DU: USDA Stats Show Native Prairie Destruction Up 40 percent

Bismarck, North Dakota - The amount of native prairie destroyed in the
Prairie Pothole Region has skyrocketed by at least 40 percent in the last
year. Ducks Unlimited says this increase validates concerns that duck
populations and the viability of ranching operations are threatened.

New statistics from the United States Department of Agriculture show the
amount of grassland being converted to cropland in North Dakota and Montana
is 6,000 acres higher this year than it was in 2006. Landowners in the two
states plowed up 30,000 acres of native prairie in 2007. More than 20,000 of
those acres were in the Prairie Pothole Region.

"Loss figures this high for these two states are not a good sign when we
haven't yet seen South Dakota's data," said Scott Stephens, DU's director of
conservation planning for the Great Plains Region. In recent years, South
Dakota has shown the largest annual losses.

The Prairie Pothole Region includes the eastern Dakotas as well as portions
of Montana, Minnesota and Iowa. Abundant with wetlands and grassland, the
region is widely known as North America's "duck factory." Most ducks nest in
grass so a significant loss of grass will mean fewer ducks produced in the
spring. Converting grassland to cropland also threatens small wetlands on
the land.

"Research shows for every one percent loss of grassland, we can expect
25,000 fewer ducks in the fall flight," Stephens said. "If we lose just two
percent a year, half of the grasslands will be gone in 35 years."

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