Lakeland Currents, your public affairs program for north central Minnesota.

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Hello again friends I'm Jason Eden's your host of Lakeland Currents.

Thanks for joining the conversation today and thanks for your ongoing support of Lakeland Public Tv.

Here in Minnesota we spend a lot of time talking about hunting and fishing.

Hook and bullet, fan and feather for many of us part of our DNA, however we don't spend nearly as much time talking about non-game wildlife species.

which is why I'm excited to welcome Amy Westmark to the conversation today.

Amy is the non-game wildlife specialist based in Bemidji.

Amy welcome to the program and thanks so much for making time today.

Amy: Yeah, hi Jason.

It's good to be here.

Jason: So first of all what's the mission of the Non-game Wildlife Program, for those people that don't know?

Amy: Sure, on the mission of the non-game program is to protect, to maintain and enhance and to restore Minnesota's Non-game Wildlife Resources.

For their intrinsic value, their ecosystem functions, their long-term benefits and for public enjoyment, in particular.

Jason: Fantastic.

Well you know I've been curious in preparation for our conversation, what exactly constitutes a game versus a non-game wildlife species?

So, just what was the past in the past week or two in Wisconsin nearly 200 wolves were taken as part of a new wolf hunt.

Here in Minnesota is the wolf non-game or is it a game species?

Amy: The wolf in Minnesota is considered a game species and many are.

I don't think are familiar with the distinction.

So, in Minnesota all species that you can hunt or fish or trap are considered game species.

The wolf has had hunting seasons in the past, even though there's not a current season.

It is still considered a game species.

Non-game species are diverse in our states.

There are many non-game species some which we're more familiar with and some which are are less common and many folks are a little less familiar with.

But non-game species include birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, fish invertebrates.

Things like bees, butterflies, even mussels.

And so that is a wide diversity of species hundreds of species that are native to Minnesota but are not considered to be game species.

So all of those fall under the purview of the Non-Game Wildlife Program.

Jason: I learned on your website that there are nearly 2,000 non-game wildlife species that are native to Minnesota.

So that represents a ton of work, tell us about one of your success stories in the Non-game Wildlife Program?

Amy: Sure, the well the Non-game Wildlife Program has been around for over 40 years and in that time some of the success stories that you're referring to include species like the eagle our state bird.

The common loon, trumpeter swans, ospreys, peregrine falcons, eastern bluebirds all of these species once saw great declines in the state where we're almost entirely gone from Minnesota.

And work from non from the non-game program along with other agencies and interested partners in the state has been instrumental in the recovery of those species.

And you know it's hard to think now that many of these species are so common that they they could have been you know almost a rare sighting in the state a number of years ago.

But they have come a long, long way.

So, those are some of the successful partnerships that the Non-game Program has been a part of over the years.

And it's really cool to be a part of a program that has that background and that history.

Jason: Now when you say partnerships Amy, who are you referring to?

With whom is the DNR partnering on behalf of our Non-game Wildlife species?

Amy: Yeah so, partners come in a lot of different shapes and sizes.

We partner with external agencies, you know federal agencies, The Fish and Wildlife Service for instance.

We the Non-game Program partners with other state agencies with other divisions within the DNR with non-profits.

You know I think of the Trumpeter Swan Society when it came to swan reintroduction.

We also partner with and rely on the citizens of Minnesota.

So, the program, the Non-game Wildlife Program is quite unique in that it's almost entirely funded by donations from Minnesotans.

Most of the DNR is funded by the general fund or by licensed sales and taxes.

The Non-game Wildlife Program is... 80% of our funding comes from donations.

So, those are primarily given to the non-game program at tax time.

There's what we call the The Non-game Wildlife check-off.

That is an option on everyone's tax income, tax forms.

That gives Minnesotans a chance to help partner with us, to support you know our native wildlife species.

So, we use those funds to leverage more funding from state and federal grants to increase our potential.

