal 490.3 Subtotal 141.4 52
WPA Number Acres Month Acres Fall Mowed Sprayed
Pelican Creek G-48 7.1 July_
Redhead Slough G-26 17.2 July
Alvstad G-49 21.3 July Lillemoen G-15 1.8 July
Bellevue G-36 15.1 July Spink G-13 82 July 9
Woltier G-46 6.2 August Bah Lakes G-28 63.2 July Stony Brook G-42 118.5 July
BlakesleY G-35 30.5 July 30 Subtotal 362.9 Subtotal 39
Millerville D-1 70.9 Ammst Schultz Lake D-11 35.8 July Odens D-35 30.8 July Subtotal 137.5 Subtotal
Meadows W-4 11.3 August
Haugrud-Sillerud W-3 17 JulY 17 Hanneman W-7 4.4 August I Bellmore W-2 10 July 10 Subtotal 42.7 Subtotal 27 Total 1.032.5 207.4 53
Cash rent areas treated with Roundup by force account at 1.25 lbs. A. I./acre.
WPA Number Acres Month I I I I I Rabbit River OT-53 10 June Townsend OT-80 48 June Stang Lake OT-26 18.8 June Spink G-13 12 June Benson* D-44 44 June Total 132.8
*Benson had a commercial application of Roundup by Rod \Veets at a cost of$835.56.
11. Water RiQhts
Demand for third party drainage into \VP As led to the formulation of a policy on ditch cleanout. (A third party drainage right is one which was established before the Service acquired the property.) The policy states that no new drainage will be allowed and that existing drainage may not be improved, only maintained.
In 1994, two requests for third party drainage were received, and both were granted.
13. \VPA Easement MonitorinQ
No new violations were discovered in 1994.
The following is a synopsis of cases carried over from previous years:
Easement 141X Douglas County: A landowner drained a wetland with a scraper ditch. He was ordered to restore the wetland in the fall of 1993. An inspection revealed that not only had he failed to restore the wetland, he had drained two additional wetlands. Case open.
Easement 145X, Douglas County: A landowner constructed five dugout ponds in wetlands subject to the easement. All but one of the dugouts have been filled in. Case open. 54
Easement 266X, Douglas County: The landowner excavated in two wetland basins, then . pushed the spoil and several tree stumps into the centers of the wetlands. Weather conditions in 1993 and 1994 lJrevented restoration. Case open.
Easement 141 X, Douglas County: A renter pushed several large rocks into a wetland basin. He was asked to compiete restoration by the fall of 1993, but has failectro do so. Case open.
Easement 365X-2, Otter Tail County: A landowner requested permission to clean out a ditch to lower the water level in a wetland subject to the easement. He was denied permission, but cleaned the ditch in the spring. A case file was forwarded to the Field Solicitor's Office, but was ret'Jrned because the easement document was not properly prepared. and the easement is unenforceable. Case open.
Easement 79X, Otter Tail C::unty: The landowners constructed a dugout pit in 1988, and re~sed to restore the wet!2r::i. The case was tiled in July 1991. and an info:ma:i conference was held in Nove:nber 1991. A deposition was taken from the iandowners in October 199:2. and the Assistant U.S. Attorney tiled for Summary Judgement in January 1993. In February 1993, a Summary Judgement \vas made in favor of the Service. In the spring of 1994, the defendants completed the restoration work. Case closed.
Easement 131 X, Douglas County: The landowner drained a wetland with a scraper ditch, and placed the spoil in the •.vet!and. A case tile was sent to the Field Solicitor's Office in July of 1991. The Field Solicitor's Office returned the case file in 1994, stating that a drainage agreement recorded in i 907 makes the easement unenforceable. Case open.
Easement 76X and 131 X. Douglas County: The landowner drained several wetlands and deposited the spoii in the basins. .-\ case tile was sent to the Fieid Solicitor's Office in July of 1991. The Field Solicitors Office returned the case tile in 1994, stating that drainage easements recorded in 1906 and 1907 make the easement unenforceable. Case open.
Easement l6X. Douglas C::·:.:my: Two wetlands were destroyed by a gravei pit. Compliance work \viii be re~:.Jested following interpretation of mineral rignts and formulation of a mitigation ~oiicy. Case open.
EJsement 13 OX. Gram C c.;r:ty: One wetland was destroyed bv a gravel oit. Same as .:bove. Case open.
E:1semem 234X, Otter Taii (..)unty. The landowner excavated a donut in a wetland. cost shared bv. the ?\iRCS. Case eDen..
E::1semem ! 3 7X. Otter T::ii Coumy: The bndowner canstructed a dugout ~it in a wetland. Compliance work has not 2=e:l compieted. Case ooen. 55
Easement 113X, Douglas County. A sportsmen's club constructed a levee, partially in a wetland subject to the easement, in order to make the wetland hold water throughout the season. The club has requested an after-the-fact permit for the work. An Environmental Assessment is being prepared as a part of the permit process. Case open.
14. Private Land
The Kloos Partners for Wildlife Project
This Partners for Wildlife Project involved the construction of a 121' long sheet metal piling weir (This weir is identical to one built on Spink WP A (G-13) see picture in the section on Equipment and Facilities.), with a stop log bay to restore a 35-acre wetland on private land in Grant County. Negotiations, acquisition and engineering for the project were all done by Service personnel more than a year earlier. For lack of funding it had been put on the shelf until this year when funding was finally arranged.
Two flowage/waterfowl management rights easements were purchased from two of the cooperating partners - one for $15,325 from Lawrence and Leonard Kloos and another from Lyle Pattison for $4,700. Both easements were taken to the mean-sea-level (msl) elevation of a one-hundred year flood event to meet requirements of a Waters Permit from the Minnesota DNR. In this case, the msl elevation for a one-hundred year flood event is about two feet higher than the maximum designed pool elevation. Due to the slow progress on the project, and prior to actual construction, the Kloos brothers sold the property to John and Mary Weitzel of St. Cloud as recreational land. The Woitzels were contacted to inform them of what to expect with a project such as this. Any reservations we may have had concerning whether they would be good or bad partners were quickly erased. We found the Woitzels to be interested, cooperative, and enthusiastic about having the project built on their newly-acquired property.
In addition to the Kloos brothers, Lyle Pattison, John and Mary Weitzel and the Minnesota DNR, other partners who provided funds, assistance, technical expertise or permits included the Grant County Sportsmen's Association, Ashby Coots Unlimited Inc., Grant County Commissioners and the Bois de Sioux Watershed District. Without contributions from the Sportsmen Clubs, which resulted in matching funds, it would have been nearly impossible to even get this project started.
Funding for the actual construction ofthe Kloos Project was from a combination of sources for a total of $51,485. Contributors are as follows:
- Grant County Sportsmen's Association $ 1,250.00 - Ashby Coots Unlimited Inc. $ 1,250.00 - Challenge Grants (Matching Funds) $2,500.00 - FWS Private Lands Funds (Station) $ 1,360.00 - FWS Private Lands Funds (Regional Office) $47,625.00 Total $51,485.00 56
When this project was finally ready for bid solicitation we found that Contracting and General Services (CGS) was booked solid because of all the damage to Service facilities by the flooding along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers during the year. The contract was eventually awarded to Commerford Construction of Danvers, l\1N in late summer. No sooner had Commerford contacted their supplier for ordering steel and shop drawings when the supplier announced there would be a long delay before delivery. This created a lot of uncertainty as to whether the project could be completed before freezeup. After several weeks of waiting and without a "proceed to work order" in hand Commerford unilaterally decided to deliver equipment to the site on October 25 to prepare for construction. It took two days to strip the topsoil to get clay for building a road across the channel to support equipment to drive the metal sheet piling, install the rip-rap, etc. Of course all the soil used to build the road was removed when the project was complete.
With freezeup and winter snows imminent several urgent calls were made to the supplier to encourage them to hurry but it was still almost an entire month before materials were delivered on November 22nd. Finally able to begin, Commerford really scrambled. Along with days short on daylight hours and a coupl~ of delays due to strong winds, blowing snow and bitter wipd chill temperatures the project was completed in only twelve days of actual work. By the time they finished on December 7 they had to contend with frozen earth and ice several inches thick.
Commerford left the site in a relatively smooth condition considering the low temperatures, frozen earth and ice. However, we know from experience, that after spring thaw arrives holes would result from melting ice and frozen dirt chunks which were buried in various places around the site. Commerford agreed to allow $2,000 withheld from his·payment so that he would have to come back in the spring of 1995 to fill in and smooth over the holes.
To recognize all the partners for there efforts, funds and cooperation a large sign will be installed in a prominent location near the project site.
G. WILDLIFE
1. Wildlife Diversity
There are 267 regularly occurring bird species on our station bird list plus an additional nine species that are considered accidental visitors. A casual list of 171 species has been recorded by biological technician Chuck Vukonich while performing routine field activities. One noteworthy sighting was that of a northern mockingbird on June 17 in section 12 ofManston Township of Wilkin County by local birder Steve Millard.
Native Prairie Grassland Bird Inventorv
In 1994, a second consecutive effort to record and document the abundance and diversity of bird species associated with northern tallgrass prairie was completed within the District. Once again, a contract was issued with expert local birder Steve Millard who conducted all fieldwork for this 57 survey. Eighteen undisturbed native prairie fields ranging in size from 6 acres to 320 acres were sampled. All fields were in public ownership.
Within each field, random points were selected with a minimum of250 meters between points. All data was gathered between the inclusive dates of June 1 - 23. Bird species were recorded at two time interval!!,(0-5 minutes, 5-10 minutes) and at three separate distances (within 50 meters of each point, between 50 and 100 meters of each point, and at distances greater than 100 meters). This last category of greater than 100 meters is classified as "miscellaneous" in the table below.
Generally speaking, the smaller, well-drained fields were very predictable with their typical mix of clay-colored sparrows, yellow warblers, yellowthroats, savannah sparrows, etc. One species that turned up quite frequently and seems well adapted to a number of niches was the eastern kingbird. Not always just a peripheral bird, it actually perches on prairie forbs and grasses rather than just trees and shrubs. Another species encountered all too frequently was the brown-headed cowbird.
Altog~ther, 69 species of birds were recorded dunng this survey. The most unusual sighting was that of a northern mockingbird in Wilkin County. Many of the fields sampled (especially on WP As) contained invading trees and shrubs that attracted a wider variety of bird species than the open treeless fields. Some notable species were yellow warblers, gray catbirds, and American goldfinch. Under the ecosystem approach to management, it would be more advantageous to attract a smaller variety of indigenous prairie species than to have higher bird diversity on unmanaged fragmented grassland that is being invaded by trees and brush. Hence, our objective will be to manage our true native grasslands as just that -- grasslands. It_ should be noted that the largest blocks of native prairie grasslands held the widest variety of true grassland birds. These included the bobolink, western meadowlark, Le Conte's sparrow, grasshopper sparrow and marbled godwit. Following are tables showing total number ofbirds observed only on WPAs and the total number of birds observed on all areas.
