971 East Frontage Road
Litchfield, MN 55355
Phone (320)693-2849
Fax (320)693-2326
EMail tom_bell@fws.gov

Litchfield Wetland Management District is located on the eastern edge of the Prairie Pothole Region in central Minnesota. Here, just a little south of the famous mythological Lake Wobegone where "all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average," over 30,000 acres of Service owned land and 8,000 acres of wetland easements provide outstanding marsh, prairie, transition, and woodland habitats.

District lands are located on over 130 Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs) scattered throughout 7 counties. These WPAs vary greatly in size and vegetation and provide homes or life cycle requirements for numerous plant and animal species. Twenty-eight Federally listed endangered, threatened, or special concern species and eighty-three State listed species including the bald eagle, trumpeter swan, Cerulean warbler, and Henslow's sparrow utilize District habitats.

Hunting, recreational trapping, wildlife observation, and nature photography are popular activities on District WPAs. Maps showing the locations of the WPAs and advice about where to find particular species or features is available at the District Office.

Ring-necked pheasant, white-tailed deer, waterfowl especially mallards, blue-wing teal, and Canada geese are found on most WPAs and are frequently pursued by hunters. Other visitors search out patches of unbroken native prairie for glimpses and photographs of warblers, pasque flowers, blue-eyed grass, and native orchids.

After 150 years of increasingly intensive agriculture and urban development, very few native prairie sites or unimpacted wetlands remain in Central Minnesota. District staff work closely with the Litchfield Acquisition Office to buy land or easements that protect the best habitats (existing or potential) available from willing sellers. The funds for these purchases comes from the sale of Federal Duck Stamps.

Since 1987 District staff have restored over 5,000 wetland basins totaling over 15,000 acres. Approximately 3,000 of these wetlands were restored on private land through the Services' Partners for Wildlife Program. Many of these wetlands are now permanently protected from draining, filling, or unauthorized burning through the purchase of Waterfowl Production Easements from the owners.

Most of the land acquired by the District in fee title had been farmed or heavily grazed for many years. These areas are seeded or interseeded with over 20 species of grasses and forbes and managed with prescribed burning to keep the vegetation vigorous and diverse. Occasionally mowing, haying, grazing, biological controls (insect releases), or chemical treatments are also employed as management tools.

Upland areas seeded to prairie mixes are checked annually for tree, brush, and noxious weed invasions. Nesting cover is monitored for diversity and density through field inspections and Robel pole readings. Waterfowl populations are surveyed through "four-square mile waterfowl pair counts". Other migratory birds are sampled on an annual Point Count Survey. Information on the abundance and distribution of predators populations is obtained through participation in the Minnesota Predator Scent Post Survey.