You know to to support non-game species in the state.

Jason: Interesting.

Amy: I was just going to say the program is really unique and it's probably the largest and most successful Non-game Wildlife Program in the nation.

So, I think it's something that Minnesotans can and should be proud of.

Jason: In the nation?

That's interesting.

So, you would describe the Minnesota DNR's Non-game Wildlife Program is one of the most successful in the country?

Why is that?

What distinguishes it from other programs?

Amy: The amount of support that we get from our citizens is more than many states have to work with.

So the generous donations of Minnesotan's give us resources to be able to accomplish more than other states.

You know maybe have to work with.

And other other state agencies are set up in in different ways.

So, we are housed within the Minnesota DNR.

Department of Natural Resources.

Other states may have Non-game Wildlife Programs that are set up in different capacities than ours.

And so, it you know it gives us the opportunity to work with other divisions within the DNR.

To do a lot of good within the state.

Jason: Interesting.

So, it does that number oscillate at all from year to year?

The amount of support that you're getting from Minnesotans.

Does that oscillate from year to year or is it pretty consistent?

Can you depend on it?

Amy: You know, it has remained fairly consistent.

I've been only with the program here for about a year.

And so I don't have as much of a background with the history.

But it's my understanding that the program funding through donations has been consists, fairly consistent throughout the years.

I think one thing that we've seen is we've had fewer donations but folks are are donating more when they do donate.

So, we seem to be working with it's about a million dollars that folks give a year.

Jason: You know I've always wondered about conservation officers.

Obviously conservation officers are also stewards of our wildlife.

To what extent do they support the Non-game Wildlife Program?

Do they have a role?

Do they have any enforcement authority?

Within your program.

Amy: Sure, we work directly with the DNR conservation officers.

There are state and federal laws that protect some species of non-game wildlife.

And so, we work with our conservation officers to enforce those laws.

An example of that would be Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Migratory birds have protections in our country and our officers do have authority to maintain and uphold those protections.

So, they do help us out.

We work together with them quite closely.

Jason: Okay, what about threatened species in Minnesota right now?

You mentioned that the conservation officers might lean in if there's a species that's particularly threatened.

Can you tell us a little bit about the status of some of our iconic species here in Minnesota?

Or lesser known species?

Amy: Sure, yeah I'm glad you brought it up.

That's a priority to the Non-game Wildlife Program.

So, just an important distinction there are species that are listed within the state as endangered, threatened or special concern.

Those are different classifications based on how at risk their populations are to disappearing or their habitat is to disappearing.

So, some species may be listed within the state of Minnesota that are not listed federally or vice versa.

Some species that we might see here in northwestern Minnesota maybe that folks are familiar with, would include the Blanding's Turtle.

That would be kind of in the southeastern portion of northwestern Minnesota.

And they have a larger range across Minnesota the rest of Minnesota.

They are a listed species in the state and one that we are conducting, monitoring and research projects on.

A lot of that work is ongoing work.

Much of it is happening outside of northwestern Minnesota but they are listed as a threatened species within the state.

Folks may be familiar with the Northern Lawn Eared Bat, they are actually listed as special concern here in Minnesota.

They are federally listed as threatened.

Here in the northwest we monitor a couple of listed species including Piping Plover.

They have historically been active nesters up on Lake of The Woods and they are both state and federally listed.

Also in Lake of The Woods is the common Tern and they are a listed species in Minnesota as well.

Jason: What about aquatic invasive species?

I'm curious, whose jurisdiction does that fall under?

Is that something that your office is involved in monitoring or who's really responsible for that at the statewide level?

Amy: So, we do have an Aquatic Invasive Species Program.

And that is separate from Non-game Wildlife.

So, and their focus is on of course non-native species to the state of Minnesota.

Where ours would be on on native species.

So, where we would interact would be when a non-native species is impacting a native non-game species.

Jason: Sure.