To1al Number of Birds on WPA's ~lwf'tn 0..100 Mtl£n
Acauia Backstrom a. ... Oueaow Hausrea !'lkbotsoa Pomme de Terre r ...... TuMIIo (OT-601 (OT-96) (C. Ill (0T..86) (OT-92) (OT-ll8) (C. I) (OT-19) (OT-lll Sp«i.. 001ac.t f772C'.) 1:9 :IC.) tl9ac.l llUc.l 1!'1 IC.) Ill lac. I (9 IC.) (11 IC.) Totals
Ammc:on Goldfinch ; I : I • Am Brown-headed Cowbird ~ I ! 9 Bobolink ~~ : : 94 I Brown Thnuhor : 2 B!n~wimed Teal 2 2 C1.av<'Oiorrd Soarrow IS 18 < 3 s 6 II J J n Common Yellow1llroo1 3.. • J I : 7 I : 62 Eutem Kind>ird ' < l I I~ Grav Calbird 2 I 3 Granhoon...- 503m'W . J . 8 58 Total Number of Birds on WPA's Betwna 0.100 MeWn ApuiJ Backstrom Baln Dueoow Hauaea Nlcbolso• Poauae de Terre TwM&o. Tea Milo (OT-60) (OT-96) (G-18) (OT-86) (OT-9l) (OT-88) (G-1) (OT-19) (OT-18) Species (lDioc.) (noc.) (l9oc.) 09 ••-l (38 ••-l (~I ac.) (II Joe.) (9oc.) !11 oc.l Toblb HouteWren I I KiDdeer • 4 Le Conle'o Sponow s s Mallanl 2 2 MonhWrm 3 3 Northern flicker I 2 3 Rod-winoed Blackbird 39 2 6 13 I 61 S.Y1Uil18b Sponow 117 2 119 SeduWrm 81 I 82 Sona Sparrow s 2 3 3 8 s j I 32 Swamp Sparrow 12 l 13 Wntem Meadowlark 17 17 Willow flvcatcher 3 3 Wood Duck 2 2 YeUow Warblrr 6 4 6 6 9 II 42 TollW 43S 32 Jj 18 31 26 ;o 13 6 666 Tobl Number ol Birds Obsorvod On All Flolds AI AU Dlst:uxes B-10 Mbc. Sp« 6-SOM 56-lOOM ~lise B-SOM 56-lOOM Mise 6-5 miD S-10 miD Green-winged Teal 0 0 I 0 0 0 0 0 0 I American Bittern 0 0 I 0 0 0 0 0 0 I American Goldfinch 8 I 17 7 0 9 9 7 16 26 American Kestrel 0 0 2 0 I I 0 I I 3 American Robin 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 6 Bank Swallow 0 0 3 0 0 4 0 0 0 7 Bam Swallow 0 0 II 0 0 9 0 0 0 20 Black-billed Cuckoo 0 I 2 0 0 0 I 0 I 2 Black Crowned Night 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 Brown-headed eo...-bird 6 10 ~~ 2 10 62 16 12 28 117 Blue Jay 0 0 I 0 0 0 0 0 0 I Black Tern 0 0 I 0 0 3 0 0 0 4 Bobolink l7 113 3l 40 12~ 33 liO 164 334 68 59 Tobl Number of Blrdo OblftYod Oo AU Floldo AI AU D...,._ B-10 Mbe. SpednName 0-5 Mbu. 5-10 MIDL Sublablo Toal Toal B.SOM 56-lOOM ~lloc: B.SOM 56-lOOM Mile B-5mlo S-10 miD Brewer's Blackbird 2 0 I 0 0 3 2 0 2 4 Brown Thrasher 0 I 4 0 I I I I 2 s Blue-winged Teal 0 0 3 0 2 3 0 2 2 6 Canada Goose 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Clay-coloRd Spanow 24 40 0 24 40 3 64 64 128 3 Cedar Waxwing 0 0 0 0 I I 0 I I I Chimney Swift 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 ClifT Swallow 0 0 ' 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 Common Grackle 0 0 !3 0 0 7 0 0 0 20 Common Loon 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 Common YeDowthroat 18 45 19 14 49 24 63 63 126 43 Double-crested Cormorant 0 0 5 0 0 3 0 0 0 8 Eastern Kingbird 3 6 3 8 8 6 9 16 25 9 European Starling 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 6 Forster's Tern 0 0 I 0 0 0 0 0 0 I Great Crested Flycatcher 0 0 I 0 0 I 0 0 0 2 Great Horned Owl 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Gray Catbird 0 2 3 I 0 2 2 I 3 s Great Egret 0 0 I 0 0 5 0 0 0 6 Gnwhopper Spanow 4 14 I 5 13 0 18 18 36 I Great Blue Heron 0 0 I 0 0 I 0 0 0 2 Hairy Woodpecker 0 0 I 0 0 I 0 0 0 2 Horned larlc 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 0 s House Wren I I I I 0 I l I 3 2 Killdeer 0 3 13 0 3 12 3 3 6 25 I.e Conte's Sparrow 4 39 9 2 32 12 43 34 n 21 Least Flycatcher I 0 I I 0 I I I 2 2 Marbled Godwit 0 0 4 0 0 3 0 0 0 7 Mallard 0 2 IS 0 0 16 2 0 2 31 Ma:slt Wren 0 I II 0 2 13 I 2 3 24 60 loCal Number ol Blrda Obaervod Oo AU Flolcls AI AU o.- 0.10 Mbc. Specirs Name o. 51\tlnl. 5-101\IIDL Sub.- loCal loCal 0.50M 50-lOOM MIK 0.50M 50-lOOM MIK 0.5 miD S-10 mla Mourning Dove I I II I 0 19 2 I 3 30 Northern Flicker 0 I 2 0 2 I I 2 3 3 Northern Hairier 0 0 3 0 0 7 0 0 0 10 Northern Mockingbird 0 0 I 0 0 0 0 0 0 I Northern Oriole 0 I 0 0 I I I I 2 I Northern Pintail 0 0 I 0 0 I 0 0 0 2 Orchard Oriole 0 I 0 0 I I I I 2 I Pied-billed Grebe 0 0 0 0 0 I 0 0 0 I Ring-billed Gull 0 0 I 0 0 3 0 0 0 4 Red-tailed Hawk 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 s Red-winged Blackbird 44 Sl 59 21 62 61 "95 83 178 120 Savannah Sparrow 101 187 5 99 174 4 288 273 561 9 Sedge Wren 73 94 3 65 93 6 167 ISS 325 9 Solll 0 0 I 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 Song Sparrow 7 10 4 10 14 7 17 24 41 II Swamp Sparrow 2 10 23 3 10 24 12 13 25 47 Tree Swallow 0 0 7 0 0 3 0 0 0 10 Upland Sandpiper 0 0 13 0 0 13 . 0 0 0 26 Vesper Sparrow 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 0 5 WaJbling Vireo 0 0 l 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 Western Meado>l.1arlc 0 21 46 I 19 5S 21 20 41 101 Willow Aycatcher 2 0 4 I 0 4 2 I 3 8 Wood Duck 0 I 7 0 I 6 I I 2 13 Wood Thrush 0 0 I 0 0 I 0 0 0 2 Yellow-headed Blackbird 0 0 16 0 0 15 0 0 0 31 Yellow WaJbler 5 18 6 3 18 7 23 21 4-1 13 363 6iS 479 309 681 504 1038 990 2028 983 61 2. Endangered and/or Threatened Species The greater prairie chicken is listed as a species of special concern in the state. Since the implementation ofCRP in the 1985 Farm Bill, prairie chicken numbers have increased in parts of the District, but still remain low in number. Chickens are known to nest on Agassiz Beachline, Hanneman, and Meadows WP A in the District. Each year, in cooperation with the Minnesota DNR and the Minnesota Prairie Chicken Society, the Service assists with the spring prairie chicken booming ground counts. All male birds in the District are counted by Service personnel, however, lek sites in Wilkin County lying north of Highway 26 are censused by the DNR. An especially rewarding place to see and hear prairie chickens is the ·Gronseth Prairie owned by TNC. This tract contains nearly two square miles of native grasslands with three separate active lek sites. Fallowing are the results of the 1994 booming ground counts which reflect a surprising 28 percent increase in chicken numbers. This increase follows a long winter of deep snow and extremely harsh conditions. These native birds are true survivors. Location Date No. Males T. 134 N., R. 45 W., sec. 4, SWY. 4/12/94 14 T. 134 N., R. 45 W., sec. 8, NEY. 4/12/94 38 (flush count) T. 134 N., R. 45 W., sec. 16, NEY. 4/12/94 28 T. 134 N., R. 45 W., sec. 15, NWY. 4112/94 4 T. 134 N., R. 46 W., sec. 5, NW1!. 4/12/94 4 T. 133 N., R. 45 W., sec. 12, SWY. 4113/94 3 male; 4 female T. 133 N., R. 44 W., sec. 19, NWY. 4113/94 5 male; 4 female T. 134 N., R. 46 W., sec. 2, SE 1!. 4117/94 20 (flush count) Average Males/Ground= 11.0 The greater Sandhill crane is also a species of special concern in the state. In the past several years, there have been increased sightings ofthese birds in the District during the breeding season. Cranes have been observed on our Baumann WP A in East Otter Tail County, and other reports of cranes in the eastern portion of the District are increasing in recent years. Bald eagle sightings have become quite common as this majestic raptor expands its range southward in Minnesota. For the fourth consecutive year eagles have successfully nested on our Nicholson WP A on a wooded island along the Pomme de Terre River. The nest is located about 35 feet up in the canopy of a 12-inch green ash tree. Other known eagle nests are found at the following locations. e e e e 62 - llahl Eaglr N••st Ln.-at ions and Nrst: Succrss <;OIJNTY 'I'WP KANm; st;c I'Ailet;L NAMt; TOWNSIIIP YF.Ail 1994 199J 1991 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 19U NMII; I"OIJNil l)oujt)ao T. 127 N., R. 39 08 NESW l.al:e01JCIU Holm .. City 1994 A DouJdu• T. DON .. R. 40 09 SENE Lal.:e Chrittina Lund 1988 . 0 10 I AI A2 Doup ..hlf T. DON .. R. 40 09 SENE Late Chri•tina Lund 1990 A? A?O A? I oc Grant T. DON., R. 41 27 NESE, Pclicun Lal.:e Pelican Lale 199) A? A2 SESE 011'-'rT~ail T.l37 N.• II. 40 0~ NWSE Lale Five Hobart 1979 0 A2T A2 A2 AJ OtterTail T. 137 N., R. 40 0~ SE t.al.:e Five llobart 1988 0 A7 . AI A2 AJ A2 Ottt•r'f'ail T. 136 N .. R. J8 2) SE Hig Pine Lale Pine LaL:e 198~ A'l AI A7 AJ A2 NF AI AO AI AJ OtterTail T. 131 N.. R. J6 I~ SWNE W. Annalaidc Eastrm 1988 A? - A2 A? AO A2 OllerT11il T. 1)7 N., R. 41 02 NWNW Cool• LaL;e Candor 1986 A? A? A? AI AI A2 A2 AI A2 OllrrTail T. J.16N., R. 40 20 SESE Big Md)onald l.ah Edn11 IONS oc Ol!t•rTail T. ~~~ N., R. 40 IR SWSE D ..·utll.al.:e Dead l.uh 1991 I ANF A? AI Ollt'rT111il T. I)~ N.. R. 40 29 NWNW lkad LaLe lkaul Lale 1994 A? 011tr'l'uil 'I'. IBN., R. 42 12 NENW Fi111h l.al;e Aurdal 1989 A? I I I OtterTail T. IJJ N .• R. 42 0) SESE fiJh Lake Aurdal 1989 I I A7 ANC OtterTail T. 131 N., R. 42 09 SESW Mineral Lake Tumuli 1991 A? I A? A? OtterT11il T. IJJ N., R. 39 18 NW Glendalou~ Slate ParL: Girard 0 0 OtterTail T. I)J N. R. 39 17 NW Glendalou~ State Park Girard 0 NFG Otter1'11il 'J'. IJJ N.• R. 39 18 NESW Glt'ndalol!~ State Park Coinud 1991 A? AI I OUt•rTIIil T. J.lt;N .. R. 4) 14 NWNW Prairie I.11Le Pdi-.:un 1994 A? Ollt'rT11il T. 1.16 N., R. 44 I) SWSJ: l.u.L:eOhlf Nor. Grove 199) I I OttcrT•il T. 137 N., R. 41 29 SWNE Hook Lal;e Candtu 1994 A? OtterTail T.IJS N.. R. 39 28 ON Head l..akc (Eu1 Netl) Rush Lake 1994 I OtterTail T. 13~ N., R. 39 28 ON Head Lal;e (Welt Neot) Ruoh (,al;e 1994 A? Ot1crTail T. 13~ N .• R. 39 )) ON l.on~ Lal;e (Welt Nett) Ru.h Lake 1994 A? OtterTail T. IJSN., R. 39 JJ ON Lon• Lake (E•" Ne") Ru•h Lake 1994 I Ot1er 1'oil T. 137 N.• R. 42 JS SWSW Lake Franl:lin Dunn 1994 A2 Todd T. DON., R. 32 24 SWSW Howard Lake Little Ell: T,>dd 'J'. 130 N., R. 32 24 SWSW Howard Lake l.ittle Elk Todd 'J'. 129 N. R. 32 04 SI:NW ftoward LaL:e Bmce Todd T. 128N. R. 34 28 Little Sauk Lake Todd T. 128 N. R. JS 0) SENW Lake Otal:is Gordon I Todd T.l27 N .• R. 33 23 SWNE Little Birch Lake Birchdale I AO, I, 2, 3 = Nest active, adult incubating. # of young fledged OC = I or more adults present but no incubating or repaired nest G =Nest gone AX = Nest active, adult incubating. unknown # of young fledged OS = Osprey in nest R = Nest remnant A? ~ Nest active, adult incubating. no data on young OW =Owl in nest T = Nest tree gone I c Nest active NF c Nest not found NC c Nest not checked I lA c llawk in nest 63 The Federally endangered peregrine falcon migrates through the District with most sightings occurring in the spring. There were no documented sightings of this falcon by station personnel in 1994. The western prairie fringed orchid, Platanthera praeclara, was recently given the status of Federally threatened. Plants of this species have been collected immediately north of this District in the past and the plant is suspected to be here, but no plants have been found within our District. Reported sightings of timber wolves, both confirmed and unconfirmed, have been on the increase in recent years. With a near saturation population level of wolves in the northern timbered sections of the state, younger wolves are being forced into new areas. Areas of eastern Otter Tail and Douglas County have had small packs of resident wolves in the past and we suspect some timber wolves still inhabit (at least occasionally) this portion of the District. 