View the state conservation report for Minnesota
Minnesota is part of the Mississippi Flyway and provides important migration habitat for waterfowl that are produced in the Prairie Pothole Region of the Dakotas and Canada.
Minnesota has 5,000 shallow lakes throughout its prairie and forested regions. Each fall and spring, these shallow lakes are sought out by thousands of migrating waterfowl and other water birds looking to rest and restore energy reserves before beginning the next leg of their journey.
Historically, these shallow lakes provided important food resources to migrating ducks, including aquatic invertebrates and plants (freshwater shrimp, wild rice, etc.) that are especially important to diving duck species such as lesser scaup (bluebills) and canvasback. However, today many of these shallow lakes are severely degraded due to changes in the landscape around them and invasive fish such as carp that further disrupt their ecology.
DU works in Minnesota through its Living Lakes Initiative to restore this important migration habitat, one lake at a time. Minnesota land conservation strategies. Your support of DU will help us achieve that goal.
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