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Conservation
By Becky Stockman
The Goebel Ranch Acquisition
DU helps to preserve one of the largest unbroken tracts of native grass prairie on the Missouri Coteau
Almost 8,500 acres of South Dakota's "best of the best" native grass prairie have been purchased by Ducks Unlimited and are now the centerpiece of DU's ambitious conservation initiative known  as Grasslands for Tomorrow. The Goebel Ranch, located in McPherson and Edmunds counties, South Dakota, adds to a package of conservation lands in this southeastern corner of the Missouri Coteau-to the north is the 8,000-acre Ordway Prairie Preserve owned by The Nature Conservancy, as well as a 3,300-acre federal waterfowl production area.
Together, these three ownerships cover more than 20,000 acres of prairie pothole landscape, of which 90 percent is unbroken sod. More than 3,200 acres of cropland and pasture are also owned by Ducks Unlimited in the area, which is currently targeted for substantial wetland and upland restoration work.
Why are Ducks Unlimited and other conservation groups so interested in these properties? Simply put, nothing of comparable habitat value remains for breeding waterfowl on the continent. Coteau wetlands are dynamic environments, flooding and drying out as wet and dry cycles come and go on the prairie landscape. Smaller wetlands dry out annually, recycling organic materials into an abundance of aquatic insects, snails, and other invertebrates when water returns. Duck hens need this protein and calcium-rich food to produce eggs.
During spring and summer, waterfowl such as mallards, pintails, canvasback, and blue-winged teal frequent the wetlands, as do a variety of shorebirds, including godwits, sandpipers, and the threatened piping plover and others.
The Coteau can only support its original wildlife species when it harbors healthy wetlands surrounded by undisturbed native grasses and other plant species. It is this grass cover that many ducks and songbirds will seek out to nest in once courtship is completed. Drain the wetlands or plow down the grasslands, and breeding waterfowl will not be successful. The Missouri Coteau supports the largest remaining tracts of northern native mixed-grass prairie habitat in North America.
Developing DU's Grasslands
Management System Jeff Nelson, director of operations for the Great Plains Regional Office, says that the Goebel Ranch is an excellent site for developing DU's grasslands management systems. Stating that the overall condition of the pastures is good, Nelson says, "With minor modifications to management, dormant native species will appear and increase, thus making the property ideal for waterfowl nesting habitat, while meeting the needs of livestock." During the first year of ownership, DU will focus most of its efforts on implementing appropriate grazing systems for the property. Until management plans have been fully developed, public use of the property will remain limited and by permission only. "Once the systems are in place, however," comments Nelson, "public access for recreational purposes will be assessed annually." Nelson notes that the ultimate goal of the purchase is to manage the area for waterfowl breeding potential. |
Today, the remaining interconnected mosaic of native prairie and wetlands is threatened. Despite a sparse human population and, in many areas, marginal and rocky soil conditions, large reaches of native prairie on the Missouri Coteau have given way to the cultivated grasses of spring wheat, barley, and oats, in addition to risky row crop cultivation.
The Goebel Ranch presented a unique opportunity for Ducks Unlimited to protect, in perpetuity, one of the largest remaining contiguous grassland tracts on the Missouri Coteau. Used for almost a century as a working ranch, the property came up for sale in 1999. Although the owners preferred that the land continue to be grazed, neighboring farmers were eyeing the ranch as potential cropland and were positioned to make an offer.
Fortunately for the ducks, the sellers turned down purchase proposals in anticipation of an offer coming from a conservation buyer willing to keep the property in grassland. That buyer came in the form of DU. Regional Biologist Frank Kartch shepherded the purchase process through the almost six-month period between initial assessment and closing.
When Kartch first heard of the possible sale of the Goebel Ranch, he immediately recognized the potential impact a purchase by Ducks Unlimited would have on the region. "It is the largest purchase of native grasslands in the region by a conservation buyer," says Kartch. "It has the potential of focusing a great deal of national interest on the continuing loss of native grasslands in the prairies," he continues. The Great Plains Regional Office in Bismarck, which delivers conservation areas across the northern plains states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming, introduced the property to the board of the Wetlands America Trust, an affiliate of Ducks Unlimited, in May 2000.
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November / December 2008 Issue
Feature Stories
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