Cattle Herds, Prescribed Burns are Saving Minnesota’s Parklands

Managed by Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR), Caribou Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is a 14,000-acre mosaic of grasslands, sedge meadows, thick brush and scattered aspen groves. It closely resembles the historic Tall Aspen Parklands that existed prior to American settlement, when herds of bison and wildfires shaped the landscape.   

Today, conservation managers use cattle and prescribed burns to keep these grasslands healthy. MNDNR’s collaboration with local ranchers is key to maintaining this precious resource. It is a prime example of ranchers, state agencies and conservation groups collaborating to protect and restore native habitats.   

“We are attempting to develop a prescription to benefit both the resource and the ranchers that help us manage it,” said Hayley Larson of MNDNR. “The land seems to thrive off well-thought-out, planned disturbances such as grazing, fire and mowing. One of our objectives for this site is to reduce brush density by 30 percent to maintain a functional prairie. Without disturbance, our native grasslands would be lost to succession and woody encroachment.”   

Ducks Unlimited (DU), The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and MNDNR are working together to keep the grasslands of Caribou WMA robust. Cattle have been grazing here for nearly 50 years. Native grasslands, when grazed properly, provide food for livestock, and cattle are an essential habitat management tool to help regenerate the prairie. The partnership between state agencies and livestock producers is a win-win. The livestock producers can feed their cattle and provide rest to their own pastures, and the state can maintain large swaths of land at a low cost, allowing them to manage more property for recreation.

 “If we don’t manage the land, it will not be the same ecosystem in five, 10, or 15 years,” said DU Regional Biologist Sabrina Claeys. “Cattle grazing mimics what the herds of bison once did, feeding on prairie grasses and then moving on to the next. That, along with wildfires, naturally kept grasslands healthy.”   

Cattle are rotated every couple of days through a series of designated paddocks, each a few hundred acres in size. Once the cattle have grazed a paddock, they are moved to the next pasture. As the cattle graze across each unit, they help slow brush growth and reduce thatch, allowing more sunlight to the soil, to keep the prairies thriving. It’s a delicate balance; each season varies from year to year. Grazing, fire and mechanical brush treatments are never a guarantee depending on ground conditions, weather and numerous other factors.

“We are constantly looking for better ways to manage this unit,” Claeys said. “The land and conservation of the resource are always at the top of our minds, but we also must make sure the rotations work with the livestock producer. This is why planning and communication are critical.”    

Rotational grazing benefits soil health, creating robust root systems that retain more water, which promotes plant growth. This is crucial during droughts. Healthy grasslands also slow erosion and better regulate the amount of nutrients, like phosphorus and nitrogen, that enter the watershed via rainwater runoff. Grasslands provide critical nest cover for waterfowl as well. In fact, without the cattle industry, there would be far less prairie for breeding ducks and a litany of other wildlife species.   

“Sharp-tailed grouse are thriving up here because of how we manage the land at Caribou WMA,” said Jason Wollin of MNDNR. “We have a thriving elk herd, deer, black bears…I think this has been a win-win for producers and conservation.”   

With funding from the Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund distributed through the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources, Dr. Eric Mousel, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, is studying the effects of prescribed burning, periodic brush mowing and seasonal livestock grazing on brush dynamics in the Tallgrass Prairie Parklands region. His research aims to develop management strategies that are better suited to reducing brush density so that grasslands can flourish, and multi-species habitats can thrive.    

“Our findings will aid private and public land managers so they have better tools to manage the landscape for people and wildlife, so that we can all utilize these lands for generations to come,” Mousel said.