Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Bill Barker, North Dakota State University
Rick Baydack, University of Manitoba
Bernadette Braun, U.S. Forest Service
Jerry Dodd, North Dakota State University
Robert Eng, Montana State University (retired)
Ken Higgins, South Dakota State University
William Jensen, North Dakota Game and Fish Department
Don Kirby, North Dakota State University
Jerry Kobriger, North Dakota Game and Fish Department
Arnold Kruse, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (retired)
Lee Manske, North Dakota State University
John Mathisen, U.S. Forest Service (retired)
Clint McCarthy, U.S. Forest Service
Len McDaniel, Valentine National Wildlife Refuge
Glen Moravek, Ft. Pierre National Grasslands
Jay Newell, Montana Game and Fish Department
Jeff Printz, Natural Resources Conservation Service
David Rider, North Dakota State University
Mark Ryan, University of Missouri
Steve Schumaker, U.S. Forest Service
Nova Silvy, Texas A & M University
Harold Simpson, U.S. Forest Service (retired)
Bryan Stotts, U.S. Forest Service
Ron Westemeier, Illinois Natural History Survey
Lynn Wolfe, Sheyenne Grazing Association
Larry Woodbury, Rancher
A special thanks to John Toepfer (Society of Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus, Milwaukee, WI) whose passion for prairie grouse is unequaled. He shared many valuable suggestions and research findings that he and his students have discovered after long hours in the field, including writing the "Movements and migration" section of this report. Ross Hier, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, provided the lovely artwork for the cover, which exemplifies his artistic and conservation commitment. Jan Solheim, secretary at the Northwest Experiment Station, came through, again, with her cheerful support and enthusiasm to complete yet another prairie chicken project for the senior author. Thanks, too, to Larry Smith, Head of the Northwest Experiment Station for his support of this cooperative conservation project.
Dan Svedarsky and Gerry Van Amburg
About The Authors
Both Dan Svedarsky and Gerry Van Amburg came to northwest Minnesota in the fall of 1969. Svedarsky received his B.S. in Biology and an M.S. in Plant Ecology with a minor in Wildlife Management at the University of Missouri, Columbia. He later received a Ph.D. in Wildlife Biology at the University of North Dakota studying the nesting and brood-rearing ecology of the greater prairie chicken for his field research. He holds a joint appointment at the University of Minnesota, Crookston as Head of the Natural Resources Department and a research appointment with the Northwest Experiment Station. In addition to research on prairie chickens he has studied prairie management using prescribed burning, gravel pit reclamation for wildlife, wildlife values of cultivated wild rice paddies, and aspects of wetlands ecology.
Van Amburg is a native of the rangelands of Kansas and received both his B.S. and M.S. in Botany with an emphasis in Range Management at Ft. Hays State College in Kansas. He received his Ph.D. in Range Science with an emphasis in Ecology at Texas A & M University. He formerly worked with the agricultural chemical division of Geigy Chemical Corporation as a sales representative. He currently serves as Chair of the Biology Department at Concordia College. He has conducted research on prairie soils and plant relationships, the response of prairie ecosystems to fire, environmental assessment of water development projects, and other wetlands-related topics. He is a past President of the Minnesota Association of Watershed Districts and is a recent Governor's appointee to the Minnesota Wetland Heritage Advisory Committee.