Glacial Ridge Project

A male Greater prairie chicken "booming" on the prairie.
© The Nature Conservancy

Download video and audio of the Greater prairie chicken's elaborate courtship displays.

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Glacial Ridge offers an opportunity for The Nature Conservancy and its partners to undertake the largest prairie and wetland restoration project in U.S. history. Only about 5,000 acres are native prairie; the rest has been used for gravel extraction, crop production and cattle and sheep grazing. When restored, the grassland and wetland areas will provide excellent habitat for prairie nesting birds, threatened prairie plants and animals.

Location
Polk County, northwestern Minnesota

Size
35,000 acres (Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge)

How to Prepare for your Visit
For more information on visiting this and other Minnesota preserves, check out our Preserve Visitation Guidelines.

Directions
From Fertile, take Highway 32 north for approximately 13 miles. The Conservancy office will be on the left.

From Crookston, take Highway 2 east for approximately 12 miles. Go south on Minnesota Highway 32. The office will be on your right (look for signs.)

Western Prairie Fringed Orchid

Plants
This prairie wetland complex hosts a great diversity of plant species. Of special interest is the federally threatened western prairie fringed orchid. Other communities found at the preserve include wet and mesic tallgrass prairie and gravel prairie, willow thickets, mixed prairie, sedge meadow, aspen woodlands and emergent marsh. Prairie species at Pembina Trail Preserve include June grass, purple prairie clover, big and little bluestem and mat muhly.

Animals
When restored, Glacial Ridge will likely provide habitat for several of the same species present at Pembina Trail Preserve, which harbors more than 73 bird species, 35 butterfly species, 11 mammal species, three amphibian species and one reptile species. Birds like the sandhill crane, sharp tailed grouse, upland sandpiper, northern harrier, marbled godwit, Wilson's phalarope, greater prairie chicken, sora rail, marsh wren, and clay colored sparrow may soon find their habitat expanded at Glacial Ridge. In recent years, bald eagles, a peregrine falcon and a whooping crane have also been spotted. In 2007, a nesting pair of burrowing owls and their two owlets were sighted on a restored prairie.

Why the Conservancy Selected this Site
The Glacial Ridge Project presents the Conservancy and its partners with an unequaled opportunity to conserve and restore a unique landscape. In October 2004, it was designated as a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Refuge. In addition to its biological importance, the restoration of Glacial Ridge should help improve water quality for the city of Crookston and reduce flooding in the Red River Valley.

Habitat fragmentation and invasion by exotic species (non-native plants and animals) are the most significant threats to the project's native biodiversity. The property connects to other wildlife and recreational areas and, when the project is complete, the Nature Conservancy and its partners will have restored more than 8,000 acres of wetlands and about 16,000 acres of Tallgrass Prairie.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing

The Conservancy purchased the Glacial Ridge Project area in August 2000. To date, the Conservancy has restored 173 wetlands and seeded more than 11,000 acres of prairie. Since the acquisition, Conservancy staff have been working with several other conservation partners and restoration biologists on a master restoration plan. Those partners include:

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
U.S. Geological Survey
Environmental Protection Agency
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Minnesota Department of Commerce
University of North Dakota
North Dakota State University
South Dakota State University
Concordia College
University of Minnesota, Crookston
Polk County
City of Crookston
Red River Basin Board
Red River Flood Damage Work Group
Ducks Unlimited
Minnesota Waterfowl Association
Bush Foundation
Nature Northwest
Audubon Society
Several watershed districts, county and township boards, neighboring landowners and citizenry

The Conservancy has sold Wetland Reserve Program easements to the Natural Resources Conservation Service on 13,519 acres. By the time this project is complete, the Conservancy will have enrolled just under 20,000 acres into the federal Wetlands Reserve Program.

An integral part of the neighboring communities, Glacial Ridge provides ecological, educational and economic boom to Polk County and the city of Crookston. Two wells on the property supply clean water to Crookston, and nearby agricultural lands are being enrolled in perpetual conservation easements.

About 400 students every year enjoy a variety of opportunities at Glacial Ridge. Sixth grade students from Crookston’s Highland School have attended the site’s annual Earth Day since 2003, University of Minnesota-Crookston students have conducted a number of field trips to the property and students from Red Lake Falls maintain a plot of land for their science classes. Watch a video of Red Lake Falls elementary students using new technology to study the ecology at Glacial Ridge.