The Forests and Wildlife Stewards had an opportunity to review and comment on the “Minnesota Sharp-tailed Grouse Management Plan – ‘Saving Wide Open Spaces for the Firebird’”, prepared by the Minnesota Sharp-tailed Grouse Society. The plan is comprehensive and detailed in addressing how to restore pre-settlement prairie and shrubland habitats that would favor Sharp-tailed populations and many other prairie wildlife species such as bees, birds, butterflies, Plains Pocket Mouse, and reptiles.
Natural landscapes that store carbon in root systems are a hallmark of prairie landscapes and will help mitigate climate change. Providing opportunities to increase populations of the “Firebird” are important in continuing past and present traditions of Dakota and Ojibwe cultures. Grouse populations continue to drop as habitat continues to degrade, so measures are necessary to improve landscapes and increase their numbers.
Based on these environmental and wildlife benefits, the Forests and Wildlife Stewards have gained North Star Chapter endorsement of the Minnesota Sharp-tailed Grouse Management Plan as prepared and written by the MSGS.
Wolves may be federally protected at the moment, but the Minnesota Wolf Management Plan is still a potential threat to our wolves. In August the Stewards submitted comments to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in support of maintaining federal wolf protections through the Endangered Species Act. We have continued to monitor the situation and will oppose all efforts to hunt and trap wolves in Minnesota and beyond.
In our efforts to promote and create effective change in environmental policy, we work as stewards and as an organization at large, with other environmental groups. These collaborative efforts prove the power in numbers. One of those groups, Minnesota-based Howling For Wolves, is holding a Wolf Day At The Capitol on Tuesday February 7th at 10:15 a.m. Let’s show our support by showing. Together, we can protect the pack. Sign up at this link.