Fish and Wildlife seeks county support-in-principle for federal conservation funding; commissioners ask for project notices

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials told the Pipestone County Board of Commissioners on May 27 that they may use Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) dollars to acquire prairie and wetland parcels in the Northern Tallgrass Prairie project area and asked the board for a motion of non-objection to that use.

The request matters because LWCF-funded acquisitions can be fee purchases or conservation easements that change ownership or the long-term use of agricultural land. The Fish and Wildlife Service sought a policy-level assurance that LWCF could be considered, while also describing its existing use of migratory-bird funds for wetland purchases and ongoing easement work in Pipestone County.

Eric Erhard, Realty Specialist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the agency wanted to “inform the board of the Northern Tallgrass Prairie goals and available funding sources” and requested a motion of non-objection to use LWCF within the refuge project area. John Byer, Wetland District Manager and acting manager for the Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge, described the refuge boundary and the agency’s focus on protecting remnant prairie and wetlands.

Byer said the refuge presently owns about 6,000 acres in fee title across Minnesota and Iowa and holds roughly 9,000 acres under easement; in Pipestone County he said the Pipestone Creek unit is 18 acres in fee title and that the service manages 18 habitat easements totaling about 1,286 acres. Erhard and Byer explained that easements are working-lands agreements that generally leave grazing and many private uses intact and that most purchases originate from willing sellers.

Commissioners pressed on fiscal and local impacts. A commissioner noted that fee acquisitions remove land from the tax rolls and asked whether the county would be reimbursed; Erhard and Byer described a “refuge revenue sharing” payment that differs from state Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) and said the county assessor would determine local tax valuation changes. Byer summarized the program’s intent: “to preserve some of those landscapes that have never seen a plow.”

Several commissioners said they were uncomfortable offering blanket non-objection without project-specific details. Commissioner Luke said, “I have a problem with that, I guess,” and asked for notifications on a site-by-site basis. Commissioners emphasized willingness to be partners and to be notified early, but not to give an advance blanket approval that would remove local review and discussion.

The Fish and Wildlife Service said it could accommodate that preference and that it commonly provides county notifications; officials also said LWCF does not require the same procedural county approval that the migratory-bird funded projects had required in the past. The agency said it sought the county’s cooperation and would provide site-level information and follow-up before completing transactions.

The board did not take a formal vote to approve or object to future LWCF-funded acquisitions. No motion carrying approval or non-objection was adopted; commissioners asked the agency to return with project-level notices and to continue the collaborative approach.

Background: the Northern Tallgrass Prairie National Wildlife Refuge is authorized to operate in an 85-county region of western Minnesota and northwest Iowa to protect remnant grasslands and wetlands. Land and Water Conservation Fund money is derived principally from federal energy-lease receipts; migratory-bird program funds are largely financed by duck-stamp sales.