Prior Lake, Minnesota - In the summer of 2008, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community will restore 400 acres of former farmland to native prairie in a cooperative project with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the University of Minnesota. More than 200 acres of former farmland and wetlands have already been reclaimed by the SMSC over the past few years and returned to their pre-European settlement status using standard restoration techniques.

Dr. David Tillman (Regents' Professor, McKnight Presidential Chair in Ecology) from the University has been doing research for years on mixes of prairie grasses which might work best for biomass and cellulosic ethanol projects. Conducted on 870 square foot plots, research has yielded valuable information which the SMSC will further develop using production scale 40-acre parcels. Drought tolerant, climate adapted grass mixes and perennials which will be harvested for use in the Community’s joint venture Koda Energy will be researched. Various seed mixes will be tried using around half a dozen grasses and three dozen flower species which were all native to this area. The research site is located in Shakopee, Minnesota, on property purchased in recent years from the Tollefson and Shutrop families. Koda Energy is currently under construction and will be operational by December 2008.

“We are looking for which mixes give us the most amount of biomass per acre for the least cost and are perennial. We need it to come up every year,” explained SMSC Department of Land and Natural Resources Manager Stan Ellison. “There are a lot of variables to be determined through research. Nobody else is doing exactly this: growing native prairie grasses on a large scale for a biomass project.” The prairie grasses will likely be mowed in early winter after they have dried but before snowfall so that nutrients return to the roots. After harvesting, bailing, chopping, and harvesting, the prairie grasses will be burned and measured for BTU’s (British Thermal Units). The SMSC has consulted with University staff and plans to share the results of their research with the University.

As for the DNR’s part of the project, “The DNR is interested in helping farmers find crops for marginal lands so they will plant prairie grasses including native prairie wildflowers on the right of way of county and state highways. In our case that will be for the roadways on County Roads 16 and 21. They will also let us use their Bryllium 12-foot seed drill,” Ellison said. He explained that the SMSC has its own six-foot seed drill, which it will use for the project as well, but the 12-foot version will greatly speed up the planting process. DNR staff will also consult with SMSC staff for the project. The DNR hopes to utilize their research findings to help farmers turn profit out of lands typically unsuitable for farming. The SMSC will share the results of their research with the DNR as well. Two hundred acres of the 400 will be used for research with the remaining 200 acres harvested for use as bison feed. Heavenly Ranch of Kilkenny, Minnesota, a bison ranch owned and operated by Community member Kathy Crooks and her husband Ernie Symmes, will feed the prairie grasses to their bison. Heavenly Ranch bison meat is served at Community restaurants and available for sale commercially. The 200 acres is located on the northern part of trust application land off McKenna Road in Shakopee.

Prairies filter phosphorous and nitrogen from the soil, improve water quality, reduce or eliminate erosion, provide habitat for nesting birds, increase species diversity, and add an unmatched aesthetic value. They also attract a variety of butterflies and insects, are hunting grounds for many natural predators, and alternatively provide cover for prey. But it is the cultural value of the prairies that is most important to the Shakopee Mdewakanton.

“Our ancestors’ lives were organized around their landscape. They lived in their environment. Their food, fiber, and spiritual life were based on the land on which they lived. Our culture and landscape is intimately intertwined. We have to have the landscape in order to preserve our culture,” said SMSC Chairman Stanley R. Crooks.

In many areas of the Community, prairie grasses, and wildflowers now grow as they did centuries ago. On former farmland, it's not as simple as just spreading some seed around and waiting for it to grow. It is a detailed process which takes years to complete. After weeds on the land are herbicided, a disk pulled behind a tractor fluffs up the soil, before the seed drill places the fluffy seeds into the soil. Seeds have to be drilled into the soil because they are tiny and prone to fly away, unlike the hard seeds of corn kernels or sunflower seeds. Then, periodic mowing, weed removal, and occasional prescribed burns are used to simulate natural conditions to which the native prairie plants are adapted. Within a few years, the native prairie is thriving.

"We always plant a cover crop with the native prairie seed, usually oats or rye. We do this because they germinate quickly, are annuals, fill space that would otherwise be occupied by weeds, and they tell us that we successfully planted a site. If the oats or rye germinates, very likely the prairie seed will too. Oats and rye are annuals, so they won’t compete with prairie species in the next growing season," explained Ellison. For the first few years, most prairie species are putting all their energy into their root structures so it can take several years for the grasses and forbs to fully emerge.

"The 400 acres we are returning to prairie is marginal cropland. Native prairie plants are some of the best options for areas like these because they are perennials and can survive in a variety of soil and moisture conditions. They are less intensively managed as they get older, and they provide an attractive backdrop. This project will occupy lands that were prairie prior to European settlement," he continued.

SMSC’s prairie restoration efforts over the past 10 years have already reaped benefits by the return of native grassland birds which now breed on the Community: Meadowlarks, Grasshopper Sparrows, Bobolinks, and Dicksissels. There has also been a corresponding increase in several species of raptors and small mammals like mice, meadow voles, and shrews.

Some of the grasses planted on Community land include Big Bluestem, Canada Wild Rye, Switch Grass, Indian Grass, and Prairie Cord Grass. Some of the forbs include Sage, Swamp Milkweed, New England Aster, Rattlesnake Master, Prairie Blazing Star, Wild Bergamot, Purple Prairie Clover, Mountain Mint, Yellow Coneflower, Compass Plant, Cup Plant, Common Ironweed, Culver’s Root, and Purple Coneflower. Many of these are traditional medicines of the Dakota people.

The SMSC Land and Natural Resources Department conducts a number of activities to preserve and protect the land for future generations. Prescribed burns are used to maintain and improve native prairie conditions on the reservation. Wild rice is sowed in Community wetlands. Beehives are maintained and honey gathered. Maple sap is collected from Community trees and maple syrup made. Trees and other native flora are planted. Environmental specialists are also active in restoring and managing wetlands, surveying wildlife, and taking an inventory of existing natural communities. Hydrologists assess water quality, coordinate the Community’s Wellhead Protection Program, plan projects to improve water quality, and implement erosion control.

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