3. Waterfowl Snow cover during the winter of 1993-94 was once again one of the heaviest in recent years. Since most wetlands were in excellent condition going into winter, the added meltwater from this snowpack made for exceptional wetland habitat during the spring migration through the entire breeding season. Waterfowl (Canada geese) were first observed migrating through the District on March 21 this year. One day later, first arrival mallards, pintails, scaup, ringneck, gadwall, goldeneye and merganser had arrived. By March 31, all species ofwaterfowl had been observed. By April 12, most Type IV wetlands and some Type V wetlands were free of ice while most larger open bodies of water were still locked in ice. Spring waterfowl numbers peaked between April 17-24. Respectable numbers of migrants usually remain until the last week of April and into the first week ofMay. By May 10, however, our spring migration had basically ended. The autumn migration of birds out of the District is evidenced by the departure ofblue-winged teal and wood ducks during the first two weeks of September. This year, however, mild conditions during September resulted in good numbers of these early migrants still present for the waterfowl hunting opener on October 1. There was a good movement of Canada geese through the District on September 23-25. Many of the wood ducks that stayed with the lingering mild weather left the District on October 7-8. This was an unusual migration year, with only a few periods when birds were moving through, based on changing numbers and composition. There was, however, a good migration of divers through the area the last weekend of October. Lake Christina, a 4,000-acre lake in Douglas County, continues to show the positive benefits of its "rebirth" in the late 1980's. A peak was obtained on October io when the following very impressive numbers ofwaterfowl were recorded: 105,000 canvasbacks; 37,000 redheads; 52,000 ring-necks; 390,000 coot; 5,500 mallards; 4,000 wigeon and 2,500 gadwall. Tundra swans were noted on November 6 and continued to filter through the District as late as November 14 when there was a steady procession of Canada goose flocks throughout the day. Mallards persisted in fair numbers until the third week in November. Freeze-up of most lakes and large marshes came on November 23. 64 Breeding Pair Counts Breeding pair counts were once again done in cooperation with the Habitat and Population Evaluation Team (HAPET) in Fergus Falls. Nearly 200 randomly-selected wetlands on private land, easement property, and WP As were censused twice during May and early June by District personnel. An additional 94 ponds in the wooded sections of the District were censused by the HAPET team, but data from these ponds was not included in the following table. Statistical regressions were run on the data collected to determine estimated breeding pairs for the District. Most wetlands were in good to excellent condition throughout the breeding pair census period. The following table shows our estimated breeding pairs based on the survey. Estimated Breeding Pairs- 1994 Pairs/Sq. Pairs/Sq. Pairs/Sq. Pairs/Sq. Pairs/Sq. Pairs/Sq. 1\-li.WPA l\li. 1\-li.PI"ivate il.ti. Total Mi.WPA l\li.WPA Percent Species 1994 Easement Land Land Area 1993 1992 Otan2e Mallard 14.8 8.9 4.2 4.6 16.8 20.3 -19% Gadwall 0.97 0.56 0.28 0.31 0.97 2.08 +72% Wigeon 0.11 0.07 0.03 0.03 0.0 0.0 . Green-winged teal 0.87 0.54 0.25 0.27 1.3 0.67 -40% Blue-winged teal 16.2 10.0 4.6 5.0 13.9 26.37 + 6% Shoveler 0.64 0.38 0.18 0.20 0.64 0.95 - 1% Pintail 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.11 0.11 Wood duck 16.7 10.2 04.7 05.2 12.7 23.8 +21% Redhead 4.0 2.3 1.2 1.3 3.2 5.24 + 16% Canvasback 0.73 0.42 0.21 0.23 0.31 0.30 +110% Lesser Scaup 0.10 0.06 0.03 0.03 0.90 0.0 -91% Rimmeck 2.7 1.5 0.78 0.85 0.61 1.5 +286% Ruddv duck 2.2 1.3 0.63 0.69 3.07 3.05 -35% Totals 60.0 36.2 17.1 18.8 54.06 84.37 +2% It should be noted that the large percent changes for ringneck and lesser scaup may simply reflect annual changes in migration patterns. Relatively few of these birds are produced in our District except the eastern portions of the District where production is low at best. Canvasback numbers remain low in number so their noted increase was an encouragement. Our total estimated waterfowl production (excluding coot) for both fee and easement lands was 10,563. 65 Nest Searching During the 1994 field season, the District staff conducted nest searches within ten electric predator fences on ten separate WP As. All fields were searched three times during the nesting season with the following results: Duck Species E~posure Nest Success Nests Per Number of WPAName Acres (fotal Nests) Davs Nest Fate (MavOeld) Acre Recruits Bakke OT-99 21 28 Mallard 515 20 Hatched 38% 1.71 76 (1979 Nebraska origin 6BWTc31 14 Destroyed wann season natives) 2 GadwaU 2 Abandoned Busko OT-52 48 7 MaUard 150 6 Hatched 39"-i> 0.14 24 ( 1982 S. Dakota origin 5 BWTcal 4 Destroyed switchgrass, Ncb. origin 2 Abandoned Indian-grass and linlc blucstcm, 1 lb./ac. loc31 prairie mi~) Gennundson G-22 39 3 Ma113rd 167 10 Hatched 100% 0.26 41 ( 1980 Nebraska origin 5 BW Te31 wann season 11.1tives - 20 2 Gadw3U acres )(Brome, some quack & alfalfa - 19 acres) KnoUwood OT-101 29 4 Mall3rd 232 13 Hatched 100% 0.51 54 (1981 Nebraska origin II BWTe31 I Destroyed warm season natives) I Abandoned Kube OT-51 24 45l'vi3Uard 1,002 45 Hatched 51 o/o 2.70 172 ( 1981 Nebraska origin 5 Gadw3U 12 Destroyed wann season natives) 12 BW Teal 4 Abandoned 2 Shoveler I Pintail Ma\is OT-98 16 1 Shoveler 20 I Hatched 100% .06 4 ( 198 5 LocaUy harvested native grass and forbs) !l.fickelson OT-25 18 12 MaUard 211 II Hatched 43% .94 42 (1981 Nebraska origin 5 BW Teal 5 Destroyed warm season natives) I Abandoned ~Iarrison OT-21 44 2 !\bOard 121 3 Hatched 31% 0.20 13 (1983 Locally adapted 7 BW Teal 5 Destroyed natives and forbs) I Abandoned Preuss G-19 56 I MaUard 52 2 Hatched 26% 0.08 8 ( 1980 Nebraska origin 4 BWTeal 3 Destroyed natives) Rush Lake OT-56 46 291\.·laUard 1,706 91 Hatched 94% 2.02 376 ( 1978 Nebraska origin 8 Gadw3U 3 Destroyed wann season natives) 54 BW Teal 3 Abandoned 2 G\V Teal 3 ShO\'Cier I Pintail Toul All Fences 341 131 MaUard 4,176 202 Hatched 65% 0.74 807 109BWTeal 4 7 Destroyed 17Gadw3U 14 Abandoned 6 Shmoeler 2GWTcal 2 Pintail While we were generally pleased with the production within our fences, we were somewhat disheartened with the slightly higher predation rates observed. Nothing less than complete eradication of all predators inside the fences is our goal. However, even with the services of our 66 expert professional trapper, Dick Wilken, we experienced moderate losses to predators inside these electric fences. Mink have by far caused the most problems, followed by raccoons. Whereas all fox, skunk, and most raccoons are easily taken inside the fences, both mink and raccoons readily swim around the ends of our waterwings and begin to take nests. If it were not for the tenacious ability of Mr. Wilken to take these offending animals, losses would be even higher. On the bright side, any time managers can achieve a Mayfield nest success of 65% for 263 nests, it is great. Here in Fergus Falls, this equated to 807 recruits on only 340 acres. Another good sign was the 30 percent increase in blue-winged teal that nested inside the fences. When these results are compared to nesting success outside fences (traditionally 10 percent or less), one can see that electric barrier fences are an effective management tool when coupled with intensive predator management inside the fences. The goal must be compl~te eradication of all mammalian predators inside the fences. Anything short of this will prove to be very disappointing to managers. The following table compares nest success without predator management versus predator exclosures with predator management. Predator Exclosure Fences vs. No Predator Management at Fer~us Falls WMD No Predator Management Predator Exclosure Fences Year Nests Acres Mayfield Year Nests Acres Mayfield Success Success 1979 21 46 12% 1980 105 454 11% 1981 104 363 6% 1982 34 170 4% 1983 32 238 6% 1984 48 257 22% 1985 44 125 9% 1986 46 125 25% ...... 1987 .).) 74 38% 1987 15 24 70% 1988 22 321 110/, 1988 56 101 7ROfn 67 Predator Exclosure Fences vs. No Predator Management at Fergus Falls WMD No Predator Management Predator Exclosure Fences Year Nests Acres Mayfield Year Nests Acres Mayfield Success Success 1989 34 397 15% 1989 157 186 83% 1990 201 2200 5% 1990 216 186 46% 1991* 77 1935 25% 1991 247 214 75% 1992** 106 ±900 13% 1992 316 341 79% 1993 269 341 67% 1994*** 47 769 15.6% 1994 263 341 65% *Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center's Data on Waterfowl Production on Minnesota lands in CRP. **Figures based on nest searching on Waterfowl Production Areas at Morris Wetland Management District. ***Figures based on Minnesota DNR data on Waterfowl Production on selected Minnesota lands enrolled in CRP in Grant County. Knowing that nesting success is considerably higher inside the predator barrier fences, nesting cover was removed from fields adjacent to some of the fences via haying contracts and burning. The intent is to direct the birds into the fences where higher nest success would serve to build local breeding populations of waterfowl. Hay was removed by special use permits with local farmers during early September. At this time of the year, the native grass hay is still of good quality, yet regrowth is minimal and less attractive to returning waterfowl. Burning was conducted in April as soon as fields were dry enough to safely bum. Giant Canada geese continue to thrive and have expanded throughout most of the District. Captive flocks were started in Fergus Falls, Alexandria and Ashby during the early 60's and 70's. Since that time, the birds have become free-fliers and have greatly expanded their breeding range. The birds are abundant throughout the District with the exception of parts of east Otter Tail County. In 1991, the Minnesota DNR conducted an aerial goose survey for Douglas, Grant and southern Otter Tail Counties and found there is so much overlap in the breeding ranges ofthe various "flocks" that all the available habitat is now occupied by a homogenous mix from all three original flocks. A portion of the Otter Tail River in Fergus Falls remains open year-round and allows the geese to winter here due to warm water discharge from Otter Tail Power Company. 68 An early December 1994 count showed over 28,000 birds in the Fergus Falls vicinity prior to the December 3-12 special goose hunt. A very mild fall and little snow cover allowed this unusually high number of birds to remain in the area. Predator Removal Spring and summer 1994 marked the seventh consecutive year that an intensive predator control effort was performed in the District. A professional trapper, Dick Wilken, was hired for the task. This year our entire trapping effort was aimed at ten WP As containing electric predator fences with the main trapping effort being inside the fences. Trapping activities began on March 28 and ended July 22. The ten WPAs, including the area inside the fences, totaled 2,328 acres (1 ,241 upland acres). Predator species targeted included red fox, raccoon, striped skunk, Franklin ground squirrels, badgers, and mink. Thirteen-lined ground squirrels are taken incidental to other trapping. All non-target species including cats, dogs, woodchucks, etc., were released unharmed. The method ofremoval included leghold traps, live traps, conibear traps (limited to 110 size outside the fences), snares (used only inside the fences) and incidental shooting. Each trap or snare was checked daily as per state regulations, and a trap card was completed for each trap including a log of all animals captured/released. Many animals were euthanized with a 3 cc injection ofT-61 euthanasia solution, but when this method was not possible, cervical dislocation or shooting was used. All dead animals were buried daily in a pit located on the Kube WP A and a biweekly list of animals taken was sent to the local Conservation Officer for his information. Total trap days for the ten WP As were: Leghold traps (1,853), live traps (5,528), conibear traps (1,682), and snares (1,399). The following table shows the ten WP As trapped and the animals taken from each area. e e e e 69 - Franklin lJ-Lined I Upland Red Ground Ground WI' A Name/No. Cnunty Total Acres Acres Foi Skunk Raccoon Squirrel !