Make a Difference - Habitat and Landowners
Get engaged with the legislature
Local, state and federal politics dictate habitat conservation funding. Know your legislators and voice your opinion.
Form a local habitat cooperative
Work with neighboring landowners to meet the needs of wildlife in your area.
Chase profits, not yields
Acres that are not generating a net profit make great opportunities for habitat conservation
Maintain or restore wetlands
Wetlands provide diverse habitat for wetland birds and other wildlife. They also reduce flooding, prevent erosion, improve water quality and infiltration and provide quality livestock forage.
Develop prescribed grazing systems
Grazing systems that change a pasture's season of use from year-to-year provide some undisturbed nesting cover and allow grasses adequate recovery time.
Manage haying activities to benefit wildlife
Many birds are still actively nesting late into summer. If possible, delay haying until August 1. When haying, cut from the center to the outer edges, allowing wildlife to escape toward resting, unhayed areas so fawns and young broods of birds are less likely to get trapped.
Develop habitat on your land
There are a multitude of programs, guidance and technical assistance available to help you develop habitat.
Maintain or restore native prairie
Native prairie grasslands provide diverse habitat for grassland birds, pollinators and other wildlife while delivering quality livestock forage.
Plant food and cover plots or leave a few strips of standing crops
Diverse mixes of food plots can provide important food sources and cover for wildlife.
Put buffer strips around wetlands
These areas can provide nesting, bedding and escape cover for a wide variety of wildlife while preventing soil erosion and improving water quality.
Consider allowing hunting access
Consider enrolling land into the PLOTS program or signal to hunters that access is allowed with permission in other ways such as hunter-friendly signage.
Utilize wildlife friendly fencing
Too often animals and birds are injured or killed when they collide with fences or get tangled in wires. By tailoring your fence design and placement, you can prevent injury to wild animals and lessen wildlife damage to your fences.