Each fall, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Windom Wetland Management District conducts prescribed burns on federal lands called Waterfowl Production Areas. These WPAs were purchased with money generated from the sale of federal duck stamps and are actively managed to increase the production of migratory birds, especially waterfowl. Prescribed burns are used as a management tool to maintain and improve wildlife habitat for all wildlife species including game and nongame bird species.

Eight prescribed burns totaling 160 acres are planned in Cottonwood, Faribault, Jackson and Murray counties. Traditionally, burns conducted during the fall months at the Windom WMD are small in scale, leaving critical winter habitat for the numerous bird and mammal species using the WPAs for refuge. This fall, the burn objectives will be to prepare the sites for a fall seeding of native prairie grasses or to prepare the sites for an invasive tree or woody vegetation reduction project. Viable seed is harvested in the fall on native prairie sites that were burned the previous spring. This rare and valuable seed containing a diversity of prairie grass and wildflower species will be used to seed the fall burned areas back to native prairie habitat.

Burning the site prior to seeding removes the litter, or duff, layer ensuring optimum seed to soil contact. The restoration of non-native habitat to native prairie is a long process. It will take many years for the site to fully function as a prairie ecosystem; however, the improved habitat that results from the restoration will create cover and nesting sites for a diverse array of prairie wildlife.

Without fire, WPAs containing native prairie often become infested with trees or brush. This invasive woody vegetation is unhealthy to the prairie ecosystem and the game and nongame species that use the upland habitat as nesting cover. In just a few years, prairie habitat once containing a diverse population of native grasses and wildflowers can soon become dominated by woody plants which compete with the native prairie plants for sunlight. Without the necessary sunlight, the upland habitat disappears thereby reducing the amount of available nesting cover. Also, larger trees often provide homes to the main predators of nesting waterfowl, such as raccoons and skunks, and also provide perch sites for avian predators including hawks and owls. This is one reason why nesting success of ground nesting birds adjacent to trees seems to be consistently lower than in areas away from trees. Studies have also found that trees along wetland edges decreased use by mallard broods. By reducing woody vegetation throughout the WPA, the area becomes more attractive, productive and safer for nesting waterfowl.