Welcome to the inaugural issue of Minnesota's State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) newsletter. We are excited to share with you some of the important work being done across the state to implement Minnesota's State Wildlife Action Plan, Tomorrow's Habitat for the Wild and Rare.

Minnesota's new Teaming With Wildlife Coalition helps save funding for the State Wildlife Grants Program.Spearheaded by Mark Peterson of Audubon Minnesota, a coalition of conservation organizations with the ability to respond quickly to "action alerts" from the National Teaming With Wildlife (TWW) coalition was established in January 2011. Nine conservation organizations form the core group for Minnesota's new TWW coalition. The call to action came within weeks of the coalition being formed when the House of Representatives proposed the elimination of SWG funding in the FY11 budget. Read more>>>

Citizen-scientists respond to the call to survey Minnesota's dragonflies and damselflies. Citizen-scientists are helping the Minnesota DNR determine the ranges and distributions of Minnesota's dragonfly and damselfly populations. The Minnesota Odonata Survey Project (MOSP) offered 19 training sessions on Odonata identification and life history during 2008-10. These sessions attracted 329 participants. The surveys that occurred during the sessions produced 112 new county records and one new state record. Volunteers are urged to collect Odonata specimens on their own after the sessions, and in 2008-9 they submitted 703 specimens. Kurt Mead, lead for the MOSP, encourages interested citizens to become involved in this continuing project. Read more>>>

Minnesota's prairie conservation efforts are paying off! Analysis finds most prairies mapped by MCBS over 15 years ago are still prairies. Using aerial photography from 1991 and 2008, DNR staff compared prairie habitat acres on sites mapped by MCBS more than 15 years ago to determine if the prairie had been partially or fully converted to other uses (development, row crop, etc) or was being overtaken by woody vegetation. Staff evaluated 1,521 native prairie sites, totaling 65,444 acres. The analysis revealed little change within the mapped sites or the surrounding buffers: a four percent change affecting 2,332 acres was detected. Read more>>>

Conservation Partners Legacy Grants Program benefits Species In Greatest Conservation Need. The Outdoor Heritage Fund is one of four funds created by the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. This fund receives 33% of the sales tax revenues resulting from the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Constitutional Amendment and is the source of dollars for the Conservation Partners Legacy Grants Program. All wildlife projects funded through this program must link to priority conservation actions identified in Minnesota's State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP). A web-based document entitled, "How to Use the State Wildlife Action Plan in Your CPL Grant," is now available to assist grant applicants. Read more>>>

Environmental Review Unit and SWAP partner to ensure the conservation and sustainable management of Minnesota's wildlife. Minnesota DNR Environmental Review (ER) Unit plays a critical role in the protection of rare resources, including wildlife identified in the State Wildlife Action Plan as Species in Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN). In a typical year, about 200 DNR staff members spend more than 25,000 hours reviewing approximately 1,200 documents associated with more than 900 projects to evaluate their impacts on wildlife habitats. The ER Unit recently completed development of an Environmental Review Guide to ensure the delivery of consistent, high-quality technical advice during the review process. The Guide is comprised of nine modules that address different aspects of the review process. Module four provides guidance to staff on how to utilize SWAP data in the ER process. Read more>>>

Minnesota County Biological Survey: Essential Information for the Conservation of Minnesota's Wildlife. A priority strategy in Minnesota's State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) is to survey populations of Species in Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) and their habitats. One of the primary ways this strategy is implemented is through the Minnesota County Biological Survey (MCBS). Since 1987, MCBS has systematically collected, interpreted and delivered baseline data on the distribution and ecology of animals, plants, native plant communities, and functional landscapes. These data help DNR staff and our conservation partners prioritize actions to conserve and manage Minnesota's ecological systems, including critical components of biological diversity. Read more>>>