The disappearance of passenger pigeons from North American skies would have been unimaginable to people in the early 1800s. The beautiful, buff-gray and orange-colored birds were once the most abundant bird in North America, numbering from three to five billion. Flocks flying overhead could stretch for hundreds of miles and darken the sky for hours at a time.  

Like many birds in Minnesota today, they nested near the Mississippi River where they found safe habitat in beech and oak trees. Intensive hunting and habitat loss led to their rapid decline and Minneapolis has the dubious distinction of being the location of the last recorded wild passenger pigeon nest and egg in North America in 1895.

The last wild bird was shot in 1907 near St. Vincent, Quebec. The last known surviving passenger pigeon, Martha, died alone in the Cincinnati Zoo on September 1, 1914, four years after her two male companions died. 

The Passenger Pigeons’ Important Legacy for Conservation

The speed at which the passenger pigeon disappeared—over just a few decades—made clear the potential for human-driven extinction on a massive scale, catalyzing early conservation efforts, including the creation of some of the first conservation groups in North America such as the National Audubon Society. 

The loss of the passenger pigeon also spurred significant legal protections for wildlife for the first time. The Lacey Act of 1900, which made it illegal to transport illegally captured or prohibited animals across state lines, was one of the first federal laws enacted to protect wildlife.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, a landmark agreement between the U.S., Canada, and other countries, was directly influenced by the acknowledgment that unregulated hunting and habitat loss could drive species to extinction.

By the mid-20th century, scientists and conservationists began to affirm the importance of biodiversity and the protection of entire ecosystems to support threatened species. Environmental policies like the Endangered Species Act of 1973 were instituted.

Passenger pigeons had an outsized ecological impact while they were here. Because of their vast numbers and the long distances they’d travel they played a significant role in seed dispersal—especially oak and chestnut trees—influencing the composition of forests across North America.

In their absence they’ve also made a significant impact by rallying people to protect species and ecosystems.

Protecting Birds Today

Many bird species today are at risk of extinction due to habitat loss, climate change, and other environmental pressures.

While we can’t change what happened to the passenger pigeon, we can continue to honor Martha and her entire species by ensuring birds like the Henslow’s sparrow, golden-winged warbler, common loon, common tern and others have a safe home in Minnesota.

If we do our part today, 100 years from now people will still be able to see these birds flying overhead, nesting in trees and foraging along shoreline instead of learning about them only as a cautionary tale. 

Let’s give birds a safe resting place in Minnesota…forever

Every $1 you give turns into $9 for land protection. A $50 gift becomes $450 in conservation power, enough to protect two acres of critical habitat for birds.

Learn more about the passenger pigeon:

• Passenger pigeon extinction was fast-tracked by Jim Williams, Minnesota Star Tribune.
• Why the Passenger Pigeon Went Extinct by Barry Yeoman, Audubon Magazine

Image Citations & Credits

Title: Passenger pigeon shoot, Author: Smith Bennett, Source: Wikimedia Commons, License: Public Domain, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File.jpg

Title: The Passenger Pigeon (Audubon plate, crop), Artist: John James Audubon, Source: Wikimedia CommonsLicense: Public Domain, URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%27s_The_Passenger_Pigeon_(Audubon_plate,_crop).jpg

Title: Martha, the last passenger pigeon (1912), Photographer: Unknown, Source: Wikimedia Commons, License: Public Domain, URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_%28passenger_pigeon%29#/media/File.jpg

Photo montage created by the Minnesota Land Trust. Images include Henslow’s sparrow © kgcphoto via canva.com; Golden-winged warbler © Carol Hamilson via canva.com; Common loon © jiristock via canva.com; Common tern © OKU via canva.com

SAINT PAUL, Minn, April 26, 2023 — Together, the Minnesota Land Trust and the Northern Lights Council of the Boy Scouts of America have permanently protected a portion of Boy Scout Camp Wilderness, including over 3,600 feet of natural shoreline on Bad Axe Lake and 219 acres of land and water near Park Rapids, Minnesota.  

