LIP Prairie Species at Risk

Prairies are Minnesota's most endangered major habitat. Less than 170,000 of the state's original 18 million acres of prairie remain, providing habitat for over 40% of Minnesota's state-listed plants and animals. Three of these are also federally listed: prairie bush clover, western prairie fringed orchid, and Topeka shiner, and one, Dakota skipper, is a candidate for listing.

LIP eligible projects are those that will enhance native prairie to benefit target species*. Priority is given to habitat improvement projects on land enrolled in Prairie Bank Easements or other conservation programs. Restoration of non-native pasture or cropland to prairie is an eligible project when the proposed project site buffers or connects protected conservation lands that provide habitat for target species. LIP eligible management practices include but are not limited to prescribed burns, alternative grazing practices, woody encroachment management, and invasive species control.

Landowners can choose from one or more of the following assistance options:

1. LIP staff, or experienced contractors, develop a stewardship plan for the property
2. LIP staff implement the habitat project at the landowner’s request
3. The landowner implements the approved habitat project and is reimbursed for allowable project costs through a LIP financial assistance grant.

The Prairie Species at Risk initiative is funded with a United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Landowner Incentive Program Grant, with matching funds provided by Minnesota DNR. LIP is a competitive program and applications for habitat projects are evaluated and selected based on program criteria and available funding.

* Target species: Plants and animals identified under state or federal endangered species laws as endangered, threatened or of special concern (listed species) and non-listed animal species with declining or vulnerable populations as identified in Tomorrow’s Habitat for the Wild and Rare as Species In Greatest Conservation Need. www.dnr.state.mn.us/ets/ and www.dnr.state.mn.us/cwcs/set.html