The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is accepting proposals for private landowners to graze cattle on parts of Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge beginning in May of 2023. The selected landowner will enter into a Cooperative Agricultural Agreement to conduct grazing on specified units of the Refuge. This conservation grazing opportunity has the potential to last through August 2025. Cattle will be rotated at specific intervals through multiple different pastures within the Refuge. More than 1,600 of the Refuge’s 23,000 acres will be grazed in 2023. The objective of grazing on the Refuge is to manage its grassland and wetland habitats and improve conditions for migratory birds and other ground-nesting birds. Rotational grazing is used in conjunction with prescribed fire and other management activities to mimic the historical disturbances that the tallgrass prairie of western Minnesota evolved with.
Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge was established in 2004 as the 545th refuge in the National Wildlife Refuge System and is located 10 miles east of Crookston, MN, in Polk County. The Glacial Ridge Project is the largest prairie-wetland restoration ever undertaken in the U.S. and began with the acquisition and restoration of more than 20,000 acres of land by The Nature Conservancy and numerous partners.
This grazing opportunity will be awarded through a closed-request process. Proposals are due March 20, 2023. Interested people can ask questions or request a copy of the grazing proposal package by contacting Gregg Knutsen, Refuge Manager, at 218-687-2229, 218-686-4329, or gregg_knutsen@fws.gov. The grazing proposal package is also posted on the Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge webpage (https://www.fws.gov/refuge/glacial-ridge). Additionally, these packages can be picked up directly at the Glacial Ridge and Rydell National Wildlife Refuge Office, located approximately four miles southwest of Erskine, MN, on County Road 210.
For more information, please contact: Gregg Knutsen, Refuge Manager Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge 218-686-4329 or at gregg_knutsen@fws.gov
