Waterfowl Identification Guide Comprehensive Conservation Plan Phone: 218-8474431 |
Our Mission
The Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior. The District is also part of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System is to administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management, and where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans. The National Wildlife Refuge System consists of more than 550 refuges, and encompasses over 93 million acres nationwide. Specifically, the mission of the District is to identify, protect, and restore the tallgrass prairie/wetland ecosystem and associated habitats and to provide opportunities for compatible outdoor recreation and environmental education.
Overview
Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District is located in northwest Minnesota and includes the counties of Becker, Clay, Mahnomen, Norman, and Polk - an area of approximately 6,000 square miles. The District is divided into three general landscape areas, roughly equal in size. From west to east, these are: the Red River Valley floodplain, the glacial moraine/prairie pothole region, and the hardwood/coniferous forest.
Land acquisition and management efforts are focused in the prairie pothole region of the District, with a goal of providing habitat for nesting waterfowl. District acquisition and restoration efforts, began in the late 1950s, have preserved and restored portions of the tallgrass prairie and prairie wetlands. Approximately 3,200 acres of the District's total acreage are true native prairie remnants. The primary economic base of the area is agriculture, with a strong tourism industry based on area lakes on the west side of the District. Intensive agriculture and drainage over the past 100 years has extensively altered the look and function of the historic landscape; row crop agriculture dominates the landscape today.
Threshing machine – Photo credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Shawn May
A variety of acquisition efforts, including the Small Wetlands Acquisition Program, which permits the Fish and Wildlife Service to purchase lands for waterfowl production using money generated from the sale of "Duck Stamps," have preserved important remnants of the tallgrass prairie and prairie wetland ecosystems.
The purpose of the Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District is to acquire habitat for waterfowl production. Once a parcel of land is purchased, it is seeded with native prairie plants, and any drained wetlands are restored. Generally, home sites, fences, rock piles, tree groves, and other undesirable elements of the habitat are removed.
During the first few years of the restoration effort, mechanical weed control is generally necessary. Once a native stand of vegetation becomes established, periodic controlled burns are conducted in order to maintain the vigor of the vegetation and discourage the growth of woody species (trees). Other management priorities include reducing the presence of non-native, invasive weed species (such as leafy spurge, crown vetch and purple loosestrife) by utilizing cooperative partnerships and an integrated pest management approach.
History
Scanty evidence indicates that the Teton and Yankton tribes, culturally related to the eastern Dakota tribe, lived on the Minnesota prairies, including the five counties of the Detroit Lakes District. However, very little is known about these people prior to their displacement from Minnesota in the 19th century.
French explorers and fur traders dominated Minnesota from 1660 to 1760. The British dominated the area from 1760 to 1803, even though Minnesota belonged to Spain during most of that period. With the purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1803, western Minnesota became part of the United States.
There are no known archeological sites from the French or British periods or from the first half of the 19th century in the district, however, there are many sites and standing structures that date from the settlement and occupancy period of the 1860s to the present time. There are 33 properties listed on the National Register of Historical Places in the District. One property is a prehistoric site; all of the others date after the 1860s. None are located on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands.
The District was established in 1962 as part of the Fergus Falls Wetland Management District, with the advent of the Accelerated Small Wetlands Acquisition Program. In 1971, the counties of Becker, Clay, Norman, Mahnomen, and Polk were split off from the Fergus Falls District to form the Tamarac District, with headquarters located at the Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge. In 1975, the District was restructured and renamed the Detroit Lakes Wetland Management District, with the District office located one mile north of the Detroit Lakes city limits on the Headquarters WPA.
Management Activities
Habitat management activities on waterfowl production areas focus on the restoration and maintenance of grasslands and associated wetlands for the benefit of waterfowl and other migratory birds. Tools available to the wetland manager include prescribed fire, water level manipulation, waterfowl nesting structures, mowing, tree and brush removal, and haying and grazing.
The District is heavily involved in private lands activities and has formed effective partnerships to restore and/or enhance drained wetlands and grasslands within the five-county working area. With landowner approval, bulldozers and backhoes are used to fill in drainage ditches, break drain tiles, and install water control structures to maintain desired water levels of the wetlands. In time, wetlands, once drained and forgotten, can be revived to carry on their vital role as part of the prairie landscape.
