+
Dakota Pollinator Partnership
A public-private partnership increasing and improving pollinator habitat in North Dakota and South Dakota
The Dakota Pollinator Partnership (Partnership) is a collaboration between two leading pollinator
habitat nonprofit organizations. Pheasants Forever, Inc. and Project Apis m., and Browning Honey
Company, a family-owned beekeeping operation in the upper Midwest, with support from the US
Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the US Geological Survey (USGS). The Partnership provides
the opportunity to establish a public-private conservation partnership that builds on federal efforts to
increase the quality and amount of habitat and forage for pollinators. The Partnership seeks to
improve the health and survival of honey bees and other pollinators, including the Monarch butterfly,
by reversing the loss of high quality pollinator habitat in a geographic region that is home to a
substantial portion of the country’s managed honey bees.
The purpose of the Partnership is to increase and improve pollinator habitat in North Dakota and
South Dakota. The Partnership plans to develop affordable seed mixes, including native pollinator
plants, for maintenance of honey bees and other pollinators. In addition, it will provide payments to
landowners to plant a nutritious and varied mix of plant species for 3-6 years.
The Partnership will:
 Design and provide high quality, varied, nutritious foraging habitat for honey bees, the
Monarch butterfly, pollinators and wildlife.
 Develop cost-effective forage mixtures for a variety of situations and locations.
 Monitor and demonstrate results to enhance outreach, increase program participation and
highlight the value of forage for honey bees, in collaboration with USGS.
Starting in the spring of 2015, the Partnership offers opportunities and incentives for landowners to
enroll in a pollinator habitat program featuring:
 Project contract length of 3 to 6 years.
 Annual rental payment of $50.00 per acre.
 Planting incentive payment of $15.00 per acre.
 Two seed mixtures provided at no cost to the landowner. 50% of the project acres will be
planted to a high quality honey bee forage mixture and 50% of the project acres will be
planted to a high diversity mixture critical to the Monarch butterfly.
 Acres may not be hayed or grazed between the dates of April 1 to September 30 each year of
the contract.
In its first year, the Partnership’s goal is to enroll 1,200 acres in 5 year contract in both North Dakota
and South Dakota. With success, the Partnership intends to expand this program to other key states
in the future.
The Partnership provides a significant opportunity to substantially increase both the acreage and
forage value of pollinator habitat in the Dakotas. It is an excellent example of public-private
partnership called for by President Obama’s June 2014 Presidential Memorandum on pollinator
health and by the National Pollinator Health Task Force. The Partnership is receiving broad support
from agriculture, honey packers, commercial beekeepers, conservation groups and USGS.
Partnership representatives have consulted with USDA in the program states.
The Partnership provides an important opportunity for USDA and other agencies to engage in
programs that augment actions on pollinator habitat expansion. The Partnership provides a parallel
effort that complements USDA’s conservation programs, including the Conservation Reserve
Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program and Conservation Stewardship Program. These
parallel efforts provide key opportunities for partners in raising awareness of and engaging
landowners in pollinator forage programs while providing monitoring support. The results can also
help improve future public-private programs as well as USDA conservation programs to encourage: i)
the development of habitat for native and managed pollinators, and ii) the use of conservation
practices that maximize benefits for honey bees and benefit native pollinators.
For more information about the Dakota Pollinator Partnership, please contact Pete Berthelsen,
Director of Habitat Partnerships, Pheasants Forever, Inc.: pberthelsen@pheasantsforever.org or (308)
390-0848.