Protecting the natural legacy of the Cannon River watershed

By DANE McKITTRICK Clean River Partners

As Minnesotans, one of our most valued, culturally important resources is our natural public lands. Whether you enjoy strolling along an urban floodplain forest or turkey hunting at a favorite wildlife management area, people across the state find diverse ways to cherish these spaces. Realizing the importance of natural public lands, communities across Minnesota have supported funding to improve and expand these landscapes. These protected and restored natural public lands provide valuable habitat for wildlife. They also offer quality outdoor experiences such as hiking, hunting, bird watching, kayaking, and fishing for current and future generations.

Unlike some parts of Minnesota, the Cannon River watershed doesn’t have an abundance of public land. About 97 percent of the land is privately owned and primarily used for agriculture. However, many landowners in the Cannon River watershed have a strong conservation ethic and want to leave a lasting environmental legacy by permanently protecting the natural habitats of the region.

Through the Cannon River Watershed Habitat Protection and Restoration Program, these conservation-minded landowners have revitalized opportunities to leave a lasting legacy with their property. This program, a collaboration between the non-profit organizations Clean River Partners, the Trust for Public Land, Great River Greening, and in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, was formed to increase publicly accessible lands and restore habitat in the Cannon River watershed.

Last year, local landowners worked with the Trust for Public Land and the DNR to add 138 acres to the Prairie Creek WMA near Dennison, Minn. and open the new Medford WMA — 153 acres of land that includes over a mile of Straight River shoreline near Medford, Minn.

Initially within this partnership, TPL works with landowners to reach a land purchasing agreement and transition the property into the public domain. “We couldn’t do this habitat conservation work without help from our outreach partners at Clean River Partners. The overlapping conservation efforts of our organizations are critical for achieving ecological integrity within the Cannon River watershed,” said Nick Bancks, Project Manager for the TPL.

When landowners and TPL reach an agreement to transfer land ownership, the Minnesota DNR can then begin to work with organizations like Great River Greening to restore habitat on these newly protected areas. Restoring habitat leads to greater biodiversity, increased ecological function, and improved outdoor experiences for people in these natural spaces.

The Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, passed in 2008, established the Outdoor Heritage Fund (OHF) to enhance and conserve natural habitats. In the Cannon River watershed, the OHF has been a crucial resource for the Cannon River Watershed Habitat Protection and Restoration Program. Since 2011, this Program has created eight new WMAs and a new Aquatic Management Area (AMA). It has also expanded seven WMAs and a Scientific Natural Area (SNA). These efforts have permanently protected more than 2,900 acres of high quality habitat within the Cannon River watershed. Ecological restorations and enhancements that began in 2018 have improved over 330 acres, with 1,100 more acres of habitat improvements underway.

If you own land and are interested in learning how to best protect the valuable habitat on your property, contact Clean River Partner’s Conservation Program Manager Alan Kraus at alan@cleanriverpartners.org.

To learn more about Clean River Partners and their habitat preservation work, visit www.cleanriverpartners.org. v