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Welcome to Region 6
The Mountain-Prairie Region consists of 8 states in the heart of the American west including Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.
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Science
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Science
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a long tradition of scientific excellence and always uses the best-available science to inform its work to conserve fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitat for the benefit of the American public.
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National Wildlife Refuges
Where Wildlife Comes First
Created in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt, today's National Wildlife Refuge System protects habitats and wildlife across the country, from the Alaskan tundra to subtropical wetlands. Managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Refuge System's 560-plus refuges cover more than 150 million acres and protect nearly 1,400 species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish.
While national wildlife refuges were created to protect wildlife, they are for people too. Refuges are ideal places for people of all ages to explore and connect with the natural world. We invite you to learn more about and visit the national wildlife refuges and wetland management districts in Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
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Ecological Services
The Mountain-Prairie Region's Office of Ecological Services (ES) works to restore and protect healthy populations of fish, wildlife, and plants and the environments upon which they depend. Using the best available science, ES personnel work with Federal, State, Tribal, local, and non-profit stakeholders, as well as private land owners, to avoid, minimize, and mitigate threats to our Nation's natural resources.
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Migratory Birds
Providing leadership in the conservation of migratory bird habitat through partnerships, grants, and outreach for present and future generations. The Migratory Bird Program is responsible for maintaining healthy migratory bird populations for the benefit of the American people.
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Fish and Aquatic Conservation
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Fish and Aquatic Conservation Program in the Mountain-Prairie Region helps conserve, protect, and enhance aquatic resources and provides economically valuable recreational fishing to anglers across the country. The program comprises 12 National Fish Hatcheries.
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Law Enforcement
Law enforcement is essential to virtually every aspect of wildlife conservation. The Office of Law Enforcement contributes to Service efforts to manage ecosystems, save endangered species, conserve migratory birds, preserve wildlife habitat, restore fisheries, combat invasive species, and promote international wildlife conservation.
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External Affairs
External Affairs staff in the Mountain-Prairie Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provides support to the regional office and field stations to communicate and faciliate information about the Service's programs to the public, media, Congress, Tribes, partners, and other stakeholders in the 8-state region.
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Partners for Fish & Wildlife - South Dakota
Overview | Accomplishments | Focus Areas | Contact Us | Open / Close All
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Trumpeter Swan on a PFW wetland project. Credit: Steve Bunkers.
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American Avocet on a SD PFW wetland project. Credit: Steve Fairbairn/USFWS.
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PFW grassland restoration. Credit: USFWS.
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Aerial view of a prairie pothole complex. Credit: USFWS.
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Livestock watering facility for a managed grazing system. Credit: USFWS.
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Prairie pothole wetland in a pasture. Credit: USFWS.
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Trumpeter Swans on a PFW wetland project. Credit: USFWS.
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PFW grassland restoration. Credit: USFWS.
The Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program in South Dakota uses a “grass roots” philosophy to develop partnerships and programs that simultaneously promote wildlife conservation and profitable agriculture.
The South Dakota Partners Program has utilized this philosophy to voluntarily restore, enhance, and establish tens of thousands of acres of grassland and wetland habitats with landowners throughout the state. A common thread through every South Dakota Partners project is the ability to be flexible and responsive enough to accommodate the site-specific needs and concerns of landowners. Since 1991, this approach has resulted in approximately 7,000 South Dakota landowners becoming valued Partners for Fish and Wildlife partners, and the number of new landowner requests for assistance continues to grow.
South Dakota Activities | Priorities | Long-Term Goals | Habitats | Conservation Strategies | Partners
South Dakota Activities
The four most common conservation practices implemented by the South Dakota PFW program include wetland restoration, grassland enhancement, grassland restoration, and riparian enhancement.
- Wetland restorations primarily consist of closing drainage ditches with earthen plugs.
- Grassland enhancement via managed grazing systems are predominately implemented in native grassland tracts containing wetlands. Four cell, twice-over grazing systems are one of the more common grazing configurations. In these systems, grazing units are split into four pastures and each pasture is grazed twice through the course of the grazing season.
- Grassland restoration primarily involves seeding of cropland back to a mixture of native grasses and forbs. Typically, 10 to 15 species of native grasses and forbs are used in the seed mix. Once the grassland is fully restored, these sites often are utilized as pasture.
- Riparian enhancement projects typically involve fencing of streams or riparian areas to exclude livestock during key portions of the growing season. Alternative livestock watering sources such as pipelines, tanks and solar panels are often installed in conjunction with the riparian exclusions.
Priorities
We work with a wide variety of partners to implement high priority wetland and grassland conservation projects. Partnerships with livestock owners to conserve grasslands are particularly important. This priority scheme is consistent with and fulfills the implementation priorities of a wide variety of established conservation plans including the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, the Prairie Pothole Joint Venture Implementation Pan, and Partners in Flight. For example, the Partners in Flight plan for western South Dakota states, "Maintenance of a ranching economy here is compatible with the needs of grassland birds and should be the highest conservation priority."