\link Squirrel Gnmeblrds Weasel i Bakke OT-99 OncrTail 29~.25 183.95 I 2 I 0 5 0 I pheasant Busko OT-52 Oncr Tail 296.H 15~.09 I 8 10 () 7 0 I Gcnnundson G-22 Gran I 181.69 89.4 0 0 I I 0 3 . Knoll wood OT-101 OllcrTail 193.71 126.4 0 3 I 3 2 I Kuhc OT-51 OncrTail 303.69 136.5~ 0 6 3 5 3 2 I Ma\is OT-98 OnerTail 208.93 120.5 0 2 0 0 I 0 Mickelson OT-25 Oncr Tail 183.15 83.7 0 4 I 2 I 0 0 ~·tonison OT-21 Oller Tail 171.69 98.4 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 Preuss G-19 Grant 160.00 109.2 0 0 I 0 0 0 Hush Lake OT-56 Oller Tail 333.76 138.56 0 10 10 I 2 7 I pheasant Totals 2,327.61 1,240.74 2 35 31 12 21 13 2 pheasant 1 70 Scent Post Survey As part of an agreement with the DNR, the District again assisted with the predator scent post survey. The purpose of the survey is to monitor and document predator population trends in Minnesota. This information can also be used to evaluate predator removal efforts. This year three routes, each containing five, 2. 7 -mile segments, were run during late September and early October. In addition, personl)el from the HAPET division stationed at Fergus Falls also completed three routes in the forest/agriculture transition zone. Results of the survey indicated that raccoon numbers tied an all time high in western Minnesota. Other species that showed increases were red foxes, skunks, and domestic cats. The red fox increases are noteworthy because of the wide-spread mange infections during the winter of 1993-94 that caused considerable mortality. According to a local fur buyer, it appears that the mange outbreak has carried on into 1995. He said "it is the worst he has ever seen." Mallard Nest Basket Survey Due to a shortage in labor and added duties of a higher priority, we were unable to monitor use of our mallard nesting structures in 1994. Ever since the baskets were first put out in 1986, use by mallards has been very low considering the amount of effort that was being put forth to maintain them. As a result, the decision was made two years ago to systematically remove the baskets from Service property starting in Douglas County. To date, all baskets in Douglas County have been removed and distributed to interested landowners as a wildlife extension effort. Other baskets have been removed and given to the Minnesota DNR. We feel that by placing the baskets on private lands or DNR lands, they will be better maintained and will hopefully receive higher use than ifthey were left on Service property where less than 7% ofthe nest structures were being used. As an alternative to these baskets, many sportsmen's groups, state, and government agencies have been constructing mallard "hen houses." Unlike the bowl-shaped nest baskets, "hen houses' are hollow cylinders wrapped with wire mesh and filled with natural grass nesting materiaL In addition to the "hen houses," some of these organizations have been constructing and placing floating mallard nesting structures in area marshes. Mallards have readily used both of these types of structures and nesting success has been very high. We are optimistic that if these "hen houses" and floaters are properly maintained, local populations of mallards will respond and increase in number. 4. Marsh and Water Birds There are at least 10 marsh and water birds common to this District. These include great blue herons, green-backed herons, great egrets, coots, sora and Virginia rails, black-crowned night herons, American bitterns and double-crested cormorants. Pelican Island, which is a 15-acre island located in Pelican Lake near Ashby, Minnesota, serves as a rookery for hundreds of herons, egrets and cormorants. The island is owned by TNC. Other smaller colonies of about 50 nests or less consisting mainly of great blue herons and great egrets are located in other parts of Otter Tail and Douglas Counties. 71 In addition, numerous small colonies of double-crested cormorants are becoming established in many areas of the District. One colony located on two separate small islands in Lye Lake located 3-1/2 miles south ofFergus Falls has grown to over 500 nesting pairs. Cormorants have increased in numbers to the point where they are now being cursed by fishermen, resort owners, and especially bait dealers. Flocks of non-breeding white pelicans have also become very common sites in parts of the District. To date, however, we have no nesting colonies of these large white birds. 5. Shorebirds. Gulls. Terns and Allied Species The spring migration and early summer period is an excellent time to observe shorebirds throughout the District. One place in particular, a sewage lagoon near Breckenridge, Minnesota, draws a wide variety of shorebirds and is an excellent birding spot. Another good location for shorebirds is the gravelly shoreline of Orwell Reservoir located five miles southwest ofFergus Falls. For example, on May 15, 1994, the Breckenridge lagoon and Orwell Wildlife Management Area held the following birds. These birds were noted by local shorebird experts Gary and Marion Otnes. SPECIES ORWELL WILDLIFE BRECKENRIDGE SEWAGE MANAGEMENT AREA LAGOON Golden Plover 80 -- Semipalmated Plover 7 7 Killdeer 50 25 American Avocet -- 3 Greater Y ellowlegs 44 12 Lesser Y ellowlegs 161 29 Solitary Sandpiper 2 -- Willet 1 2 Spotted Sandpiper 17 11 Upland Sandpiper -- 1 Marbled Godwit 14 15 Ruddy Turnstone 66 15 Semipalmated Sandpiper 23 19 Least Sandpiper 4 28 Pectoral Sandpiper 16 7 Buff-breasted Sandpiper 1 -- 72 SPECIES ORWELL WILDLIFE BRECKENRIDGE SEWAGE MANAGEMENT AREA LAGOON Short-billed Dowitcher 17 -- Common Snipe 2 -- Wilson's Phalarope 8 8 Red-Necked Phalarope 2 -- Higher than normal water conditions during the summer of 1994 created excellent shorebird habitat and an abundance of opportunities to view shorebirds. There are no nesting colonies of ring-billed or Franklin's gulls in this District, but huge flocks of these birds migrate through the area in late August. The birds linger for several weeks when clouds of birds often engulf and trail behind farm implements conducting field work. 6. Raptors The red-tailed hawk, American kestrel, northern harrier, and great horned owl lead the list ofthe sixteen most common raptors in the District. The first raptor known to arrive was an American kestrel on January 22, followed by a red-tailed hawk on March 11. On March 23 there w4s an excellent raptor migration through west central Minnesota including Cooper's hawks, red-tails, American kestrels, and northern harriers. The annual fall migration of hawks through the area normally runs from mid-September through the first week in October. At these times, hawks in casts of up to 50 birds (mostly broadwings and/or red-tails) can be seen at one time. 7. Other Migratory Species The District bird list which was updated in 1991 contains 267 species of regularly occurring species plus an additional nine incidental species. The arrival ofthe first red-winged blackbirds, robins, and eastern bluebirds is always a welcome sign of spring to those of us who live in northern climates. This year the first robins and red wings showed up on March 16 and March 17 respectively. The first hardy bluebirds arrived March 11. The following potpourri ofbird observations were made by Biological Technician Chuck Vukonich and local birder Gary Otnes: February 15- We are witness to massive movements of horned larks throughout Wilkin and Otter Tail Counties. This migration continued to grow and peaked on February 25. March 20- Saw a pair of mountain bluebirds two miles south ofFergus Falls. Also, there is an excellent migration of Lapland longspurs that continues for several days. Flocks of 100-600 birds were common. 73 May 4 - Brown thrashers and bobolinks show up today. One day later, we are inundated with hundreds and hundreds of yellow-rumped warblers plus some orange-crowned, palm, and black and white warblers. May 14- The spring migration is certainly in full swing. These species arrived overnight: red eyed vireo, yellow-throated vireo, warbling vireo, redstarts and great crested flycatcher. Also good numbers of Tennessee, blackpoll, yellow-rumped, Nashville, black-and-white and yellow warblers are on the move. August 23 - The late summer/early fall migration has begun as witnessed by the first appearance of American redstarts and Wilson's warblers. August 25- The first fall migration of night hawks begin. Two days later, Magnolia, Tennessee and Nashville warblers show up. September 3 0 - Very impressive movement of eastern bluebirds, robins, and northern flickers. The first dark-eyed juncos of the fall arrive. October 17 - Tremendous numbers of juncos, white-tailed sparrows and more robins arrive. 8. Game Mammals White-tailed deer continue to thrive throughout all areas of the wetland district. Even though we received heavy snowfall during the winter of 1993-94, the deer herd came through the winter in good condition. Since the local deer population is so healthy, generous numbers of antlerless deer permits were available for the November deer firearm seasons. 10. Other Resident Wildlife Leopard frog numbers continue to do fairly well with the return of normal precipitation patterns. American toad populations likewise appear to be healthy and doing well. There was what appeared to be high numbers of monarch butterflies while painted lady butterflies (Vanessa carduri) were nonexistent in 1994. There were no serious problems with insect pests in 1994. 11. Fisheries Resources The Minnesota Dl\TR. Fisheries crews did not use any ponds on WP As for walleye rearing in 1994. 