So, I think you mentioned Muscles earlier in our conversation, would that be an example where you might collaborate with some of your colleagues elsewhere in the state?

To ensure that the muscles that are endemic to Minnesota their populations can thrive?

Amy: Yes, definitely.

We coordinate closely with fisheries on Muscle populations.

Muscles rely on fish species as for part of their life cycle and so we want to work closely with our partners in fisheries when we are doing work, especially work with rare species of Mussels.

And with any species of concern whether they be threatened or endangered species, part of what we do in non-game is to review projects maybe they'd be state projects.

That other divisions within the DNR have planned.

Or outside of the department projects that could impact a native non-game species.

We closely review those projects as we're able and provide comments and guidance and direction on how to best protect our native non-game species.

Jason: You know I'm glad you brought that up Amy.

Because I was actually going to ask you about the Minnesota Wildlife Plan.

Which is a part of the Non-game Wildlife Program.

And in it, it says that one of the things that's a priority is reducing habitat fragmentation.

So, my question for you is, you ever feel that different parts of the DNR are at odds with one another ?

In terms of your objectives.

Do you ever feel that DNR forestry or other divisions are making your job at non-game wildlife more difficult?

Amy: Each division of the DNR has slightly different goals.

And a part of my job is to provide technical guidance to other divisions on on how to accomplish those goals.

While keeping non-game wildlife in mind.

And so, a lot of the technical guidance that I do is with our other divisions in the DNR, to make sure that we're considering non-game resources in our other efforts.

So, like forestry, like you mentioned.

Jason: Sure.

So, it's my understanding that there are about 10 Non-game Wildlife Specialists throughout the state?

What backgrounds do you all have in order to work in this environment?

I'm sure that it's not monolithic.

But can you tell us a little bit about that?

Amy: Sure.

Yeah, so you're right.

We have about 10 staff members.

We have two specialists for the most part in each region of the state.

We have four regions, so we have two full-time staff in the northwest.

And the same is true for our three other regions.

And we have a handful of staff in St. Paul that do coordination and our grants work and statewide education programming.

Most of us come from wildlife backgrounds, I most recently worked for the DNR for the division of wildlife and recently transitioned into non-game.

Many of my colleagues have worked outside of Minnesota, for other you know fish and game departments.

With the wide variety of species.

So, everyone brings to the table a different background in wildlife, which is really useful so we can all work as part of a team.

And we have you know a wide variety of skill sets to draw from.

Jason: I didn't realize there was another division of wildlife.

So, that's separate from non-game wildlife?

Amy: Correct.

Yep, so non-game wildlife is a part of what's called the Division of Ecological and Water Resources.

And that's quite a large division but separate from that is the division of wildlife.

And that's where all of the the game management is done.

So, all of those animals that you can hunt and trap.

Jason: Okay, that makes sense.

Well you mentioned ecological and water surveys and one of the things I was curious about is, how do you actually know how many species are in a given part of the state or throughout the state?

Is there some sort of ecological survey, that takes place regularly?

Amy: We do have within the DNR, what is called the Minnesota Biological Survey.

And that program is a group of staff, highly specialized staff.

Who have basically canvassed the state and surveyed for species of plants and animals.

And documented where they are.

So, that's been a long term survey effort and they are mostly done with the survey, with the statewide survey at this point.

So, that effort gave us a good idea or snapshot at least of where species are and where they're not within the state.

And we draw from you know the data collected from the biological survey to make decisions on where to focus some of our conservation efforts.

Jason: So, like the census, does that happen every 10 years?

Or how often do you do that?

Amy: The Biological Survey effort was a one-time pass through the state.

And from there what we're doing is taking a look at a more prioritized list of species.

And in revisiting locations, first more surveys and monitoring.

And that a lot of that work falls onto the non-game wildlife staff but we still have Minnesota Biological Survey staff.

And we work closely with them.

For wildlife, we have staff who are focused on Invertebrate Biology Ornithology Herpetology within the Minnesota Biological Survey.

