The Need to Protect our Valuable Wetland Resources from Fragmentation Itasca County, MN

1. The Need to Protect our Valuable Wetland Resources from FragmentationItasca County, MN By Michael R. Kreutzer University of Saint Thomas Geography Department

2. Background • Forest Legacy Program: • Protects Forests • Uses Federal & Local Funds • Conservation Easements • Landowner Continues Ownership • Can Continue to Use Forest Amenities • Timber management • Recreation • Hunting • Etc. Photo and Commentary Courtesy Of Minnesota Division of Natural Resources

3. Forest Legacy Cont. • FLEET • Forest Legacy Ecological Evaluation Tool • GIS processes used to develop project • Based on DNR research for Forest Legacy Project.

4. Why So Important? • Fragmentation: • The process by which large areas of land are divided and isolated creating broken habitats and loss of biodiversity. Photo Courtesy of www.forestbiodiversityinbc.ca/

5. Fragmentation Cont. • Some Important Notes on Fragmentation • Fragmentation Occurs Naturally • Geology • Fire • Disease (Drought, Insects) • Etc. • Some Species Do Benefit from Fragmentation • Edging Effect Photo Showing Edging Along Wildfire. Courtesy of www.northernlattitude.com

6. Main Concerns About Fragmentation • Human Influenced Fragmentation is Threatening Our Valuable Environments • Natural Processes are Being Disrupted • We Do Not Fully Understand the Implications of Our Impact • What We Do Understand is Mostly Negative Photo Showing the Effects of Clear Cutting a Forest For the Construction Of a Highway in Canada Courtesy of Friends of the Rouge Watershed: www.frw.ca/rouge

7. Purpose of The Project • How does fragmentation affect valuable water resources? • Simple Answers: • Fragmentation often leads to the mass reduction of or clear cutting of trees and forest • Soil erosion, sedimentation, loss of biodiversity occurs • Fragmentation often introduces development, resulting in pollution and unhealthy runoff • Can lead to severe economic consequences

8. So Why is the Water Issue So Important? • Lakes, Rivers, Streams • Wetlands 1) Water Storage • Act as sponges, storing and slowly releasing water • Slows water movement, reducing flood potential and erosive properties • Helps manage flow properties; especially during heavy wet or dry periods. • Economic Impact: Reduces costs of water treatment and potential flood damage

9. Wetlands Cont. • Wetlands 2) Water Filtration • Slows water down • Allows for particles to settle • Plants capture and filter sediment • Pollutants such as fertilizers and sewage are absorbed by plant roots and soils Photo Courtesy of http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/geography

10. Wetlands Cont. • Wetlands 3) Biodiversity • 43% of threatened or endangered species in U.S. rely on wetlands. • Home to millions of species of aquatic plants, insects, fish, foul, and other wildlife. Photo Courtesy of Mark Sharp: WWW.Atlas.Keystone.edu

11. Wetlands Cont. • Wetlands 4) Recreation • Wetlands provide a great place to • Hunt • Fish • Canoe • Explore our natural world • Educate Photo showing a class being taught at a wetlands site. Courtesy of depts.washington.edu/wpa/youthfami.htm

12. Wetlands Cont. • Something to Consider • Wetlands present in 1850:18.6 million acres • Wetlands present in 2003:9.3 million acres • EPA DID YOU KNOW? • In 1991 wetland-related ecotourism activities such as hunting, fishing, bird-watching, and photography added approximately $59 billion to the national economy. • According to the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, almost $79 billion per year is generated from wetland-dependent species, or about 71 percent of the nation’s entire $111 billion commercial and recreational fishing industry in 1997. • An acre of wetland can store 1–1.5 million gallons of floodwater. • Up to one-half of North American bird species nest or feed in wetlands. • Although wetlands keep only about 5 percent of the land surface in the conterminous United States, they are home to 31 percent of our plant species.

13. Research Question • How Do We Find Areas of Pristine Water Resources In Itasca County and Protect Them from Fragmentation?

14. Methodology • Used Fleet Model and Information from Minnesota Division of Natural Resources (DNR) • Created 2 Initial Continuums • Human Impact • Environmental Quality

15. Human Impact Continuum • Variables • Distance From • Development • Roads • Major Roads • Recently Logged Areas • Public Access to Water • Single Output Map Algebra • Results: • Areas of Brown = Heavy Human Impact • Areas of Green = Mild Human Impact

16. Environmental Quality Continuum • Variables • Proximity to • Wetlands • Streams • Lakes • Trout Streams • Single Output Map Algebra • Results: • Blue = Lakes/Streams • Green = High Environmental Quality • Brown = Low Environmental Quality

17. Habitat Continuum • Human Impact Continuum + Environmental Quality Continuum = Habitat Continuum • Habitat Continuum X (Habitat and In Holding + Fragmentation Parcels) = Habitat, In holdings, and Fragmentation • Results: Effects of Fragmentation

18. Final Step • Isolated Habitat, In holdings, and Fragmentation Map to be Within Itasca County Floodplains • Why Floodplains? • Great example of a mix between environmental and economic concerns • Realistically, we must select feasible amounts of land to be changes. If we only have enough money for one acre, this provides a view as to how and where it should be spent.

19. Final Map/Conclusion

20. Model

21. Discussion • For any Questions, Comments, Concerns or if you would like information on nay further research please feel free to contact me by email at mrkreutzer@stthomas.edu • Thank You!

22. Informational Sources • http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/pdf/fun_val.pdf • http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/water/index.html • http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/eco/wetlands/wetland_monitoring.pdf