15. Animal Control Depredations by deer and other mammals are insignificant. Canada geese, however, have caused some problems. Several local communities (Fergus Falls, Ashby, and Alexandria) established Canada goose flocks in the 1960's and 1970's and the flocks have expanded to the point where some depredation occurs. Except for extreme East Otter Tail County and Wilkin County, where geese are less common, Canada geese have expanded into one homogeneous breeding population throughout the District. Most damage occurs when two or more goose broods invade agricultural fields and graze the young plants. Crops most affected include small grains; com and 74 soybeans. The problems are not widespread and most landowners control the birds themselves with propane scare guns, scarecrows, plastic flagging, reflective tape and other "homemade" techniques. Damage is generally minimal and no dollar estimates are available. To control the growing local flocks of Canada geese, a sixth special early goose hunt was held in 1994. This will be discussed in Section H . PUBLIC USE 8. Hunting. An early December aerial goose count showed over 28,000 Canada geese in the Fergus Falls area. Some reports of minor flood damage from the public by beaver persisted through 1994 with high populations of these animals and moderate precipitation. Beaver do become a real headache when they plug water control structures and culverts. Backhoes were called in to remedy several of these problems on WPAs in 1994. District staff install a Clem on leveler, used to keep beaver from plugging culverts. So far it has proven to be effective. (CRV 8/94) 75 17. Disease Prevention and Control There were no disease outbreaks of any kind to report in 1994. H. PUBLIC USE 1. General All personnel participate in carrying out the monthly Interpretation and Recreation program in the District. This includes various talks, tours and personal appearances at schools, sportsmen's clubs, scouting groups and other civic organizations. Periodically, news releases are submitted to local newspapers on items of current interest. In addition, the office maintains a library of 48 films, 86 video tapes, and 2 slide shows. These are loaned to local schools, civic organizations, scout groups, and sportsmen's clubs upon request. To commemorate National Wildlife Week, nearly 300 Wildlife Week teacher packets were sent out to all elementary, junior and senior high schools throughout the District. On April 11, 1994, Wetland Manager Brennan visited with Brian Hansel, a local writer, providing information for an article on predator management. One of the most often requested programs is our "Touch and See" exhibit. This is a collection of fur, feathers, bones, shells, etc., that young people can experience "hands on" and learn about wildlife and nature. The display generates many questions and is enthusiastically received. Staff members maintain personal contact with Congressional staffs, County Commissioners, town board members, watershed districts and State Representatives to keep them informed on the wetlands program. Contact is also kept with the NRCS, Consolidated Farm Services Agency and the Department of Natural Resources to give assistance whenever requested. 2. Outdoor Classrooms - Students Presently we are developing a formal environmental education program for the North American Prairie Wetlands Learning Center (Center) located on the Townsend WPA adjacent to the City of Fergus Falls. The EE program will be tailored for students in grades 4 through 8 and will provide education opportunities fostering good land stewardship through protection, enhancement and restoration of the prairie pothole ecosystem. 76 This young man is getting ready to transplant a prairie plant seedling at tbe Center. (IWB 5/94) In addition, the environmental education program will develop a knowledge and awareness of the ecological community and help students make sound decisions with respect for their environment. Another concept will explain the value of prairie wetlands, both morally and quantitatively, and explain that prairie wetlands are part of a larger ecosystem. Finally, students will be encouraged to take positive actions toward their environment in order to seek a balance between the quality of life and the quality of the environment. The entire curriculum being developed will be easily adopted to any science or liberal arts curriculum that is now being taught in the local school districts. 77 A group of local youngsters enjoy a day at the Center. (fWB 5/94) The Fergus Falls ecology class was provided a program and tour on the Small Wetlands Acquisition Program, farm programs and general wildlife management activities. The Fergus Falls natural resource class assisted with nest dragging and toured Stony Brook WP A to view upland and water management activities. Brainerd Technical College natural resource class was given a tour and program on wetland classification at the Center. 3. Outdoor Classrooms - Teachers In May, interested teachers attended a staff development day at the Fergus Falls School District to brainstorm how the Center could be utilized. In August, Environmental Concern Inc., held a Wonder ofWetlands (WOW) curriculum workshop for teachers at the Center. The WOW curriculum is excellent forK-12th grade students. It explores the three components (soil, water and plants/animals) that make up wetland ecosystems. In September, all Fergus Falls Middle School teachers attended an introduction and tour of the Center as part of their staff development. . 78 4. Interpretive Foot Trails Approximately, 1.1 miles of handicap accessible walking trails have been constructed at the Center. Joel Harris, a local Boy Scout, constructed a 90-seat outdoor amphitheater at the Center. Joel raised all the funds needed for construction costs and his scout troop contributed all the labor. In summary, many students and teachers have already visited the Center in 1994. The seed has been planted and is expected to grow and attract thousands of visitors in the years ahead. Following is a list of activities and number of students and teachers that used the Center in 1994. ACTIVITY NO. STUDENTS NO. TEACHERS Staff Conducted Talks 2,115 105 Staff Conducted Tours 1,550 75 Walked Foot Trails 1,575 75 Teacher Workshops 238 8. Hunting All hunting on WP As in the District is held in compliance with regulations and seasons set by the State of Minnesota. Waterfowl Hunting pressure on WP As normally is high on the first two weekends, but tapers off considerably by the end of the season. This year waterfowl hunters enjoyed a 40-day (not split) waterfowl season that ran from October 1 -November 9. This is unlike past recent years when hunters were restricted to a 30-day split season. Hunter expectations prior to the season were high as a result of reports pointing toward much improved waterfowl populations. Due to an unusual migration. pattern of ducks and geese, however, these expectations were not met. Mild temperatures in September and October allowed blue-winged teal and wood ducks to remain in the state well into the waterfowl season. Even the small shallow ponds remained open throughout the duck season. While these conditions did allow hunters to bag a few more of these early migrants, the mild weather and lack of northerly winds did not excite the birds to the north and west to migrate into the state. The bottom line was that waterfowl hunting in the District was disappointing to most hunters. While certain lakes and wetlands provided some good hunting in Douglas and northern Otter Tail Counties, most hunters experienced only poor to fair hunting success for most of the 1994 season. For the sixth consecutive year, a special early Canada goose hunting season was held in the District. The intent of the early hunt is to control an expanding giant Canada goose population in Douglas, Grant and Otter Tail Counties. The season opened September 3 and ran through 79 Douglas, Grant and Otter Tail Counties. The season opened September 3 and ran through September 12 with a bag limit of two birds. Hunters were required to be at least 100 yards from surface water. The objectives of stabilizing the size of the flock are being met and the hunt provides great hunting opportunities to anxious hunters. The sixth experimental season is part of a multi-year plan to manage the thriving population. A second special goose hunt was held December 3-12 with a bag limit again oftwo birds. Those hunters that braved -25 o below zero wind chills the first two days enjoyed excellent success as the birds decoyed very readily. Hunter success dropped off markedly as the season progressed and the birds became more cautious. Kill estimates are not yet available for either of the special goose seasons. Pheasants The District is located in the extreme northern edge ofthe prime Midwestern pheasant range and their numbers seem to directly correspond to the severity of our winters. A long cold winter and a deep snow cover over the entire region took its toll on our birds. As a result, our low pheasant population slipped even lower and hunting success was poor or very poor. This year's 65-day season ran from October 15 - December 18. Ruffed Grouse Ruffed grouse are currently at the low ebb of their ten-year cycle and remain very low in number throughout the entire District. Even during the peak years, grouse numbers are relatively low except in East Otter Tail and Douglas Counties where large blocks ofwoodlands are present. Here we find a mix of aspen, oak, maple, basswood, ironwood, and willow brush, with some spruce and white pine mixed in. In these areas, grouse are more abundant. Except for WP As in East Otter Tail County, and several WP As elsewhere, few people hunt WP As exclusively for ruffed grouse. No doubt some birds are taken incidental to other forms of hunting, but the total number ofbirds taken in insignificant. White-tailed deer are abundant everywhere throughout the District. The firearms deer season opened November 5, for a two-day bucks only and antlerless deer with permit only season. A second four-day season under the same format was held on November 12-15. Heavier hunting pressure the first season tends to "move" the deer more and success is generally much better than the second season. Waterfowl Production Areas receive moderate to heavy deer hunting pressure and provide good hunting opportunities. Preliminary hunting success figures from the Minnesota DNR show that the total deer kill for our four counties was down about 9 percent from the record deer harvest of 1993. Generous numbers of antlerless permits and a strong deer population account for the high kill figures in recent years. For the first time in modern history Minnesota held a special muzzleloader season statewide whereas in past years hunters were restricted to designated areas throughout the state. Hunting dates were November 26 - December 11. Hunting pressure remained quite low but is expected to 80 increase with the growing popularity of this sport. It's estimated that fewer than 75 deer were taken by muzzleloader on WPAs in 1994. Archers enjoyed a 78-day season that ran from September 17 - December 4 and we estimate that no more than 150 deer were taken by archers from WP As. With the liberal length of time to bow hunt for deer, this sport, like muzzleloader hunting, is gaining popularity. Bowhunters use most WP As, but the ones with heavy woods receive the most pressure. Small Game Hunting The small game season extends from September 1 -February 28. While some hunters hunt specifically for rabbit, squirrel, rails or woodcock, the numbers are not significant. A high proportion of small game is taken incidental to pheasant, deer or waterfowl hunting. Predator calling and hunting for fox and coyote have become popular in recent years and many WP As are used for this type of recreation. 9. Fishing Fishing in the District on WP As is insignificant. Most units do not contain deep enough water to support game fish through the winter. Redhead Slough receives some fishing use for northern pike. Spring carp fishing with bow and arrow is growing in popularity and many carp are taken from WP As infested with these pests. 10. Trapping All trapping seasons, like hunting seasons, comply with Minnesota State regulations. Waterfowl Production Areas receive moderate to heavy trapping pressure depending on the current price of wild fur. Since fur prices are very depressed, the number of trappers remained quite low in 1994. With the price of gas at $1.19 per gallon and continued low fur prices, the traditional "longline" trappers are becoming a thing of the past. The seasoned trappers who did pursue their sport enjoyed little competition for trap sites. With our unusually mild fall weather, mink and muskrat trapping was relatively easy since most intermittent streams and marshes remained free of ice well into November. Beaver, mink and red fox were the most sought after furbearers for most trappers. The following are top prices paid by a local Fergus Falls fur buyer for prime fur taken during the falVwinter 1994-95. Furbearer Top Prices Paid Beaver $28 (large, spring) Coyote $20 (stretched & dried) Female mink $20 (carcass) Male mink $22 (carcass) Muskrat $ 1 (carcass) Muskrat $ 1. 