Long-Term Goals
In general, the long-term goal of the South Dakota Partners Program is to promote a sustainable future for rural communities, landowners and wildlife alike by restoring, enhancing, and conserving high priority wetland and grassland habitats.
Habitats
In terms of wildlife conservation efforts, a defining feature of South Dakota’s landscape is the unique mix of native grasslands and wetlands. The Prairie Pothole Region of eastern South Dakota contains over 900,000 unique wetlands and over 5 million acres of native prairie. These wetlands host a wide variety of breeding birds including waterfowl. For example, much of eastern South Dakota hosts over 20 breeding duck pairs per square mile and certain areas host over 100 breeding duck pairs per square mile. In addition, the Prairie Coteau in the northeast portion of South Dakota’s Pothole Region contains some of the largest remaining tracts of northern tallgrass prairie in the nation. The western portion of the South Dakota Pothole Region is characterized by the Missouri Coteau which has been documented to host some of the highest breeding duck densities in all of North America. The western portions of South Dakota are characterized by large tracts of mixed and short grass native prairie that also contain many wetland and riparian features. A wide variety of peer-reviewed literature has documented that these western landscapes are also extremely productive for many breeding bird populations.
Conservation Strategies
The primary conservation strategy of the South Dakota Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program is to work with partner groups and landowners to foster actions that jointly further landscape conservation and profitable agriculture. The cornerstone of this philosophy is based on locally-led conservation.
Consistent with this philosophy, the South Dakota Partners Program tailors projects to facilitate both natural resource conservation and profitable agriculture. For example, wetland projects often provide waterfowl production, watershed restoration, and livestock water benefits, all on the same site. Likewise, managed grazing systems help to simultaneously enhance, bird production, native prairie health and livestock performance. Furthermore, native grassland restorations provide immediate benefits to all guilds of ground nesting birds and are also valued by ranchers as grazing land. With the vast majority of South Dakota’s land in private ownership, these types of "win-win" projects are essential to an effective ecosystem conservation effort.
Future Goals: Over the next five years
- Restore 1,100 wetland acres
- Enhance 130,000 grassland acres
- Restore 5,400 grassland acres
- New partnerships with 1,000 landowners
Partners
- Approximately 7,000 South Dakota landowners
- Over 45 County-level Conservation Districts
- South Dakota Association of Conservation Districts
- South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks
- Pheasants Forever
- Lower Brule Sioux Tribe
- Crow Creek Sioux Tribe
- Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
- Yankton Sioux Tribe
- Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate
- Ducks Unlimited
- East Dakota Water Development District
- South Dakota Department of Agriculture
- South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources
- USDA- Natural Resources Conservation Service
- USDA- Farm Service Agency
- National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
- The Conservation Fund
- South Dakota Izaak Walton League
- Belle Fourche Watershed Restoration Partnership
FY2015 Habitat Accomplishments
53,588 upland acres restored, established, or enhanced
2,531 wetland acres restored, established, or enhanced
FY 1987-2015 Cumulative Habitat Accomplishments
1,431,997 upland acres restored, established, or enhanced
38,834 wetland acres restored, established, or enhanced
35 miles of riparian habitat restored or enhanced
The South Dakota Partners Program has completed approximately 7,000 projects with private landowners throughout the state.
State Coordinator
Kurt Forman
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
P.O. Box 247
Suite 520-B
3rd Avenue North
Brookings, SD 57006
(605) 697-2500
kurt_forman@fws.gov
Assistant State Coordinator
Boyd Schulz
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
P.O. Box 247
Suite 520-B
3rd Avenue North
Brookings, SD 57006
(605) 697-2500
boyd_schulz@fws.gov
Private Lands Biologists
Jen Briggs
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Madison Wetland Management District
P.O. Box 48
Madison, SD 57042
(605) 256-2974
jennifer_briggs@fws.gov
Jesse Lisburg
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
420 South Garfield Avenue
Pierre, SD 57501
(605) 224-8693 ext. 237
jesse_lisburg@fws.gov
Joe Nichols
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery
423 Hatchery Circle
Spearfish, SD 57783
(605) 642-7730 ext. 212
joe_nichols@fws.gov
Al Olson
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge
39650 Sand Lake Drive
Columbia, SD 57433
(605) 885-6284 ext. 222
allen_olson@fws.gov
Chuck Pyle
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Huron Wetland Management District
Federal Building, Room 309
200 4th Street, SW
Huron, SD 57350
(605) 352-5894 ext. 113
chuck_pyle@fws.gov
Steve Spawn
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Lake Andes National Wildlife Refuge
38672 291st Street
Lake Andes, SD 57356
605-487-7603
steve_spawn@fws.gov
Tom Wickstrom
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Waubay National Wildlife Refuge
44401 134A Street
Waubay, SD 57273
(605) 947-4521
thomas_wickstrom@fws.gov
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