Conserving this important landscape preserves high-quality habitat that supports a diverse population of plant and animal species including the ecologically critical tullibee (aka “cisco”) in Bad Axe Lake and downstream Tullibee Refuge Lakes. 

Permanently protecting this portion of Camp Wilderness, situated on the shores of Bad Axe Lake, also ensures that immersive nature adventures remain accessible to youth for years to come, critical in a region of Minnesota that is losing more of its undeveloped and sensitive shorelands to the construction of vacation homes. Read the full press release.

What Happened

• Over 3,600 feet of natural shoreline on Bad Axe Lake has been permanently protected through a conservation easement. This is a lake of Outstanding Biological Significance that provides habitat for many of Minnesota’s large gamefish species. 
  
• 219 acres of land and water were protected within Paul Bunyan State Forest, helping ensure contiguous habitat remains intact to support wildlife. 
  
• Camp Wilderness has been in operation since 1946 as an important resource enabling the Northern Lights Council, BSA to deliver vibrant outdoor programs that are critical to the Scouting experience. The camp is nationally recognized and fully accredited by the Boy Scouts of America.
  
• The conservation easement ensures that immersive nature adventures remain accessible to youth for years to come, critical in a region of Minnesota that is losing more of its undeveloped and sensitive shorelands to the construction of vacation homes.  
  
• To date, the Minnesota Land Trust has helped legally and permanently protect 37 camps, nature centers and environmental learning centers (ELCs) across Minnesota, preserving 4,856 acres of natural land and over 37 miles of undeveloped shoreline.

Key Quotes

Read the full press release.

Image Gallery

This conservation easement was made possible by the members of the Minnesota Land Trust and with funding from Minnesota’s Outdoor Heritage Fund, as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature and recommended by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council (LSOHC).

This program area grades from densely populated and heavily developed at its core to predominantly agricultural at its perimeter. The Minnesota and St. Croix rivers merge with the Mississippi here, providing important wildlife corridors for wildlife and migratory birds. The program area is notable for its varied habitats, including oak savannas, Big Woods forests, prairies and wetlands, that support one of the highest concentrations of Species in Greatest Conservation Need in the state. Areas supporting these diverse natural habitats also provide outstanding scenic and recreational opportunities for the large population base of the Twin Cities. As land conversion intensifies for human uses, natural habitats and water quality are increasingly threatened.

To date, we have protected over 16,500 acres in the Twin Cities Metro.

Twin Cities Metro Conservation Program Area

The Twin Cities Metro Priority Conservation Program Area plan incorporates geographic information analyses and structured conversations between Land Trust staff, members of the board, and key partners. The plan identifies conservation strategies for the inner and outer metro, geographic focal areas for protection and restoration, and opportunities to expand engagement work in the Metro area. These engagement strategies seek to foster a conservation ethic that inspires new generations of natural resource stewards.

By equitably engaging diverse communities, we seek to expand every Minnesotan’s opportunities for meaningful and lasting outdoor experiences.

Strategies for Protection, Restoration, and Engagement

Strategy 1. Recognize the Diversity and Changing Demographics of the Metro Area

• Balance protection, restoration, and engagement to address the variable conservation needs and opportunities in the Inner and Outer Metro.
• Focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion within the Land Trust.
• Develop working relationships with non-traditional partners to seek community-based and community-led projects.

Strategy 2: Protect “The Best of the Best” Remaining Terrestrial and Aquatic Habitat

• Identify and protect the highest quality remaining habitat.
• Prioritize projects that enhance biodiversity, resilience, and public benefits by creating large protected complexes and corridors.
• Seek to combine protection projects with restoration efforts.

Strategy 3: Protect and Restore Land that Benefits Communities

• Work with our county and local partners to implement their conservation priorities.
• Seek on-the-ground projects that connect people to the outdoors that are authentically driven by community values and priorities.