So, they're more specialists I would call them.

And we the non-game staff work closely with those staff in our regions to do surveys and monitoring.

Jason: Are there species in Minnesota or are there species that were in Minnesota that have been extirpated?

That you think can be brought back and populations can be re-established in our state?

Amy: There are a couple of species that come to mind in Northwest Minnesota or formerly from Northwest Minnesota.

The Burrowing Owl, which is a prairie dwelling species.

Hasn't been documented in a while in the state.

As well as a species of small mammal known as the Richardson's Ground Squirrel or Flicker Tails people know them as.

They still inhabit Northwest Minnesota but in small colonies.

And there are very few of them left.

And so, those are Prairie Dwelling Species.

With the loss of our prairies over time, you know we haven't been seeing those species or at least not in the number that we used to be.

With the return of our prairies perhaps we will see a return of those types of species.

I guess with that said the Richardson's Ground Squirrel is one that we have been monitoring in the northwest.

We know of a couple colonies that remain and we're always looking for sightings of more.

So, if people happen to know where more are we're always keeping our eyes out for them.

Actually now they are seen most commonly in grazed pastures and so when we hear from folks who have seen them it's out in the cow pasture.

Jason: Interesting.

Well Amy, we only have about a minute left and I still got a couple quick questions for you here.

One of which is when there are large infrastructure projects in the states, such as mining or line 3.

To what extent is the Non-game Wildlife Program involved in assessing the environmental impact of those infrastructure projects?

Amy: We review environmental impact statements and provide comments on the impacts to non-game wildlife.

That we t see happening as a result of those projects.

There are a lot of projects for us to review and some of them take more time than others.

And are more of a priority.

But particularly those projects where there are species of threatened listed species, those that are threatened endangered or special concern.

When we see impacts or potential impacts to those species then those are cases where we get involved.

And provide some recommendations for how to avoid detrimental impacts to those species.

Jason: So, just two more quick questions.

One of which is, how else can citizens get involved in the Non-game Wildlife Program?

Aside from simply making a donation.

Amy: I'm glad you asked.

We have a couple of projects statewide that we are always looking for volunteers to help with.

First of all you can go to our website and look for volunteer opportunities anytime.

We have two Moon Monitoring Projects that we're always looking for volunteers to help us with.

One of those programs, The Minnesota Loon Monitoring Program focuses in Becker and Ottertail counties.

And we need about 250 volunteers every year to make that happen.

And so we're always looking for people.

And there's a second monitoring Loon Program called the Loon Watcher Survey.

Anyone, anywhere in the state can help us out with that.

If they live on a lake or like to frequent the lakes.

That's very helpful.

I'm also annually looking for reports of Mud Puppies.

We have concerns with Mud Puppy health issues.

Mud Puppy populations particularly between Detroit Lakes and Alexandria.

We're lucky enough to have this large species of Salamander in this part of the state.

And occasionally we see die-offs and we're trying to figure out why.

So, ask if folks see them to give me a call and let me know.

So, we can figure out.

Jason: That's very specific.

Amy: Yeah.

Jason: Well the last question I have for you Amy is.

I'm just curious what's your personal outlook for the health and well-being of our biodiversity here in Minnesota?

Amy: I am optimistic about the health and well-being of our species in Minnesota.

In part because of the energy and the support that I feel from or that I get from those Minnesotans that do support programs.

Such as the Non-Game Wildlife Program, I think we're lucky that we have a state full of people who appreciate wildlife and that goes a long way.

And so I'm hopeful that we'll continue to retain our diversity of wildlife into the future.

Jason: Well, thank you for your part in that.

And thank you so much for joining me today Amy.

I really appreciate it.

Amy: Yeah, no problem.

It's good to meet with you.

Jason: Likewise.

And thank all of you for joining me.

Once again I'm Jason Eden's, your host of Lakeland Currents.

Be kind and be well.

We'll see you next week.