Common Name: Buffalograss Species Name: Buchloe dactyloides Description: Buffalograss is a short grass with greyish green, slightly hairy leaves that can grow up to 10 centimeters (4 inches) long. The Lakota name translates as “grass that sticks to people’s clothes.” Male and female plants are strongly dimorphic (physically different). Female flowers are hidden by the leaf blades and enclosed in … Read More
Five Hundred and Counting…
One more fifty acre agreement was all it took for MHHC to expand its conservation agreement portfolio to new heights – 500 conservation agreements totalling more than 85,000 acres of habitat. The CA count started in 1999 when then Minister of Natural Resources, J. Glen Cummings, signed a donated conservation agreement, securing thirty acres of wetlands in the R.M. of … Read More
Prime “Ghost” Habitat
The East Interlake Conservation Districts has many reasons, big and small, to protect natural habitat in the Icelandic River watershed, not the least of which are the Ghosts. Ghost plants, also known as Indian Pipes, are a type of plant that doesn’t get its energy from the sun but rather takes it from surrounding trees. Because the plants don’t require … Read More
Filling in sloughs – with water!
One of the earliest participants in the Wetland Restoration Incentive Program (WRIP) was Fred Sharpe. In addition to being one of the first, this project also turned out to be one of the largest wetland restorations that MHHC has done to date. The aim of the WRIP is to capture carbon and reduce Manitoba’s greenhouse gas emissions. In 2009, 28 … Read More
Frederick Charles Dreger Land Donation
Fred Dreger’s farm, located 10 miles southwest of Morden, was small by today’s standards, a half section. Most of the 320 acres was prime farmland, but a portion, the westerly 60 acres of NW 25-1-7 WPM, contained a rich and diverse piece of wildlife habitat. This parcel includes a steep and densely wooded tributary to the Pembina River, wetlands, and … Read More
A Natural Filter
Situated in a rugged valley between Roseisle and St. Lupicin is an ecologically diverse piece of land that plays an important role in the health of the local watershed and its people. Developing a love for the area from spending time at her Grandparents’ home, Shirley and Ted Ross decided to make it their home in 1999. Being enthralled with … Read More
A Home For All
“Everybody says, ‘go to the lake and buy a cottage,’ but we don’t have to” said Marlin Firby, a mixed farmer and long-time resident of the Minnedosa area. It isn’t necessary because there is a small lake right outside the window of their home that will never be drained. The Firbys appreciate seeing the birds and other wildlife and have … Read More