Strategy 4: Restore and Manage High Quality Terrestrial and Aquatic Habitat

• Restore terrestrial and aquatic habitat to support protection goals.
• Ensure consistent, coordinated, and long-term management of high quality habitat by assisting with management plans, resources, and partnerships.
• Evaluate opportunities for a large signature restoration project.

Strategy 5: Foster a Conservation Ethic

• By 2021, determine a strategy for community conservation engagement, including developing relationships, choosing a geography of focus, identifying specific projects and activities, and developing a funding plan; examples of possible activities include:
  • Identifying gaps in protected lands that serve to engage youth in the outdoors or
  • Identifying gaps in physical access to natural areas and outdoor experiences
  • Increasing public connection to protected lands and involvement in restoration projects through events such as citizen science events and work days.

Our Focus for Conservation in the Twin Cities Metro

The focus of our protection and restoration work within the Twin Cities Metro is based on these primary strategies:

1. Protect the “best of the best” remaining terrestrial and aquatic habitat
2. Work with our county and local partners to help them achieve their conservation priorities
3. Focus on habitat connectivity and river corridors
4. Restore and protect areas that provide public access

Significant Opportunities for Conservation

The Twin Cities Metro region is the largest, most urbanized location within our state. However, the combination of only 9% of the region being permanently protected (shown in green on the map) and large areas of high-quality habitat remaining make it an important focus for conservation.

Considering a Changing Demographic

The Twin Cities Metro planning area encompasses a diverse, complex, and changing set of demographics. Recognizing these characteristics, our approach to delivering Protection, Restoration, and Engagement within the planning area is based on an Inner and Outer Metro concept with a transition zone, as shown in this map.

Strategies for Conservation in a Diverse Landscape

This graph shows the relative emphasis of Protection, Restoration, and Engagement in the Inner and Outer Metro to achieve our program area goals.

Protection is our primary focus in the Outer Metro. In the Inner Metro, protection efforts will most often be tied to engagement opportunities.

Restoration will be emphasized on the private lands of the Outer Metro. In the Inner Metro, we see restoration as strongly linked to engagement opportunities.

Engagement will have less emphasis in the Outer Metro. In the Inner Metro, engagement will be a focus for our efforts.

Implementing Our Conservation Agenda to Honor our Promise of Perpetuity

In 2017, the Minnesota Land Trust launched an ambitious 10-year state-wide Conservation Agenda to address Minnesota’s conservation needs over the next decade. This is one of eleven program areas identified in the statewide Conservation Agenda and below are several of the outcomes identified.

Continue to Deliver Conservation Excellence Statewide

The Land Trust is committed to protecting the best of the best natural lands and waters across all of Minnesota. We will continue to work statewide to protect and restore high quality natural habitats and the species that depend on them.

Continue Our Successful Strategy of Conservation on Private Lands

Roughly 75% of Minnesota is held in private hands. To meet Minnesota’s conservation goals requires the Land Trust to work effectively with private landowners. For the past 25 years, the Minnesota Land Trust has done just that. Yet, that’s not good enough. Species loss, climate change, and deteriorating waters are just a few of the reasons we need to accelerate conservation in Minnesota.

In the next decade, the Land Trust will more than double our pace of land protection and restoration by implementing innovative projects throughout all our program areas.

Build Full Service Programs that Encompass Protection, Restoration, and Engagement

In at least three of the program areas—the Twin Cities Metro, Southeast Blufflands, and Lake Superior Program Areas—we will develop more “full service” programs to meet the diverse needs and opportunities in these areas. Here we will build strong partnerships and employ a full complement of conservation strategies to protect land, restore habitat, and engage diverse communities.

We believe that connecting people to the great outdoors will ensure that people care about the environment long into the future.

Grow Our Organization

In order to provide the high quality, permanent conservation outlined in the Conservation Agenda, the Land Trust is committed to adding resources that will guarantee organizational growth and sustainability, continue our legacy of innovation, ensure conservation excellence, and allow us to deliver on our promise of perpetuity.