With so many distractions confronting the people of this country, it seems gaining attention for land conservation – and ultimately wildlife conservation – is a tall order indeed. We have all viewed efforts to promote the conservation of oceans, wetlands, and even forests. However, we hear little about “grasslands,” yet, from a global perspective, temperate

Ducks Unlimited (DU) has a vision to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. DU is regarded among the scientific and conservation community as the world’s leader in wetlands and waterfowl conservation. DU is dedicated to conserving North America’s continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 13.6

As the South Dakota Prairie Butterfly Garden enters its fourth growing season, the perennial plants are spreading out of their original plots, making the garden appear like a South Dakota prairie. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (SDGFP) worked together to create this outdoor learning area for

Diverse habitat is a fundamental building block for healthy wildlife populations. That’s an axiom we all learned in Biology 101 and one that serves as the foundation for the new Honey Bee & Monarch Butterfly Partnership. Like all good ideas, the concept started with a seed. More exactly, a diverse mix of seeds. Last year,

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Small Wetlands Acquisition Program (SWAP) provides a solid foundation for conservation delivery and contributes to fulfilling the goals of the 2005 PPJV Implementation Plan (Plan). The Plan calls for perpetually protecting through easement acquisition an additional 1.4 million acres of wetlands and over 10 million acres of grassland. The

Much of the Bakken Formation of Montana and North Dakota overlaps with important breeding waterfowl, shorebird, and waterbird habitat in the U.S. Prairie Pothole Region. In 2014, PPJV partners initiated a collaborative effort to investigate the potential impact of oil development and extraction in this area on breeding ducks. This collaboration included the USFWS HAPET

The whooping crane is a federally endangered species that relies on land in North and South Dakota to help meet its energy needs during migration and reproduction which ultimately contribute to its potential for population growth. Working with researchers from the USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, members of the HAPET (Habitat and Population Evaluation

Perhaps best known for its globally significant populations of breeding waterfowl, the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) also provides crucial core habitat for imperiled grassland songbirds like Sprague’s Pipit, Baird’s Sparrow, Chestnut-collared Longspur and McCown’s Longspur. Further, the Montana portion of the PPR contains expansive priority habitat for Greater Sage-Grouse. Continentally, each of these species has

The migratory bird joint venture (JV) coordinators recently held their annual meeting near Chicago, Illinois. This meeting was focused on a narrow agenda that required honest discussion and visionary thought. Given that JVs pride themselves on functioning as “self-directed” partnerships and they come from different regions throughout North America, divergent views and opinions filled the

At various times, a person reflects on their life, year, or simply day. Often, it’s as we reach the New Year that we contemplate our year. With the New Year around the corner, I hope each of you will have more positive reflections than negative about the year 2015. Not only do individuals reflect on

The HAPET office and PPJV Technical Committee teamed up with the Montana conservation partners to expand the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) throughout the state. The BBS has been active in the PPJV area since the late 1960s, providing data for estimating breeding bird population trends. In recent years, analysis of BBS data has

We continue to diligently proceed as a partnership on developing the sideboards and content for the update to our 2005 PPJV Implementation Plan. This effort includes holding PPJV state-specific meetings with partners to coordinate and gather state specific information. (For more information, on the goals of the updated plan, see our Fall 2014 newsletter article.)