The Nature Conservancy
Minnesota and Wisconsin Chapters
Utilizing funding from the Wildlife Conservation Society
Title of Funded Project: Developing a Replicable Strategy for Maximizing the Conservation
Benefits of Grass-based Biomass in Wisconsin and Minnesota
ABSTRACT
The Wisconsin and Minnesota Chapters of The Nature Conservancy are working to protect and
restore prairie landscapes in agricultural settings. Energy production is poised to transform the
ecology and economy of these landscapes. Strategies are presented in this proposal to align
bioenergy production with conservation goals (e.g., prairie restoration). The Conservancy is
seeking $121,350 to develop those strategies in conjunction with key stakeholders, building a
replicable model for conservation throughout the region.
The goals and methods are to (1) use the Conservancy’s on-the-ground grassland projects in
Wisconsin and Minnesota as landscape laboratories to test and develop conservation guidelines
in advance of widespread biomass planting and harvesting. (2) Conservancy staff in WI and MN
will engage stakeholders from the energy industry, universities, conservation organizations and
government to develop grassland based energy crops that are produced as an indirect benefit
of restoring healthy ecological systems in these key landscapes. These energy crops will be
biologically diverse native plant communities. (3) Conservancy staff will export lessons learned
in the WI and MN grassland projects towards the Conservancy’s work at broader scales on
energy issues by convening an organizational biomass working group with Conservancy staff in
other Midwest states.
The Military Ridge Prairie Heritage Area (MRPHA) stands out in Wisconsin and the Upper
Midwest for a distinct combination of resources, including exceptional populations of grassland
birds, a high number of prairie remnants, concentrations of rare plants and animals, extensive
surrogate grassland, and spring-fed streams, all set within a working agricultural landscape.
Similarly, the northwest Minnesota region contains the highest concentrations of intact native
and restored prairie systems in the state. Most of these grasslands are in need of additional
management to maintain their ecological integrity and many of them are enrolled in temporary
conservation programs, like the Conservation Reserve Program, and are in danger of being
converted to row-crop agriculture upon contract expiration. This project proposes to
demonstrate the potential of grass-based biomass to provide an economic incentive for the
protection and management of these critical resources in both states.