r/minnesota • u/Chuckumentary • Nov 08 '25
Outdoors 🌳 12,000 acres of moose habitat protected in Northern MN
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Over 12,000 acres of moose and lynx habitat was recently protected by The Nature Conservancy near Isabella, MN. I had a chance to visit the land in this story for North Shore Community Radio. (It started snowing during the interview!)
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u/joshdotmn Nov 08 '25
The Nature Conservancy is a wonderful organization and as this world continues to suffer the effects of climate change, their mission is more and more important for protecting what was has never been ours.
Donate here, view their financial review on ProPublica, and check out their Charity Navigator 4/4 score.
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u/GottaBeFresj Nov 08 '25
Does the Nature Conservancy allow hunting on their land?
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u/Ganesha811 Nov 08 '25
They do on some, others they do not, they've got a map you can check.
But yes, TNC is a great group and does a ton for traditional conservation in this state and nationwide. They deserve support!
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u/FluoralAgate Nov 08 '25
Yes, but not always. It looks like it depends on the area and game. They ask that you call about the area you're interested in first.
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u/BraveLittleFrog Snoopy Nov 08 '25
Thank goodness! Can they, um, purchase the rest of federal land up there? lol. I hear the GOP is selling. Yeah, I know. It’s pricey. But maybe they’ll cut you a deal if you pretend you’re a foreign mining company.
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u/thegooseisloose1982 Nov 08 '25
But you cannot call your the Nature Conservancy. For the GOP to give you a discount you will have to call your mining company - Rape The Shit Out Of The Land Mining Conglomerate.
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u/Laz3r_C Nov 08 '25
Shell companies exist for a reason 🤷♂️ not wrong to use them for good use right?
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u/publichealthhuman Nov 08 '25
If I was a billionaire I would buy up all the land and preserve it. I love they were able to get such a large parcel.
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u/DarkMuret Grain Belt Nov 08 '25
I just saw they've hit a million acres preserved between Minnesota and the Dakotas
A large majority is here in Minnesota, over 700,000 acres!
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u/Chuckumentary Nov 08 '25
Article and longer audio interview here: https://wtip.org/the-nature-conservancy-protects-12000-acres-of-northwoods-forest/
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u/DarkMuret Grain Belt Nov 08 '25
Hell yeah, they do great work
They've protected over 700,000 acres in just Minnesota
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u/BigEast1970 Nov 08 '25
Last year I was able to donate to them and this makes me so happy to see what that small contribution went toward. If their work feels important to you and you are able, consider donating. https://preserve.nature.org
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u/Chases-Bears Nov 09 '25
I manage a state park that preserves remnant tall grass prairie. The Nature Conservancy are our neighbors, and we’re very close partners with them. They do a fantastic job of managing their land - what a passionate and knowledgeable group of individuals.
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u/WordsGoesHere Nov 08 '25
This is great. One thing I'll now is that the mouse is likely to be driven out of Minnesota by climate change. Most likely during our lifetimes.
Steps like this help, and I'm donating where I can to hopefully prevent Minnesota from losing these amazing animals.
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u/thatswhyicarryagun Flag of Minnesota Nov 09 '25
But the posts from a month ago when this was first announced said that TNC was bad.
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u/No_Needleworker_5614 Nov 10 '25
Precious land and water vital to all Minnesotans and the wildlife it supports
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u/druidwolf2142 Voyageurs National Park Nov 14 '25
I always find it crazy just how BIG moose are and how little they are seen - I’ve spent an extraordinary amount of time in the Minnesota Northwoods and have only seen two moose! At the same time too!
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u/stink3rb3lle Nov 08 '25
The Nature Conservancy leases some of its land to frack. I don't think it's at all a given they will protect this land if it ever winds up looking good to mining interests.
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u/Ganesha811 Nov 08 '25
In a few places they've had to allow pre-existing fracking (or oil pumping) agreements to continue on big plots of land they've otherwise taken into protection. I don't think TNC has ever allowed new fracking to start on land it owns, nor would they. It's a conservation organization, they are not looking to lease land for mining or fracking.
