Manitoba's Critical Wildlife Habitat Program (CWHP) is a cost-shared partnership between governments, and local and national conservation agencies which began in 1989. The goal of the program is to identify, preserve and manage the remaining critical wildlife habitats in Manitoba, with a particular focus on upland areas.

The major partners in the program are Manitoba Conservation, Canadian Wildlife Service, the Manitoba Naturalists Society, the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation, World Wildlife Fund, the Nature Conservancy of Canada and Wildlife Habitat Canada.

The CWHP supports a variety of initiatives including private and municipal land stewardship, natural resource inventories, land acquisition, land management and extension activities. Major projects include:

• Manitoba's Tall-grass Prairie Preserve
   
• Mixed-grass Prairie Stewardship Program
   
• Urban Habitat Stewardship Project 
   
• Land Stewardship Directory of Funding Sources
  

Mixed Grass Prairie in Manitoba

Mixed grass prairie once covered approximately 24 million hectares in Canada from Alberta to southwestern Manitoba.

Mixed grass prairie occurs in areas that receive between 25 and 50 cm of precipitation annually and where soils are sandy or well drained. Typical species include grasses such as little bluestem (Andropogon scoparius), spear grass (Stipa comata), blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) and wildflowers such as prairie crocus (Anemone patens), dotted blazingstar (Liatris punctata), and lily (Lilium philadelphicum).

Today less than 25% of mixed grass prairie remains in Canada, generally in areas unsuitable for cultivation.

Mixed Grass Prairie Inventory Project

The Critical Wildlife Habitat Program embarked on an inventory to identify and rank the remaining areas of mixed grass prairie in Manitoba.

Prairie was graded from "A" to "D". A grade of "C" or higher indicates a good quality community with the potential to improve over time. A grade of "D" indicates poor quality sites that require extensive management to improve.

From 1992 to 2001, 35,620 ha were inventoried, with 14,957 ha considered in good condition, grade of "C" or higher. Four major threats to Manitoba's mixed grass prairie were identified: cultivation, trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) encroachment, exotic species invasion and inappropriate grazing management.

For more information about the Mixed Grass Prairie inventory project contact the Manitoba Wildlife and Ecosystem Protection Branch in Winnipeg (204-945-7774).

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Critical Wildlife
Habitat Program

- Critical Wildlife Habitat Program
- Tall Grass Prairie in Manitoba
- Mixed Grass Prairie in Manitoba
- Mixed Grass Prairie Inventory
- Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve Brochure (2MB PDF)
- Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve Map (51KB PDF)

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