HABITAT MANAGEMENT PLAN Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District and Hamden Slough National Wildlife Refuge Detroit Lakes, MN U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Department of the Interior September 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................1 1.1 Scope and Rationale ...............................................................................................................1 1.2 Legal Mandates ......................................................................................................................2 Detroit Lakes WMD ................................................................................................................3 Hamden Slough NWR .............................................................................................................3 Northern Tallgrass Prairie NWR .............................................................................................4 1.3 Relationship to Other Plans ...................................................................................................4 Chapter 2 Background .....................................................................................................................9 2. 1 Geographic and Physical Position in the Landscape ............................................................9 2.2 Conservation Estate .............................................................................................................12 2.3 Ecological Classification and Historic Condition ................................................................17 2.4 Current Conditions and Changes from Historic Habitat Types ...........................................28 2.5 Climate Change ....................................................................................................................32 2.6 Inventory/Reconnaissance of District Land and Implications for Management .................34 2.7 Making the Connection to Resources of Concern ...............................................................35 Chapter 3 Resources of Concern....................................................................................................37 3.1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................37 3.2 Comprehensive Resources of Concern ................................................................................37 3.3 Biological Integrity, Diversity, and Environmental Health Policy ......................................39 3.4 Selection of Priority Resources ........................................................................................... 49 3.5 Selection of District Priority habitats .................................................................................. 51 3.6 Relationship between Priority Habitats and Priority Resources of Concern ...................... 54 3.7 Conflict Resolution ............................................................................................................. 64 Chapter 4 Habitat Goals and Objectives ........................................................................................66 4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 66 Objective 1-Restoration and Management of Priority Habitats. .......................................... 66 Objective 2-Prioritized Upland Management. ...................................................................... 68 4.2 Remnant Prairie Management............................................................................................. 68 Objective 3- Native Prairie Remnants .................................................................................. 68 4.3 Restoring Biologically Diverse Grasslands ........................................................................ 70 Objective 4 -Promote High Diversity ................................................................................... 70 Objective 5- Establishment of High Diversity Seeding ......................................................... 72 Objective 6-Mangement of High Diversity Native Seedings. ................................................ 73 Objective 7-Management of Low Diversity Seedings. .......................................................... 74 Objective 8-Diversify Seedings. ............................................................................................ 75 4.4 Restoration and Management of Wetland Resources ......................................................... 76 Objective 9-Prairie Pothole Wetlands. ................................................................................. 76 Objective 10-Restore Wetland Function. .............................................................................. 77 Objective 11-Semi-permanent and Permanent Wetland Management. ................................ 78 4.5 Oak Savanna restoration and management ......................................................................... 79 Objective 12- Restore Oak Savanna . .................................................................................. 79 Objective 13-Oak Savanna Management:. ........................................................................... 81 4.6 Unique habitats and rare species ......................................................................................... 82 Objective 14-Restore and Maintain Prairie Fens. ................................................................ 82 Objective 15-Rare, Threatened or Endangered Species and their Habitats. ....................... 83 4.7 District Waterfowl Populations........................................................................................... 83 Objective 16- Maintian Breeding Populations. .................................................................... 83 Chapter 5 Strategy Descriptions ....................................................................................................85 Chapter 6 Strategy Selection and Implementation (an Annual Work Plan Exercise) .................114 6.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 114 6.2 Background for Management Decisions and Conflict Resolution among Units .............. 114 6.3 Step One - Annually Selecting Units to Receive Management ........................................ 115 6.4 Step Two- Evaluate Current State of Vegetation/Habitat Types ...................................... 116 6.5 Step Three- Selecting Strategies to Shift the Current Habitat State to a Desired State .... 118 6.6 Step Four- Implementation of Selected Strategy .............................................................. 119 6.7 Step Five- Administrative Aspects of Implementation ..................................................... 119 Literature Cited ............................................................................................................................124 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1. Detroit Lakes WMD CCP Wildlife and Habitat Goals and Objectives ...............131 Appendix 2. Hamden Slough NWR CCP Wildlife and Habitat Goals and Objectives ............138 Appendix 3. Table of units, acres, priority score, province and pre-settlement vegetation ......140 Appendix 4. Priority Tool description ......................................................................................154 Appendix 5. Potential native habitat types of District units .....................................................157 Appendix 6. Documented native plant communities of District units. ...................................162 Appendix 7. Comprehensive List of Resources of Concern for the Detroit Lakes WMD .......173 Appendix 8. Potential Focal Species Selection Method ...........................................................197 Appendix 9. List of Potential Priority Resources of Concern for the Detroit Lakes WMD .....199 Appendix 10. Baseline Inventory Rapid Assessment (DRAFT for Prairie Habitats) .................200 Appendix 11. Long-term Restoration and Management Plan (DRAFT) ....................................203 Appendix 12. Rapid Assessment for potential oak savanna presence ........................................205 Appendix 13. Sample Wetland Restoration Tracking Log .........................................................207 Appendix 14. Master Fire Management Spreadsheet (sample portion). ....................................208 Appendix 15. Agricultural Management Plan ............................................................................209 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Location of Detroit Lakes WMD in Minnesota .......................................................9 Figure 2.2 Location of USFWS Refuges within the Detroit Lakes WMD .............................10 Figure 2.3 Location of the Northern Tallgrass Prairie NWR in Minnesota and Iowa ............11 Figure 2.4 Distribution of Waterfowl Production Areas throughout the the District ...........14 Figure 2.5 Distribution of easements throughout the District .................................................15 Figure 2.6 The conservation estate with Grassland Bird Conservation Areas in the Detroit Lakes WMD ...........................................................................................................16 Figure 2.7 Location of the White Earth Tribal Nation within the Detroit Lakes WMD…… 17 Figure