So much depends on how the buffer is executed. I haven't read the bill, so I don't know how it is specified. I planted my own buffer with native prairie grasses and flowers, with the hopes that the deep roots would prevent bank erosion. My two neighbors also have buffers, one by leaving the canary grass that was already there, and one by not mowing that 50 feet of his lawn and letting it grow. Mine definitely sees a nice increase in butterflies and bees, not so much in the other yards. There has been no difference in birds. It is hard to think about replacing CRP without requiring some food for birds in the planting. Just not mowing does nothing in that regard. A problem with my prairie grasses is that they must be burned every few years. I have no idea how to do that without posing serious risks. Without maintenance burning, it will just decline to undesirable weeds in a few years. Buffers are not as easy to do as they are to say.
Isn't the reason for the decline in habitat our ideas about burning food crops for fuel, with all the associated soil erosion and fertilizer / pesticide runoff of the intense farming? Might that problem be a better place to put our efforts? On Sun, Mar 29, 2015 at 1:28 AM, Gordon Andersson <gpanders...@msn.com> wrote: > Bird Advocates of Minnesota > > > > As you know, the Governor has proposed legislation to create 50 foot > vegetation buffers along lakeshore, streams, rivers, and ditches throughout > the state. If enacted, this "initiative for water quality and habitat" > would benefit pheasants and other grassland birds, as well as bees and > butterflies, and improve water quality. Preventing soil erosion and > fertilizer and herbicide pollution will benefit both fish and waterbirds > and > the perennial vegetation will provide insects for breeding birds and homes > for pollinator species. > > The Governor's Office press release on the water buffer initiative (March > 12, 2015) provides context and graphics. It states as a purpose to ". > provide wildlife habitat." > http://mn.gov/governor/newsroom/pressreleasedetail.jsp?id=102-158519 It > includes links to the current House and Senate bills. > > > > In the last decade, more than 1 million acres of wildlife habitat have been > lost from Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land in Minnesota. Most of > these acres were grassland and are now row crops. The decline in grassland > birds in Minnesota and the upper Midwest is well known. If the bill is > made > law, the buffer strips would comprise 125,000 acres of additional habitat. > This would add about 1/8 of the acres lost from CRP, but that is important. > > > Steve Morse, executive director of the Minnesota Environmental Partnership > (MEP) said, "This is the most significant conservation initiative for water > and wildlife proposed by a Minnesota governor in decades". MEP wrote a > letter of support to the Governor that was signed by the 29 MEP member > organizations. > > Here is a copy of the letter: > > http://www.mepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Buffer-Sign-on-Lette > r-Final.pdf > > > > Like the Gov press release, the "Action Alert: Buffers" on the MEP home > page > provides links to both the House (HF 1534) and Senate (SF 1537) bills. > http://www.mepartnership.org/ You can use the Action Alert to add your > support to this conservation measure. > > > > The legislation has not made it out of committee yet. The deadline for > passing bills this session is midnight Monday May 18. This is an > opportunity for each of us to encourage our senator and representative to > support the bill. Even if your legislators are not on any "environment" > committees, they all still vote on bills. They work for you and they need > to hear from you. If you don't remember how to contact them, here is a > link: http://www.gis.leg.mn/OpenLayers/districts/ Put in your zipcode > and > it gives you your state Senator and Representative. If your computer won't > work, the "general info" phone at the Legislature is 651-296-0504 or > 800-234-1112. I think they will look up your reps for you. > > This new bill would provide important conservation benefits for birds, > other > wildlife, and ourselves. Let's try to make it happen. > > > > ------------------------- > > Gordon Andersson > > St Paul > > MOU Conservation Committee > > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
