Minnesota Incentive Program Challenges

The state of Minnesota offers a variety of incentive programs for landowners interested in conservation. The challenges of the programs are identified below in terms of the ten criteria established by Defenders of Wildlife for an effective incentive program.

While there are many strengths to the incentive programs offered in Minnesota, several challenges exist that inhibit their effectiveness. This is a result of several factors:

Lack of Funding

The majority of state incentive programs are under-funded. Because of this, they are unable to target conservation priority areas or meet program conservation goals, if the program has such goals.

Each agency and organization in the state has its own mission and focus and therefore, funding tends to be fragmented. Greater coordination between agencies and organizations would improve the potential for strategic investment of limited funds.

Lack of funding also limits program participation in Minnesota. Several key incentive programs in the state are constantly filled to capacity and must turn away applicants due to an inability to fund more projects.

Lack of Habitat Focus

Some state incentive programs are not designed to focus on habitat. Often they focus on one aspect of conservation (single species, forest management) but lack the holistic approach that is crucial to habitat conservation and promoting biodiversity.

For example, the Deer Habitat Improvement Program and Pheasant Habitat Improvement Program are two programs that provide great cost-share incentives for landowners, but the primary focus is on individual game or non-native species.

Also, many programs in the state such as the Sustainable Forest Incentive Act focus primarily on forest management rather than habitat conservation and biodiversity promotion.