Cows help manage Glacial Ridge National Refuge

A herd of cattle will help improve the habitat for wildlife by grazing on a northwestern Minnesota refuge. Glacial Ridge National Refuge is the largest prairie restoration project in the country. Experts say it's also the largest research project using livestock to manage the prairie. Herds of cows are not what visitors would expect to see or hear on a national wildlife refuge. But on 24,000 acres of prairie and wetlands east of Crookston, Minn., a half-dozen ranchers on horses and all-terrain vehicles recently moved 150 cows and their six-week-old calves through a gate. The cattle will be on a 2,000-acre fenced section of the refuge all summer, part of something called patch-burn grazing. After refuge managers burn a section of the prairie, the animals are attracted to new grass that sprouts in the burned area and begin to graze there. This is the second year cattle have grazed Glacial Ridge. Allowing them to do so is important, because they keep the grass short and give other plants, like prairie smoke or coneflower, a chance to grow, said wildlife biologist Jessica Dowler, who works on the refuge. Dowler said there is evidence that the mix of tall and short prairie also attracts important bird species...more