Tallgrass Aspen Parklands: Protecting and Restoring IBAs

To ensure quality lands are protected through this program, these minimum criteria must be met:

• Land must be located within the program area as outlined in the interactive map. The program area includes portions of Polk, Red Lake, Pennington, Marshall, Kittson, and Roseau Counties, within the Tallgrass Aspen Parklands province, that are either within one of Audubon Minnesota’s five Important Bird Areas (IBAs) within the Tallgrass Aspen Parklands or within the Minnesota Prairie Conservation Plan’s Core, Corridors, or Strategic Habitat Complexes.

• Land must contain significant native plant communities of prairie/grassland/savanna and/or wetlands according to the MN Biological Survey or as verified through other means.

• Acres already enrolled in certain permanent protection programs, such as the Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) Program, are ineligible. Other programs, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's habitat protection easements, which are eligible if this program will provide significant additional protection to the conservation value of the land.

• Acres protected through non-permanent protections, such as the Conservation Reserve Program, may be eligible if the land is to permanently remain as grassland or other acceptable cover types.

• All lands entered into this program will have habitat management plans developed by agreement of the landowner and the Land Trust. If the property is to be grazed, a Conservation Grazing Plan will be included within that management plan and must be completed prior to closing.  

To apply for this program please complete, sign, and return this application along with a copy of your property tax statement to: Alex Wardwell, Prairie Project Manager, call 218-687-2229 x11 or email Alex. Mailing address: 17788 349th St. SE, Erkine, MN 56535

For easement payment-related questions or questions about Minnesota Land Trust, please contact: Bev Rinke, Wetlands and Grasslands Program Manager (Minnesota Land Trust), call 651-587-8855 or email Bev. 

Downloadable Resources

Tallgrass Aspen Parklands Map Conservation Easement FAQ IBA Easement Fact Sheet Landowner IBA Application