Land Restoration & Habitat

YES! Resources:

• YES! Project Guide: Pollinator Garden
• YES! Project Guide: Soil Amendment
• YES! Project Guide: Water Conservation Plan

Other Resources:

Native Prairies

• Prairie Map of Minnesota – A Map showing Minnesota’s remaining native prairie a century after the Public Land Survey
• Prairie Roots Poster – A great visual to show native MN prairie roots and their benefits
• Why do we burn prairies? – The importance of burning
• Planting and maintaining a prairie garden – University of MN Extension
• Find native MN seeds here:
  • Prairie Restorations Inc.
  • Morning Sky Greenery
  • Minnesota Native Landscapes

Pollinators

• What are pollinators? – The importance of pollinators
• Schoolyard Butterfly Garden – Monarch Joint Venture’s guide to create a pollinator friendly garden at your school
• Building and Managing Bee Hotels for Wild Bees
• Specific Pollinator Best Management Practices for Grants and Contracts – MN DNR

Hands-on Projects:

• Construct a bee hotel- Here is a simple way to make a home for solitary bees by using only a log! Here is another great resource to learn why they are important and another type of home to construct.
• Build a wood duck house- Wood ducks rely on hollow trees, old woodpecker holes, or nest boxes for nesting so we can help the species by putting houses up near wooded swamps or marshes. Here are instructions to build your own!
• Create a pollinator garden- Native flowers attract pollinators such as butterflies and bees! Learn how to create a garden here! For more information about Minnesota specific butterfly gardens look here!
• Build birdhouses for native birds- Go to NestWatch and select the area you live and the habitat type and it will tell you what species are in decline in that area and instructions on how to build a house for that particular bird!
• Make native seed balls- Here are instructions on how to create native seed balls that you can throw in a sunny area and watch grow!
• Collect seeds from native plants- Did you know that you can get free seeds? Find out more about seed collection here!
• Plant a tree- Trees are inexpensive and SO important; plant native trees in your area. Contact your county’s Soil and Water Conservation District office about their tree sale. Your regional office for University of MN Extension can provide recommendations for tree species and how to plant them successfully.
• Raise Monarch Butterflies- Collect and raise monarch butterflies to ensure their survival from egg to adult! Find out how to do this here!

Videos:

• 50 Years Ago, This Was a Wasteland. He Changed Everything (8 min)
• What is ecological restoration? (4 min)

Suggested Books:

• The Tallgrass Prairie Center Guide to Prairie Restoration in the Upper Midwest
• In Service of the Wild: Restoring and Reinhabiting Damaged Land by Stephanie Mills

• Rewilding the West: Restoration in a Prairie Landscape by Richard Manning