September 26, 2006

Stevens Point, Wisconsin – Can introducing some fresh blood from the land of the Purple and Gold across the Big Muddy reinvigorate a flock of rare birds in the land of the Green and Gold?

That’s what a group of conservationists and wildlife biologists are hoping, with the release of 31 greater prairie chickens that were transported last week from near Crookston, Minn., to Buena Vista grasslands south of Stevens Point. The release is an effort to increase the genetic diversity of Wisconsin’s largest remnant greater prairie chicken population.

The greater prairie chicken (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) was originally found throughout the prairie-rich southern half of the state and was abundant in the area farmed by Wisconsin’s wheat farmers and in the vast, open stump prairies created by extensive logging and slash fires in the northern regions of the state. But by the mid 20th Century changing agricultural land use and forest regeneration had diminished habitat and prairie chickens were preserved from extirpation only by combined state and private conservation efforts. The greater prairie chicken is listed as a threatened species under Wisconsin law.

Among those involved in prairie chicken conservation were the Wisconsin Conservation Department (predecessor of the current Department of Natural Resources) and especially department researchers Fredrick and Frances Hamerstrom of Plainfield, the Society of Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus, Ltd. (a non-profit conservation organization dedicated to preserving the species), the Dane County Conservation League, and the College of Natural Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Currently there are about 500 prairie chickens at Buena Vista, along with smaller populations in other central grassland areas. However, recent tests conducted through a collaboration of researchers from the Society of Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have shown that the long isolation of the Buena Vista birds from other populations has caused a significant loss of genetic diversity. It is essential to introduce new birds to the area to reverse the loss, according to Scott Hull, DNR upland wildlife ecologist in Madison.

Hull said this is the first time prairie chickens have been brought into Wisconsin to strengthen Wisconsin’s population. The effort this year is aimed at bringing 40 Minnesota birds to the Buena Vista Grasslands in central Wisconsin. The transport and release of Minnesota birds in Wisconsin is being conducted by Dr. John Toepfer, research consultant for the society. Each of the birds is being radio-tagged so that it can be traced later. That will enable continued monitoring of the birds’ activities to determine where they travel, how well they survive, and to establish if they successfully establish nests and rear young. Radio-tagging also allows for the birds to be trapped again so that blood can be drawn to evaluate any changes in genetic diversity.

The Department of Natural Resources will work with Dr. David Drake at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to continue work on the translocations. A similar effort in Illinois was highly successful, according to Hull.

Improving the genetic diversity is part of a larger plan to help ensure prairie chicken survival in Wisconsin, Hull said. A Central Wisconsin Grassland Conservation effort is aimed at acquiring additional grasslands and habitat and working with farmers to establish areas that provide good habitat for the prairie chickens as well as a variety of songbirds such as meadowlarks and bobolinks who need grassland habitats.

With acquisition of additional grasslands and cooperative relationships with farmers and other landowners, biologists hope the Buena Vista birds could link with smaller populations at Leola Marsh, and the Paul Olson and Mead state wildlife areas east of Marshfield.

The cooperative effort should make the translocation of 40 birds this year “very attainable,” Hull said, and the entire project, including expanding grassland links between populations, will contribute to the long-term survival of the greater prairie chicken in Wisconsin.