70 (dried) Raccoon $12 (carcass) Raccoon $14 (stretched & dried) Red fox $15 (carcass) Red fox $20 (stretched & dried) 81 11. Wildlife Observation Several WP As in the District are used by local ornithology classes on their bird identification field trips. Certainly other WP As are used for viewing wildlife by the public but the majority of this is done from a car. District personnel also lead groups of interested individuals into Wilkin county to observe greater prairie chickens on their booming grounds. Casual wildlife observation is difficult to measure but probably totals about 7,500 activity hours per year. There are no designated auto tour routes in the District at the present time. 13. Camping Overnight camping is not allowed on WP As. 14. Picnicking Picnicking is allowed but no formal picnic areas or facilities exist on our WP As. 15. Off-Road Vehicling Use of all motor vehicles including snowmobiles, all terrain vehicles, and motorized watercraft are prohibited on WP As. 17. Law Enforcement The following is a summary of law enforcement incidents in 1994: I Subject I Violation I Action I Rocky E. Norgren Take Animals Without NOV $300 fine Authorization (Commercial Bait) Dennis S. Strom Take Animals Without NOV $200 fine Authorization (Commercial Bait) Dennis S. Strom Take Bait With Improperly Given to State Marked Traps Juan Martinez Hunt Waterfowl Without NOV $50 fine Federal Duck Stam_Q Juan Martinez Non-resident Hunting With a Given to State Resident License Unknown Hunt Geese Too Close to Verbal Warning Water During Special Hunt 82 I Subject I Violation I Action I Unknown No License or Stamps in Verbal Warning Possession* Unknown Invalid State and Federal Verbal warning Duck Stamps David J. McFarlane Exceed Daily Bag Limit NOV$250 Unknown Invalid State and Federal Verbal Warning Duck Stamps Michael H. Pudvan Possession of Lead Shot NOV $150** Brian J. Suhon Possession ofLead Shot NOV $150 Terry L. Maddaus Possession ofLead Shot NOV $150 Unknown Invalid State and Federal Verbal Warning Duck Stamps Unknown Hunt in Closed Area Verbal Warning Unknown Invalid State and-Federal Verbal Warning Duck Stamps Helyn A Kulhanek Invalid Federal Duck Stamp NOV$150 Terry Amundson Invalid Federal Duck Stamp NOV $150 Juvenile No Firearms Certificate in Verbal Warning Possession* Unknown Hunt in Closed Area Verbal Warning Juvenile No Firearms Certificate Ordered to Take Firearms Safety Training Unknown Invalid State and Federal Verbal Warning Duck Stamps Jerome W. Stockrahm Possession ofLead Shot NOV $150 Jerome W. Stockrahm Take With Unplugged Gun NOV $125 David E. Weinrich Possession ofLead Shot NOV $150 David E. Weinrich Take With UnpluQQed Gun NOV $125 Juvenile Take With Unplugged Gun Verbal Warning Juvenile No License in Possession* Verbal WarninQ 83 I Subject I Violation I Action I Juvenile No Federal Duck Stamp in Verbal Warning Possession* Michael J. Sundal Motor Vehicle Trespass NOV$200 Michael J. Sundal Operate Unlicensed Given to State Snowmobile * Provided missing items later ** Failed to appear in court, arrest warrant issued All of these cases are closed. The District currently has two Refuge Officers. District staff spent over 120 hours patrolling during the fall hunting seasons, and about 75 hours in processing the paperwork for the violations encountered and appearing in court. About ten percent of hunters checked in 1994 were in violation of at least one regulation. I. EQUIPMENT AND FACTLTTTES 1. New Construction There was no new boundary fence constructed on WP As in 1994. There was, however, 3. 9 miles of interior and old boundary fence removed on the following units. Miles oflnterior/Boundary Fence Removed Odens (D-35) 1.80 miles Rolling Acres (D-4 7) 0.21 miles Island Lake (G-41) 1.00 miles Pelican Creek (G-48) 0.23 miles Carroll (OT-13) 0.23 miles Lightning Lake (OT-47) 0.21 miles Townsend (OT-80) 0.25 miles Parking Lots No new parking lots were constructed in 1994. The east parking lot on the Townsend WPA was removed since the WPA was closed to hunting. Townsend WPA adjoins the Fergus Falls city limits and serves as an environmental learning center with relatively high public use. 84 Posting The following new WP As were posted "open to hunting" in 1994. TRACT NAME (NO.) WPA NAME (NO.) MILES OF NEW DATE BOUNDARY POSTED Peranio, Albert (313) Odens WPA (D-35) 0.75 miles 8/4/94 Carroll, Larrv (516) Carroll WPA (OT-13) 1.00 miles 6/20/94 Johnson, Ritchie (RECD tract) Rolling Acres WP A (D-54) 3.50 miles 7113/94 Smedstad, Timothy (648) Townsend WP A (OT-80) 1.15 miles 7117/94 Torkelson, Robert (695) Securitv State Bank (693) TOTAL 6.40 miles Well Abandonment With the growing concern over ground water contamination in Minnesota, the state has adopted regulations that require the proper sealing of abandoned wells. In compliance with this ruling, one well was abandoned (sealed) to Minnesota State Code via contract with a local well drillers. The following well was abandoned in 1994. Tract Name (No.) WP A Name CNo.) Cost Borgos, Dennis ( 696) Stang Lake WP A (OT -26) $228.00 When the above well was abandoned, the happening was used as an on-site demonstration to local agriculture educators, landowners and other individuals who were interested in well abandonment. Wetland Restoration Wetland restoration efforts on WPAs was again very modest in 1994. The following wetlands were restored. WP A NAME (NO.) COUNTY RIP CARD NO. ACRES RESTORATION TYPE Benson WPA (D-44) Douglas *Rip 56, Rip 60 6.3 Ditch Plug Odens WPA (D-35) Douglas Rip 184, 172, 223 1.6 Tile Breaks Carroll WPA (OT-13) Otter Tail Rip 13 3.0 Ditch Plug Anderson WP A (OT-64) Otter Tail Rip4 46.2 Water Control Structure HaibvWPA (OT-20) Otter Tail Rip 79 1.2 Ditch Plug Total 8 Sites 58.3 * This was a repair of a ditch plug built in 1993. 85 This half-round water control structure, installed on the Anderson WPA, will greatly enhance the quality and management capahilites of the 46-acre wetland in the background. (CRV 7/94) Building Site Cleanup Only one building site was cleaned up in 1994. This was the Peraino building site located on the Odens WP A that had burned earlier in the spring due to vandals. This created a safety hazard to the public; hence, we cleaned up and buried the site as quickly as the necessary permits could be obtained. Brad Botner Construction from Fergus Falls was hired to do the work at a cost of $2,465.00. Equipment used was a front end loader, Bobcat skid loader and a dozer crawler. The Spink Waterfowl Production Area Partners for Wildlife Project This Partners for Wildlife Project involved restoration of a 35-acre drained wetland basin on Spink WP A with a metal sheet piling weir including a 65' spillway and a stoplog bay for water level manipulation. All easement acquisitions, engineering, permit applications etc. were completed two years ago. The project was put on the shelf for lack of funding. It finally came early in FY 94 but not in time to get bid solicitations on the street to award a contract so the project could be built before freeze up. The contract was awarded during the winter in time so construction could start in the spring of 1994. 86 In the foreground is the 35-acre drained basin on Spink WPA (G-13) before the weir was installed. Note the small wetlands which have been restored also. In the background is Jones Lake which was restored by Ducks Unlimited several yean ago. (SBJ 9/93) 87 In the foreground is the same 35-acre basin on Spink WPA about five weeks after the weir was constructed. Water levels were held at one to two feet deep to encourage growth of aquatic vegetation. We will do the same in 1995. (SBJ 4/94) The Grant County Sportsmen's Association paid for the engineering which was contracted with Widseth Smith & Nolting of Alexandria, Minnesota. The Association's timely contribution enabled preliminary engineering to be completed for project feasibility, design specifications, a realistic cost estimate, msl elevations for easements and calculation of hydrological data, all information which is necessary for permit applications. Minnesota DNR requires that projects of this size be designed to the one-hundred year flood event. Other partners who helped make this restoration a reality by providing funds, easements, assistance, technical expertise or permits included: private landowner Todd Rondhovde (He sold the Service a flowage easement for $500.00), the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP); Ducks Unlimited; the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS); the Grant County Commissioners; the Bois de Sioux Watershed District and the Minnesota DNR. A large sign is ready to be installed in a prominent location near the site to give all partners some well deserved recognition. Partners who contributed funds are detailed as follows: USFWS including NAWMP $19,490.00 Grant County Sportsmen's Association $ 2,000.00 Marsh Share (Ducks Unlimited) $22,000.00 Total construction cost of the project $43,490.00 88 Commerford Construction of Danvers, MN. began moving equipment to the site on March 1, 1994 to prepare the site for driving sheet metal piling. Many skeptics voiced their belief that it was nuts to start that early. However, with a deep snow cover at the site the ground was not frozen. It was a simple matter to move the snow to get at the necessary soil to build a temporary road across the channel to support the heavy equipment. Actual pile driving was started on the 2nd of March and the entire project was finished on March 16th. Commerford really hustled to get the project completed before the spring snow melt which was imminent. It was explained that because of the large watershed above the site (eighteen square miles!) they would not be able to hold the runoff back with any kind of coffer dam no matter how big they built it! As luck would have it the day the contractor completed the project and left the site, water was just beginning to flow through the stop log slot. Stop logs were installed the same day only to a level which would impound about 1.5 feet of water. Less than three days later water was flowing a foot deep over the entire 65 foot spillway. The Spink WPA Partners for WUdlife Project under construction. Even though it looks like winter, spring snow melt was underway as evidenced by the water. In less than a week all the snow was gone and water was flowing a foot deep over the entire spillway. (WES 3/94) Spring runoff estimates surpassed a fifty year event and several other smaller but significant rainfall events hit this watershed during the summer. This usually intermittent county ditch continued to flow at an abnormal rate for the entire field season. IfCommerford had worked any slower or had been delayed unavoidably due to equipment failure he would have been flooded out! 89 As it turned out, Commerford finished just in time and didn't have to battle the water. He was able to leave the site smooth and well-landscaped but we knew that chunks of ice and frozen soil had been buried here and there. We knew that as these chunks of ice and frozen soil melted, holes would develop which would need to be filled . We also suspected that a lot of excess soil had been mixed with snow inadvertently and deposited on the banks of the channel below the structure. Commerford came back to the site after things had settled and dried out to fill the holes and remove the excess soil from the banks of the channel. With Commerford's concurrence $1 ,000 had been withheld from his lump sum payment until he took care of those items. The above photo shows some of the 11 wetland restorations done on Rolling Acres WPA, formerly a RECD inventory property. As a Partners for Wildlife Project, the costs of restoration were borne by DU ($4,285.75 for all the equipment time), Evansville Sportsmen Club ($1,245.96 for the half round riser and pipe to restore the large wetland) and the Service ($UO.OO for two tile risers). Total expenditures came to $5,651.71. (SBJ 4/94) 6. Computer Systems Considerable progress was made this year with every staff member receiving their own computer. Excess 286 computers were received from the Regional Office and staff are using WordPerfect proficiently to compose their own letters/memos. All computers were upgraded to 6.2 DOS and three computers are operating WordPerfect 6.1 for Windows. One release of AutoCAD, Release 12, was installed, with the older Release 11 on another computer. One copy ofFilemak:er Pro was received from the Regional Office and installed. This new database standard for national applications and data transmission has been used for several applications: property management, real property, and other miscellaneous databases. 