You Could be Compensated to Protect Your Land
To learn more and find out if your property qualifies for a grant-funded voluntary land protection agreement, contact Land Protection Program Manager Chad Kingstrom. Call or text 651-377-0338, email ckingstrom@mnland.org or submit the form linked below.
Scott Rall Gave Wildlife Space to Breathe When He Protected Imperiled Grassland
Keep Habitat Intact for Future Generations & Preserve Your Family’s Legacy on the Land
You can help protect drinking water and aquatic habitat; ensure that prairie streams, wetlands and grasslands continue to support pheasants and other wildlife; and preserve your way of life in southwest Minnesota.
You Control Your Land
The Minnesota Land Trust is partnering with private landowners who wish to protect their land through a voluntary permanent conservation easement, including their grazing lands and retired agricultural lands.
Let’s start the conversation about your property today!
For more information see the program brochure
What is a Conservation Easement?
A conservation easement is a legal document that safeguards the natural features of a property through voluntary, legally binding, and permanent land use restrictions. Lands protected by a conservation easement remain in the landowner’s private ownership. Learn more about conservation easements by reviewing our Conservation Easement FAQ.
Why Apply for a Conservation Easement?
- Protect Minnesota’s important wildlife habitat, water quality, and beautiful open spaces
- Preserve your family’s legacy on the land
- Join a community of hundreds of dedicated landowners stewarding over 80,000 acres across Minnesota
- Receive tax incentives or other compensation
- Receive a free habitat management plan and possible financial and technical land management assistance
You Can Make a Difference Today… and for Future Generations
Over 97% of lands in southwest Minnesota are privately owned. Public conservation lands alone cannot provide enough of the clean air and water, abundant fishing and hunting, and species biodiversity that we need.
Eligibility Requirements for the Southwest Minnesota Program
The proposed property to be protected must meet the following requirements to be eligible for this specific program:
- Be at least 40 acres in size.
- Be located within the program area, which may include all or portions of the following counties as indicated in blue on the map: Brown, Lac qui Parle, Chippewa, Yellow Medicine, Renville, Lincoln, Lyon, Redwood, Pipestone, Murray, Cottonwood, Rock, Nobles, and Jackson.
- Contain less than 20% of the proposed protection area in cultivation, or have the potential to restore currently cultivated land (in excess of 20%) to native vegetation.
- Properties located within the Wildlife Action Network or Prairie Plan areas as indicated by the orange and cross-hatched sections on the map may be given higher priority.
- Properties with full development wind leases are ineligible for this program.
Are you ready to start the conversation about to protecting your land from being divided and developed?
Join hundreds of dedicated private land stewards across Minnesota who have put their land to work in support of environmental conservation.
Completed Protection & Restoration Projects in Your Area
- Southwest Minnesota Land Protection Program
Scott Rall Gave Wildlife Space to Breathe When He Protected Imperiled Grassland Eligibility Requirements for the Southwest Minnesota Program The proposed property to be protected must meet the following requirements to be eligible for this specific program: Completed Protection & Restoration Projects in Your Area - Protecting Prairies in Southwest Minnesota
This recently protected property is located in the Minnesota Land Trust’s Prairie Coteau conservation priority area in Nobles County, MN and sits adjacent to East Graham Lake. The protected lands are comprised primarily of grasses and prairie–over 22 acres–including rare southern mesic prairie, a small grass-dominated remnant native prairie, and areas of restored prairie which… Read more: Protecting Prairies in Southwest Minnesota
Funding for this program is provided by the Outdoor Heritage Fund as recommended by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council.
