Optimizing Native Prairie Seed Harvest and Replanting on State-owned Lands. Considerations for Criteria, Guidelines, and Incentives that Ensure the Survival of Native Prairie Remaining in Minnesota

摘要

The 2007 Minnesota Legislative Session appropriated the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR) $125,000 'to support a technical advisory committee and for land management units that manage grass lands in order to develop plans to optimize native prairie seed harvest and replanting on state-owned lands' (Chapter 57, Article 1, Sec.4, Subd.8). Furthermore, the Legislature directed the MNDNR to establish a Technical Advisory Committee, and submit a report by December 15, 2007, on its outcomes, including criteria, guidelines, and recommendations for incentives. This directive led the MNDNR to create the Prairie Seed Production and BioEnergy Project (PSPB). MNDNR (in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the Board of Water and Soil Resources) created the Technical Advisory Committee. The Technical Advisory Committee is comprised of non-government stakeholders and State agency personnel as mandated in statute. A Technical Team of plant ecologists and restoration practitioners representing MNDNR Divisions also aided in the PSPB project. The findings of the Technical Advisory Committee were presented to the NextGen Energy Board on November 29, 2007. This report marks the completion of Phase I of this project and meets the legislation's requirement to submit a report on outcomes from the technical committee to the legislative finance chairs on environment and natural resources by December 15, 2007.