90 The District also purchased a Designjet 650C Color Inkjet Plotter to be used with AutoCAD plots and other applications. An 8 MB memory board was installed to accommodate larger files. A Kurta digitizing board with cordless mouse was purchased to accompany the new AutoCAD Release 12. The administrative staff received a LaserJet 4 printer, and the older LaserJet II printer has been put to use by other staff members. One Gateway Pentium computer with 8 MB RAM was purchased for database applications which have been developed and used by management staff This speedier, more powerful computer makes data management/retrieval faster and more efficient. This computer also houses the Release 12 AutoCAD software, the new Kurta digitizing board and has cable hook-up to the Designjet plotter. An agreement with the National Resources Conservation Service (formerly the Soil Conservation Service) allowed the Service to purchase considerable computer hardware/software to accomplish the project of scanning U.S. Dept. of Agriculture aerial slides. The slide coverage includes all counties of the District for the years 1981 through the current year and will be updated yearly. The slides are scanned and stored on compact discs. The hardware purchased consisted of a Gateway Intel 90 MHZ Pentium computer with 16 MB RAM and a 1 GB hard drive, Nikon scanner, Maron autofeeder (to automatically feed the slides into the scanner), an archiver system (creates compact disks from scanned slides), and a Tripp Lite Uninterruptable Power Supply (to protect against blackout and overvoltage conditions). The software required and purchased for the project included Nikon Image Access and Adobe Photoshop. The NRCS provides the labor for the project which is estimated to take approximately two years. As of this writing the project is underway and several compact discs have been cut. On the following page is a portion of the Douglas County map of Service interests created and printed using AutoCAD software and the Designjet printer. The map was made possible because the Minnesota Department of Transportation donated the base electronic highway map. 91 Lund Township e Douglas County, MN + + + 95.45' + + + 0 + 40' + + 46.05.. ' + e + z C> ~ .... + SCALE 1 mile Waterfowl Production Area •D Easement for Waterfowl Management Rights State Wildlife Management Area The Nature Conservancy Area e Wetland Restoration Funded by USFw·s e 1Vetland Restoration Funded by Ducks Unlimited e Wetland Restoration Funded by Sportsmen's Clubs 92 J. OTHER ITEMS 1. Cooperative Programs District staff again assisted with prairie chicken booming ground counts in cooperation with the Minnesota DNR and TNC. Results are reported in G.IO. The District also cooperated with the Fergus Falls Fish and Game Club in the construction of wood duck and bluebird boxes. Station staff picked up the needed supplies which were purchased by the Club and assisted in cutting out and assembling the boxes at our shop facility. The boxes are sold by the Club at cost to the general public with the funds used to purchase additional materials for building more boxes. This effort takes about two weeks each winter with up to nine volunteers from the Club and three Service employees working together at one time. The District participated in the 40th annual Save the Wetlands Smelt Fry put on by the Fergus Falls Fish and Game Club. This event is designed to honor individual landowners who put easements on their wetlands, sell wetlands in fee title to the Service, or restore wetlands on their property. District personnel staff a booth at the event, as well as show educational wildlife films. Funds raised from the "Smelt Fry" are used by the Club to purchase additional wetlands. Chuck Vukonich assisted several local conservation organizations in their food plot contest. The contest is designed to get area youth interested in wildlife by planting and caring for food plots as winter food sources for resident wildlife. In return for their efforts, the youth and their families attend a free banquet where prizes are given for the best food plots and each individual who planted a food plot gets a $50 savings bond. The Service cooperated with the Otter Tail County Extension Service, NRCS and CFSA of USDA to put on a well abandonment demonstration on the newly purchased Borges tract. The well contractor showed landowners the steps he needs to take to abandon a well and the CFSA explained their new cost sharing program. Late in the year, the Service set up a cooperative venture with USDA's NRCS to establish a computer database for all the aerial slides in the District. These slides are scanned and formatted using Adobe Photoshop software and transferred to compact discs. Copies are being made for NRCS, Service and Minnesota Dl'YR offices. Once completed, this will give each office annual aerial photo coverage from 1981 through 1995 of each section in the District. The District provided tours to several groups during the year including a group of biologists and agriculture experts from Russia, and Tom Goettle and Tom Jasikoff of Region 5. Both groups were interested in how our private lands program works, as well as the operation of a Wetland Management District. 93 3. Items oflnterest Two employees became fathers during the reporting period. Gina Maria was born to Todd and Connie Hauge on July 4, 1994. She is the first daughter and third child for the Hauges. Tanzie was the second daughter born to Tim and Stephanie Bodeen on July 5, 1994. Refuge Operation Specialist Tim Bodeen, wife Stephanie, and daughters Bailey and new arrival Tanzie were featured in tbe Fergus Falls Daily Journal as they enjoyed a warm winter day. (FF Daily Journal l/95) 94 On August 25, 1994, a dedication was held at the Pelican Creek WPA with 50 adults and 75+ young people attending. The Federal Cartridge Corporation donated funds through Ducks Unlimited to pay for a 100-acre wetland restoration on this unit. The restoration was completed as a cooperative project between the Minnesota DNR and Ducks Unlimited prior to the Service' s purchase of the WPA The Federal Cartridge Corporation dedicated the project to all Minnesota Greenwings. A large sign was placed along I-94 which runs adjacent to the unit. Travelers can see the wetland restoration and the sign recognizes the Greenwings, as well as those who sponsored the project. Attendees included Regional Director Marler; Ron Mason, President of Federal Cartridge; Bob Sundberg, Regional Vice President DU and Gene Zacho, DU State Chairman. This sign, located adjacent to Interstate Highway 94, recognizes the contributors to the Pelican Creek wetland restoration. (WP 8/94) During March we were privileged to host a few members of a large Russian delegation including a farm manager, a refuge manager, a land use specialist, an ecotourism specialist, and an attorney on a short visit to the District. All the delegates were associated with an Ecologically Sustainable Economic Development Program in Russia's Lake Baikal watershed sponsored by the Agency for International Development, U. S. Department of State. This privately-financed joint Russian/American project has developed a comprehensive program centered on the sustainable development concept for that portion of the Lake Baikal watershed within the Russian Federation --an area of32,000,000 hectares. One of the many goals of the program is to show how the proposed Arakhley Lakes Wildlife Refuge can become a model for regional sustainable development for a wildlife refuge to 95 demonstrate how it can be established, staffed, and managed in an area once rich in fish and wildlife resources but now ecologically damaged by Soviet-era practices. The delegation was touring refuges, Wetland Management Districts, dairy farms, cheese factories etc. all over America to gather methods, techniques, etc., for accomplishing the goals of the joint venture. Above, the Russian delegates are, from the left: Anatoly Kholmogorov, a Farm Association Manager; Tatiana Strizhova, Project Director, Cbita Natural Resources Institute; Natasba Kovalenko, Interpreter; Igor Mikbeev, Ara.kbley Wildlife Refuge Manager and local Service tour host Rollin Siegfried, Wildlife Associate Manager, Minnesota Waterfowl and Wetland Management CompleL (WES 3/94) 4. Credits The following personnel were responsible for the sections indicated in the 1994 narrative. Kevin Brennan: A, C ~ D 2-3 ~ E 1, 7 ~ K Willard Steffen: E 8 ~ F 2; I 1-4 Sue Julison: D 4 ~ F 11, 13; H 17; assembled report. Ttm Piehl: E 8 Tim Julison: F 1, 4, 5, 8-10 96 Chuck Vukonich: G; H 1, 4-6, 8-10, 13-15; I 1 Todd Hauge: E 8 Tim Bodeen: E 8; H 2-3 Pauline Wiziarde: B, E 3-4, 6; I 5-6 Penny Petersen: Typed and assembled report. K. FEEDBACK The Fish and Wildlife Service, and government in general, is about to undergo some major changes. No doubt the political climate is such that we will be getting smaller and less involved in the lives of the American people. How we go about these changes and where we end up will depend upon both congressional and executive branch actions, but to a greater extent upon the leadership within the Service itself This is not so much the Director's leadership of the Service but rather the other high level employees that provide the insight, information and recommendations that ultimately affect decisions that determine direction. It is imperative that these positions be occupied by individuals with strong leadership skills and a deep understanding of the Service's inner culture. Some need to have made their way to leadership roles from deep within the bowels of the organization itself This last requirement is really at the heart of this matter. That is simply, there are no incentives for people with excellent leadership skills to move upward beyond certain levels in the organization to these positions. People's lives have changed. No longer does a family's ultimate loyalty revolve around the job of the Service employee. We now have two bread winners, and often the spouse of the Service employee