Preserving native grassland: Can Sodsaver reduce cropland conversion?

N ative grassland or “native sod”—grassland that has never been tilled for crop production—can provide high-quality habitat for a number of species, including grassland birds, breeding waterfowl, and pollinators. Much of the grassland that once dominated the Midwest and Plains states between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains has already been lost or severely fragmented, reducing its value as habitat (Connor et al. 2002). Once lost, these grasslands are difficult and costly to restore (Loesch et al. 2012). In recent years, attention to the loss of grassland in the northern Great Plains, particularly in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR), has grown as a number of researchers have documented the conversion of grass to crop production (Wright and Wimberly 2013; Larkin et al. 2015; Doherty et al. 2013), although data used in these studies do not distinguish native sod from other grasslands. Several federal programs seek to protect remaining native grasslands. Permanent easements against the destruction of grassland habitat, purchased by or donated to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, covered more than 1.3 million ac (0.5 million ha) in the PPR by 2014 (Niemuth et al. 2014). Grasslands can also be protected by the USDA under easements purchased through the…