State bird added to priority list

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department has added the state bird, the western meadowlark, to the state’s updated 2014 Conservation Priority List.

NDGF Conservation Section Supervisor Steve Dyke said the majority of the species on the list — which has grown to 112 this year, up from 100 on the original 2005 list — are suffering population declines because of a statewide decrease in habitat. Wetlands and grasslands have been lost due to increased agricultural production and less participation in the Conservation Reserve Program. CRP land is land that has been pulled or protected from agriculture production by landowners who sign multi-year contracts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency and receive payments for letting those acres go fallow.

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