Eagle numbers on the rise in Otter Tail County

By Matt Bewley | The Daily Journal

Published Monday, April 16, 2007

A plan for the animal species in greatest need of conservation, released by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in January, identified 292 nongame wildlife species —nearly 25 percent of all Minnesota wildlife species — as being in greatest need of conservation.

The plan, entitled “Tomorrow's Habitat for the Wild and Rare, Minnesota Comprehensive wildlife conservation strategy,” revealed that 58 percent of the species in greatest conservation need were present in northwestern Minnesota, including Otter Tail County.

“This plan provides a framework for identifying species and habitats in need of attention during the next ten years,” DNR Regional Nongame Specialist Katie Haws said.

Trumpeter Swan restoration, for example, has been quite successful, and the large white birds can now be seen from Fergus Falls to Rush Lake on the Otter Tail River.

“From the standpoint of the Trumpeter swans,” Area wildlife supervisor Don Schultz said, “we didn’t have any of them free-ranging in the state, outside the metro area prior to 1987, and now we have nesting trumpeter swans in the Otter tail County area. There are probably at least 500 Trumpeter Swans wintering between Fergus Falls and Rush Lake.”

What began as a small project with the obtaining of a few eggs from Alaska, has resulted in a free-flying swan population numbering more than 2,000 individual birds, thanks to support from Minnesota citizens. Swan restoration began with the Three Rivers Park Reserve District (formerly Hennepin Parks), but expanded to become a Nongame Program Initiative in the mid 1980s.

Swans are now occupying wetlands in the northern third of the state and seem to have adapted well to Minnesota's climate and habitats. More than 200 pairs nest in the state, and a current study to determine productivity is underway.

The bald eagle was also identified as a “species in greatest need of conservation.”

The Nongame Wildlife Program has been monitoring nesting pairs of bald eagles throughout the state since 1978, and in 2005 completed a statewide inventory of the species. The DNR will continue eagle monitoring through at least 2010 to insure that these status changes will not affect the health of the population.

“The bald eagles have really taken off, too,” Schultz said.

The state bald eagle population has increased 28 percent overall since 2000, including small increases in population were observed in Otter Tail and Becker counties.