is the main one. Financial well-being often depends more upon the spouse's job, long term home ownership and living in a lower cost community rather than a promotion of the Service employee to the next GS level. Rather than the job of the Service employee, families are more committed to their children's upbringing, placing emphasis on a stable, safe, clean and quality environment. The intense loyalty of the FWS employee to the natural resources we care for has not changed, but their willingness to undergo family, social and financial upheaval for the organization's benefit has. We need to find a way to afford the peerless leaders among us the desire and opportunity to assume leadership roles. We need to avoid using the stick to encourage people to move into leadership roles, but rather use the carrot. This may include examining the way the Service treats its leaders in terms of financial compensation, hierarchial structure and physical location. As Government and the Service change, we need to assure that we have the strongest leadership possible. Birds: Common Name S s F W ...... Ferruginous Hawk ...... r r r ac a Checklist ...... Swainson's Hawk ...... u u ...... Rough-legged Hawk ...... u u r ...... American Avocet ...... In 1962, the U.S. F1sh and Wildlife Service initiated ...... Horned Grebe ...... Golden Eagle ...... r r r ...... Herring Gull ...... its Small Wetlands Program to protect critical waterfowl/ ...... Eared Grebe ...... Bald Eagle* ...... c c c ac ...... Ring-billed Gull ...... wildlife habitat. Since that time, some 210 parcels of ...... Western Grebe* ...... Northern Harrier ...... c c c r ...... Franklin's Gull ...... land in Douglas, Grant, Otter Tail and Wilkin Counties, ...... Pied-billed Grebe* ...... Osprey• ...... u u u ...... Glaucous Gull ...... ~---~------:--- totalling more than 40,000 acres, have been preserved...... Peregnne Falcon ...... r r r ...... Forster's Tern* ...... These areas are known as Waterfowl Production Areas ...... Merlin...... u u u ...... Common Tern* ...... ue ...... Prairie Falcon ...... r r ...... Caspian Tern ...... (WPA's) and range in size from 40 to nearly 2,000 ...... Green-backed Heron* ...... American Kestrel* ...... a a a acres...... Cattle Egret ...... Hutted l::irouse ...... c c c c The Fergus Falls Wetland Management District lies ...... Great Egret* ...... Greater Prairie-Chicken* ...... u u u u within the prairie/hardwood transition zone that displays ...... Snowy Egret ...... Ringed-necked Pheasant• ...... c c c c a rich diversity of upland and wetland habitat types...... Little Blue Heron ...... Gray Partridge• ...... c c c c WPAs in this region offer excellent birdmg opportunities ...... Black-crowned Night Heron* ...... Sandhill Crane...... c u c w1th such varied ecosystems ...... Least Bittern* ...... ~-~~-~------...... V1rg1ma Rail ...... c c c ...... Great Horned Owl* ...... The following list of 273 species has been ...... Sora• ...... c c c ...... Snowy Owl ...... developed from past and existing records and first-hand ...... King Rail ...... r r r ...... Barred Owl* ...... Trumpeter Swan ...... Yellow Rail*...... r r ...... Long-eared Owl* ...... knowledge of local and visitmg bird enthusiasts. The ...... Canada Goose* ...... Common Moorhen...... r r ...... Short-eared Owl* ...... field I st is arranged taxonomically, by Order (solid lines) ...... White-fronted Goose ...... American Coot• ...... a c a r ...... Northern Saw-whet Owl ...... and Family (dashed lines), in accordance W1th the ...... Snow Goose ...... American Avocet ...... c r American Ornithological Umon (AOU) "Checklist of ...... Mallard* ...... Semipalmated Plover ...... c u North American Birds." Your comments and sightlngs ...... American Black Duck ...... Piping Plover •...... u u are always welcome. Good birding! ...... Gadwall* ...... Killdeer* ...... a a a ...... Northern Pintail* ...... American Golden Plover ...... c c S-Sp ring ...... March - May ...... Green-winged Teal* ...... ------,-...... Black-bellied Plover...... c c s-Summer...... June - August ...... Blue-winged Teal* ...... Ruddy Turnstone...... c c ...... Pileated Woodpecker* ...... F-Fall ...... September- November ...... American Wigeon* ...... Red Knot ...... r r ...... Red-bellied Woodpecker* ...... Northern Shoveler* ...... American Woodcock* ...... c c c ...... Red-headed Woodpecker· ...... W-Winter ...... December- February ...... Wood Duck* ...... Common Snipe* ...... c c c ...... Yellow-bellied Sapsucker* ...... Redhead* ...... Upland Sandpiper* ...... u u u ...... Hairy Woodpecker* ...... a-abundant-common species that IS very numerous ...... Rmg-necked Duck* ...... Spotted Sandpiper* ...... c c c c-common-almost certain to be seen in suitable habitat ...... Canvasback* ...... Solitary Sandpiper...... c c c u-uncommon-present , but not certain to be seen ...... Greater Scaup ...... Willet ...... u ...... Western Kingbird* ...... a-occasional-seen only a few times during a season ...... Lesser Scaup* ...... Whimbrel ...... r r ...... Great Crested Flycatcher· ...... r-rare-seen at intervals of 2-5 years ...... Common Goldeneye• ...... Greater Yellowlegs* ...... c c c ...... Eastern Phoebe* ...... (E)-Endangered ...... Bufflehead ...... Lesser Yellowlegs* ...... a c a ...... Yellow-bellied Flycatcher ...... Oidsquaw ...... Pectoral Sandpiper...... c u c ...... Willow Flycatcher ...... (*) ...... nests within the area ...... White-winged Scoter ...... White-rumped Sandpiper ...... c c ...... Alder Flycatcher• ...... Ruddy Duck* ...... Baird's Sandpiper ...... c u ...... Olive-sided Flycatcher ...... Hooded Merganser* ...... Least Sandpiper ...... a a ...... Least Flycatcher• ...... Common Merganser ...... Dunlin ...... c c ...... Eastern Wood-Pewee· ...... Red-breasted Me r ...... Short-billed Dowitcher...... c c =Horned Lark*.~.=.. ~-= ..~-= ..-::- ..:::.: Otter Tail .... urkey ...... Long-billed Dowitcher...... u u .... =TreeSwallow·~.= ..~·=·=·= ..-::- .. =.=··'"· ....:::NorthernGoshawk..= .. =-=.. =-=.. =.:=...... Stilt Sandpiper ...... c c ...... Bank Swallow• ...... Sharp-shinned Hawk* ...... Buff-breasted Sandpiper ...... u u ...... Northern Rough-winged Swallow· ...... Cooper's Hawk* ...... Semipalmated Sandpiper...... a a a ...... Barn Swallow· ...... , ...... Red-tailed Hawk* ...... Western Sandpiper ...... u u ...... Cliff Swallow* ...... ·...... Red-shouldered Hawk ...... Marbled Godwit*...... c c ...... Purple Martin· ...... Grant Douglas ...... Broad-winged Hawk ...... Hudson ian Godwit ...... u . ...:::BiueJay.= .. ~·=·-~·=·=··=-= .. :::.:= .... . Common Name S s F W Common Name S s F W Common Name S s F W ...... Gray Jay ... r Ovenbird* ...... c c . ... Hoary Redpoll .... u u u Black billed Magpie ...... u u .. . Northern Waterthrush u u . . Common Redpoll .. c c .. . .. Amencan Crow· ...... c c ...... Connecticut Warbler . . r r . .. P1ne S1skm c c ...... Common Raven ...... Mourning Warbler ...... c u ...... Amencan Goldfmch* ...... ---:-Black-capped Chickadee-;------...... Common Yellowthroat• .. . c c c . . Red Crossbill ...... ····=Boreal Chickadee~.-==·=·~·=·~·=·==:···· Wilsons Warbler . . c c .. ~· White-wm~ Cro~bJ!!.-..:..:..:·.:.~.::..:.... -~-:::....:.:..;·.:..:..:...... White-breasted Nuthatch* ...... Canada Warbler . . c c ...... House Sparrow· ...... Red-breasted Nuthatch ...... Amencan Redstart• ...... c c c ....~Brown ere~~-=---=·=·=·=·=··=·=····· u .•.. Bobolink* ...... c a c ····=House Wren· ------...... Western Meadowlark* ...... a a a r inneso a•s rai ie ... •... Wmter Wren ...... Eastern Meadowlark ...... ll u r Accidental Species: ...... Marsh Wren• ...... Yellow-headed Blackbird* ...... a a a Red-throated Loon Ctnnamon Teal ...... Sedge Wren· ...... Red-winged Blackbird* . a a a Surf Seater Black Seater Pot ole Region ....-:::Gray Catbird*-::::-:------...... Orchard Onole c c c Gyrfalcon Barn Owl ...... Brown Thrasher• ...... Northern Onole* ...... c c c Great Gray Owl Black-backed Woodpecker ....-=:AmericanRobln* =-=-=.::-.. --:-:.::-.. ::.~..... a a a r ...... Rusty Blackbtrd ..... •...... c u c r Townsend s Sohtatre ...... Hermit Thrush...... c c ...... Brewer's Blackbird* ...... u c u ...... Swamson's Thrush...... •...... c c ...... Common Grackle* ...... a a a r ...... Wood Thrush* ...... u u u ...... Brown-headed Cowbird* ...... •...... c c c ...... Gray-cheeked Thrush...... c u . . .. Scarlet Tanager• ...... u c c ...... Veery• ...... Northern Cardinal*...... u u u u Notes ...... East em Bluebird* ...... c c ...... Rose-breasted Grosbeak* ...... c c c •...•... Goldencrowned Kinglet ...... Indigo Bunting• ...... c c c Dat'V------No. Species"'"--- ...... Ruby-crowned Kinglet ...... c ...... Dickcissel* ...... c ....::::American ~eT.. =.:-::- -:::.~.. -:: --:::-..-::"..~ ...... Rufous-sided Towhee ...... u r u Time Afield ______-Bohemian Waxw1ng .-.. =:- ---- ...... Savannah Sparrow• ...... c c c Observers,______. .;.;_ Ced~ Wax~l"ljL ~ ~ _ :...._ ...... :. __ -~ . . Grasshopper Sparrow• c c c ...... Northern Shrike ...... Leconte's Sparrow· u u u ...... l£g~head Shnke ...... Sharp-tatled Sparrow* . r r r Weathe.______- Eur 50¢ To subscribe: (218) 736-7511 Daily Journal THURSDAY March 24, 1994 Vol. 121, No. 70 Russians Continued lrom Page 1 ncar Herman and the Paul Schroeder dail) carm near Fergus Falls. "They want to implem~nt what w<• do hc.re in \\ ct~and pr~(, ., \'a Lion," Siegfried said, bul added Journal photo by Bill Pond that it won't happen quickly. • First of all, they don't have any FROM RUSSIA TO FERGUS: A Russian conservation delegation visiting Fergus Falls on Wednesday included, from left: money -· And they probably are Anatoly Kholmogorov, Tatiana Strizhova, interpreter Natash Kovalenko and Igor Mikheev. around the tum of the century On weUand preservation)." Re said it's taken the United Slates long enough to realize lhe Russians learn American methods importance of preserving water learned about the problems our and land. Russian president Boris Ycttsin "We've turned the comer as far By JAY LEMKE signed a 1992 agreement to colleges have had wiU1 wcUands 1> CONSERVATION preservation and we hope not to as acceptability" Siegfried said. Dally Journal preserve Lake Baikal, the "You can't contaminate the water make the ~~nme mistakes.• "We!ve learned a lot about breakdown of the Russian supply and expect to pump out L-cunomy aud society h;.sn't Questions kept Oying and land usc." said Tatianu Rollin Siegfried, \\lildlife clean ...oater ." answers kcpL coming as strizhnva frum the Chita Natural helped matters. association manager of the U.S. Still, Suizhova, Igor Mikheev, The Russians will head to San Russians visited U1e U.S. Fish Resources Institute, which Fish and Wildlife Service in Francisco next as they continue a scientist, and Anatoly and Wildlife Service in Fergus administers the 310 square Fergus Falls, has been with the their tour Falls Wednesday, P'rt or a kilometer refuge on Lake Baikal. Kholmogorov. who rnan;.ges a Russians since fond3y. They • One of our goals is to live and c~op farm which is part of the toured weUands, restoration counlry\\ide tour to learn refuge, said the Uip here will methods or land preservation work together with industry and projects and farms, including help. that can be used to save a farming." the Niemackl Watershed Project That, she said, will not be • We've seen a tot of protected refuge in the Lake Baikal region land; Strizhova said. "We've See Russians - Page 7 in southeastern Russia. easy. Though George Bush and