Securing and enhancing wetland and upland habitat for waterfowl and grassland birds around Old Wives/Chaplin/Reed and Quill Lakes, and within the Qu'Appelle and Souris River Basins will improve and protect native prairie and shoreline habitats for migratory species such as the Northern Pintail, Baird's Sparrow, Sprague's Pipit, Marbled Godwit, and Piping Plover. The Saskatchewan Watershed Authority (SWA) will protect and improve privately managed lands through stewardship initiatives aimed at native prairie and wetland/riparian habitat protection and enhancement. Management of existing SWA lands will be monitored to maximize biological benefits for upland nesting waterfowl and other migratory birds.

The SWA will secure 600 acres of land through transfer of title, and an additional 1,300 acres through cooperative habitat enhancement projects including conversion of 800 acres of cropland to spring pasture, and establishing rotational grazing systems, and water development on 500 acres of native habitat. The SWA will monitor, assess and manage 32,500 acres of existing NAWMP Prairie Shores-secured lands in the Quill Lakes, Chaplin Lake, and Fairy Hill Marsh and 50,000 acres of lands in the Souris River Basin. The SWA will influence an additional 20,000 acres of native prairie and wetland/riparian areas by development of voluntary stewardship agreements through the SWA's Prairie Stewardship Program. Reconnaissance and co-ordination activities will continue to provide a strategic and biologically sound process for targeting securement, and enhancement activities in landscapes that provide the greatest benefits to waterfowl, landbirds, shorebirds, colonial waterbirds, and species at risk. Special emphasis will be placed on lands in the Souris River Basin. Evaluation activities will focus on quantifying the benefits of adaptive pasture management planning for Northern Pintail and other grassland birds.

For more information on this project, please contact Bob Carles, Vice-President Stewardship, Saskatchewan Watershed Authority, Regina, Saskatchewan.