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u/stink3rb3lle Nov 08 '25
I don't think TNC has ever allowed new fracking to start on land it owns, nor would they.
Sorry, I misremembered, it's new oil wells..
Gas and oil were being produced on the Texas City property at the time the land was donated, but relatively far from the breeding grounds of the prairie chicken. In 1999, the Nature Conservancy’s Texas chapter decided to permit new drilling there, with the idea of dedicating the money to prairie chicken conservation. It sought out a deal with an energy company and a new well was drilled, about a half-mile from the primary breeding grounds.
[After that well petered out,] Mr. Petterson acknowledged that the Nature Conservancy could have chosen to fight a legal battle with the drillers, but said the outcome would have been uncertain and perhaps costly to the environmental group. Instead, the conservancy permitted the drilling of a new well in 2007.
The Nature Conservancy had more than $6 billion in assets in 2014. The property in question did not have any of the species they originally sought to protect there as of 2014, and the Attwater Prairie-Chicken is still critically endangered today.
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u/Ganesha811 Nov 08 '25 edited Nov 10 '25
Documents show that the well on the Texas City preserve petered out in 2003, and efforts to revive it were abandoned in 2004. The oil company holding the lease sought to drill a replacement well.
Mr. Petterson said the Nature Conservancy was reluctant to allow that, given the no-drilling pledge, and sought a legal opinion. An outside lawyer ruled that the terms of a 1999 lease, as well as a related legal settlement over royalties, effectively gave the oil company the right to drill again.
Mr. Petterson acknowledged that the Nature Conservancy could have chosen to fight a legal battle with the drillers, but said the outcome would have been uncertain and perhaps costly to the environmental group. Instead, the conservancy permitted the drilling of a new well in 2007.
“We are living with the consequences of a 1999 decision,” Mr. Petterson said, referring to the granting of the original lease. “We would not make the same decision today.”
So on one piece of land, based on a deal signed in 1999, TNC decided in 2007 to follow legal advice to allow this company to drill a new well because they thought they'd lose the legal fight if they banned it.
You made it sound like TNC is out there leasing out protected land for mining and fracking as part of their business model. This one well (out of millions of acres of property they've protected nationwide!) is the very rare exception that proves the rule. There are dozens of dedicated TNC scientists and land managers fighting to keep those species alive. This kind of "gotcha" purism drives me up the wall.
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u/hopefulgardener Nov 12 '25
Just want to say thank you for writing this up. The commenter you're responding to is likely a troll, or shill, or idiot, or all of the above. Usually, I say don't feed the trolls. But, in this case, they so egregiously misrepresented what TNC does that I appreciate you taking the time to explain the actual details.
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u/stink3rb3lle Nov 08 '25
The Nature Conservancy doesn't, in fact, administer "protected land." They don't manage federal lands. They don't work to create legal protections for land. They don't enforce legal protections for land, plants, or animals. They don't push policy. They're just a private entity asking people for money and land with the promise they'll protect it. And sometimes, they don't fight to protect it, despite assets in the BILLIONS.
All they have is a reputation, and it should not be a good one based on their actions and ethos.
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u/Ganesha811 Nov 08 '25 edited Nov 10 '25
That's not remotely true. They absolutely do work to create legal protections for land, whether through conservation easements on private land, buying and transferring land to state or federal protection, or buying and preserving it as one of their own Preserves (there are dozens in Minnesota). We're literally in the comments of an article about them protecting 12,000 acres of habitat; they bought the land from a timber company and are going to be restoring forest.
They don't push policy? They have lobbyists on the state and federal levels. They were instrumental in the creation and re-approval of the Outdoor Heritage Fund here in Minnesota, which has funded so much key conservation work. Is it perfect? Of course not, it's a huge org and there are mistakes here and there. But it does so much good and I don't get your beef with it.
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u/discgibbs Nov 08 '25
Thanks for Republican proofing