Breeding bird use of grasslands enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program in the northern Great Plains

Agriculture is the dominant land use on privately owned lands in the midcontinent of the United States. Management decisions on agricultural lands are heavily influenced by a variety of policies and programs established by the federal government in periodic Farm Bills. In a long-term and ongoing study (1990-present), Northern Prairie researchers have been evaluating the use of grasslands enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) by breeding birds in four states (North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana) in the northern Great Plains. This is the longest and most extensive evaluation of CRP grasslands and breeding birds of its kind. Results from this and allied studies have been used both to generate support for renewal [...]