Morris Wetland Management District Comprehensive Conservation Plan

Comprehensive Conservation Plan Completed
Morris Wetland Management District
Minnesota Wetland Management Districts
To Request a Copy
Where We're At in the Planning Process

Comprehensive Conservation Plan Completed

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has completed Comprehensive Conservation Plans, or CCPs, for each of the six Wetland Management Districts of Minnesota. The Morris Wetland Management District CCP describes a future in which:

• The Service continues to acquire land to reach the goal acres agreed to by each County within the District.
• We will strive to preserve and maintain diversity and increase the abundance of waterfowl and other key wildlife species in the Northern Tallgrass Prairie Ecosystem.
• We will restore wetlands and prairie as habitat for migratory waterfowl. Our intent will be to increase the block size of WPAs from an average of 210 acres to benefit waterfowl species as well as grassland birds.
• Working with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, we will reintroduce native species on WPAs.
• We will promote the use of coordinated, standardized, cost-effective and defensible methods for gathering and analyzing habitat and population data.
• We will allow limited continued use of food plots and feeder cribs to support resident wildlife, notably white-tailed deer and pheasants.
• We will work with other Districts in Minnesota as well as neighboring states (Iowa, Wisconsin, South Dakota and North Dakota) to develop more consistency in policies for habitat, public use and resource protection.
• We will promote greater understanding and awareness of the Wetland Management Districts’ programs, goals and objectives.

We appreciate the help of everyone who attended open houses, reviewed the draft plan or sent us a comment. Your help made the plans better.

Morris Wetland Management District

The Morris Wetland Management District manages 244 Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs) encompassing more than 50,000 acres of land dedicated to wildlife and wildife-dependent public recreation. The Morris Wetland Management District also oversees more than 20,000 acres of privately owned wetlands protected by permanent easements prohibiting wetland destruction and 2,500 acres of wetland and surrounding grasslands that, while remaining privately owned, are managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and are protected by conservation easements.

Minnesota Wetland Management Districts

The Morris Wetland Management is one of the six Wetland Management Districts the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service manages in western Minnesota. The Wetland Management Districts of Minnesota are set in a landscape that was once a mosaic of prairie and wetlands -- a vital landscape for waterfowl. Six Wetland Management Districts -- Fergus Falls, Litchfield, Morris, Windom, Big Stone and Detroit Lakes -- provide a total 179,826 acres of habitat throughout western Minnesota. As of September 2002,the Service also administers perpetual easement agreements on 71,658 acres of wetlands. Wetlands that were once drained have been restored; on Waterfowl Production Areas, more than 4,000 wetland restorations have impounded in excess of 16,000 wetland acres.

Wetland Management Districts are administrative units that are responsible for buying, overseeing and managing Waterfowl Production Area land and easements within a given area. Most Districts are large, covering several counties. Waterfowl Production Areas are grasslands and wetlands that the Service purchases to provide nesting habitat for waterfowl and hunting areas for waterfowl and upland game hunters. Waterfowl Production Areas are typically small parcels scattered throughout agricultural areas.

To Request a Copy of the CCP

The CCP is available on this site in portable document format (pdf), and we can also provide it as a pdf document on a CD-ROM. Limited quantities of paper copies are available. To request either a CD-ROM or a paper copy, call the Wetland Management District at 320/589-1001. TTY users may reach the Wetland Management District through the Minnesota State Relay System by dialing 711 or (800)627-3529 (V/TTY)

Where Are We in the Planning Process?

These are the steps that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service follows in comprehensive conservation planning; the step that the Morris WMD has reached is highlighted:

1. Preplanning: Plan the Plan
2. Initiate Public Involvement and Scoping
3. Review Vision Statement and Goals and Determine Significant Issues
4. Develop and Analyze Alternatives, Including the Proposed Action
5. Prepare a Draft CCP and NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) Document
6. Prepare and Adopt Final CCP
7. Implement Plan, Monitor and Evaluate
8. Review and Revise the Plan

Last updated: August 15, 2008

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