Molly Tranel Nelson: "Grassland Management Challenges: Fire and Bison"

Prairie Reconstruction Initiative Winter Webinar Series, recorded 5 March 2025 Speaker: Molly Tranel Nelson, Regional Resource Specialist, Parks and Trails, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Abstract:Prairies evolved under a regular disturbance regime with large grazing mammals and fires. It is often a challenge for land managers to return these natural disturbances to prairies due to fragmentation, financial constraints, and potential human conflicts. We look at two Minnesota State Parks where bison have been returned and another that is working on bison reintroduction. We will give you a background on statewide efforts to return genetically diverse bison to Minnesota. We will also explore the patch burn grazing regime used in the bison ranges, and the vegetation monitoring protocol that is helping us track the changes. Finally, we will discuss other options for disturbance for sites where bison grazing is not practical. Bio: Molly Tranel Nelson has been a resource specialist for the MN DNR Parks and Trails Division for the past 15 years. Prior to that she was the Farmland prairie habitat specialist for the Wildlife research program with DNR Fish and Wildlife. In her current position she oversees protection and management of the natural and cultural resources in state parks and trails for southwest Minnesota. Her work includes working with two bison herds as a founding team member of the Mn Bison Conservation Herd. Her family regularly calls her with obscure descriptions of birds they see and expects her to ID them.