Conservation

Photo © Dean Pearson

Wildlife Diversity Small Grants Program

The South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks is no longer accepting proposals for 2022. Please check back in December to see if funding will be offered in 2023.

Previously Completed Projects

Please visit our Wildlife Report and Surveys page to view any of the reports.

PROJECT	GRANTEE
EDUCATION
Creating online resources to engage SD citizens in amphibian and reptile identification, distribution and conservation	Drew Davis
Planting for Pollinators	Alyssa Anderson
Animal Antics teaching curriculum	Amber Stout
Black Hills Bryophytes Workshop	Mary Wipf (Zimmerman)
Butterfly Activity Guide	Jennifer Fowler
Black Hills Lichens and Mosses: Educational Materials and Classroom Visits	Mary Wipf (Zimmerman)
License of the Black Hills, and Introduction to Lichenology	Mary Wipf (Zimmerman)
Camp Arroya Nature Trail	Clarence Pederson
Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve native landscape arboretum	Mark Ernste
Bird habitat development for the Haakon County Outdoor Learning Center	Tanya McIlravy
Native wildlife awareness program	Melissa Horton
Ottumwa Rural Attendance Center schoolyard habitat	Tanya McIlravy
YMCA Camp Leif Ericson habitat restoration and nature education	Phil Olson
Kiwanis-Mary Hall Park native plant demonstration	Thomas Allen
Curriculum and resource guide for "Fragile Legacy - Rare Animals of SD"	Jennifer Fowler
A guide to wildlife and wildlife watching in northeast SD	Dennis Skadsen
Birds - At home on the range tour	Justin Jessop
Native wildlife field trips	Susan Ricci-Fox
Nesting ecology of raptors in western SD - educational programs	Craig Knowles
Bringing fire back to the land traveling kiosk	John Davidson
Field guide to the tiger beetles of Nebraska and SD	Stephen Spomer and Matthew Brust
Cultivating a native environment	Diane Melvin
Greenbelt education enhancement project	Stan Hoffart
Bat books for SD elementary school libraries	Western Bat Working Group
"Bug Zone" live insect presentations and insect discovery resource kit	Frank Amundson
An educator's curriculum and resource guide for the "South Dakota Breeding Bird Atlas II"	Jennifer Fowler
Field guide to SD fishes	Steve and Sheila Wall
Exhibit display - Prairie native vegetation map	City of Watertown
Wetland restoration at Camp Woodlands	Bette Poppen, Girl Scouts
Granite Springs outdoor classroom	Kevin Yeo
Grevik Outdoor Learning Area at Wall Lake	Gary Olson
Exploring Birds Resource Kit	Dennis Skadsen

INVERTEBRATES
PROJECT	GRANTEE
A preliminary survey of selected aquatic invertebrates of northeast SD	Dennis Skadsen
Spider survey of Fort Pierre National Grassland	L. Brian Patrick
Odonata surveys	Steve Hummel
Solitary ground nesting bees of SD	Paul Johnson and Nicomas Dollar
2001 mollusk survey at Whitney Preserve	Tamara Anderson
Survey of tiger beetles in the Black Hills of SD	Scott Weins and Elizabeth Krueger
Survey of unionid mollusks of the Missouri River and related reservoirs in SD	Ellet Hoke
Land snail survey of Custer State Park	Tamara Anderson
Survey of freshwater mussels in tributaries of the James River Basin	Steve Wall
Preparation of a field guide of Black Hills land snails	Tamara Anderson
Monitoring Oreohelix snails	Tamara Anderson
Survey for additional colonies of the endemic Black Hills fritillary butterfly	James Reiser and Stephen Spomer
American burying beetle surveys in southwestern SD	Molly Davis
Investigating the identity of a tiger beetle from the Black Hills of SD	Stephen Spomer
Species composition of freshwater snails in three ecoregions of SD	Bruce Stephen
Surveys for prairie-dependent moths in northeast SD	Dennis Skadsen
Habitat preferences of ground beetle species in the northern Black Hills	David Bergmann
Snail response to fire in the Black Hills	Tamara Anderson
Conifer forest dwelling elateroid beetles of western SD	Paul Johnson
Survey for American burying beetles	Keith Perkins
SD Bee database and sampling in selected mesic prairies	Caitlin Kreuger and Paul Johnson
Freshwater snails of the prairie pothole region of SD	Bruce Stephen
Survey of freshware gastropods within SD's prairie couteau region	Bruce Stephen

PLANTS OR FUNGI

PROJECT	GRANTEE
A survey to identify and document mushrooms and other fleshy fungi in the Black Hills of SD	Audrey Gabel
Inventory of plants at the Whitney Preserve at Cascade Creek	Elaine Ebbert
Floristic inventory of the Black Elk Wilderness, Black Hills National Forest, SD	Hollis Marriott
Rapid assessment of plant communities of the Black Hills for macrofungi	Audrey Gabel and Kristie Martin
Identification and mitigation of climber impact on rare plants, Custer State Park	Hollis Marriott
Survey of Black Hills montane grasslands	Hollis Marriott
Survey, identification, and data compilation of Black Hills bryophytes	Mary Zimmerman
Black Hills Bryophytes: Refinement of species inventory	Mary Zimmerman
Guide to identification of Sphagnum mosses in the Black Hills/td>	Mary Zimmerman
Lichens of the Black Hills, an introduction to lichenology	Mary Zimmerman

HABITAT OR SITE SURVEYS

PROJECT	GRANTEE
Planting for pollinators	Alyssa Anderson
Use of shelterbelt woodlands by neotropical migrant birds in the Northern Great Plains	David Swanson
Inventory of birds, reptiles and amphibians on TNC preserves and easements in the southern Black Hills	Thomas and Nancy Hays
Ecological evaluation of stream resources in Deuel County	Ramona Lundberg
Monitoring plan development and implementation for selected sensitive species along Cascade Creek	Beth Burkhart and Elaine Ebbert
Biological inventory at Spirit Mound Historic Prairie	Karen Olmstead
Wall Lake wildlife habitat improvement	John Monahan
Developing adaptive management methods and assessing the status of species of concern in the Leola Hills landscape of the Missouri Coteau	Mary Miller
Monitoring perennial streams of the Black Hills	MIM project

BIRDS

PROJECT	GRANTEE
Stopover biology of grassland migrant birds	Amy West
Banding studies of nesting northern saw-whet owls in northwestern SD	Nancy Drilling
Breeding Bird Monitoring in Custer State Park, SD	Nancy Drilling
Breeding bird survey of Union Grove State Park	Rosemary Draeger and Linda Johnson
Breeding bird survey of Good Earth State Park at Blood Run	Rosemary Draeger and Linda Johnson
Studies of Nesting Northern Saw-whet Owls in Northwestern SD	RMBO - Nancy Drilling
Northern saw-whet and flammulated owl banding stations	RMBO - Nancy Drilling
Monitoring purple martins with geolocators	Dennis and Paul Mammenga
Big Sioux Recreation Area and Palisades State Park Breeding Bird Surveys	Rosemary Draeger and Linda Johnson
Bird populations of shelterbelt habitats in Lake County, SD	Dale Droge and Jeffry Palmer
Calling surveys for flammulated owls and northern saw-whet owls in the central and southern Black Hills	Nancy Hays
Breeding birds of the restricted pine-juniper shrub habitat in southwestern SD	David Swanson
Natural history and abundance of whip-poor-wills and insectivorous bats in southeastern SD	C. Loren Buck
Summer 2001 survey of the status of the American dipper on its historic range in the Black Hills, SD	Rosemary Draeger and Linda Johnson
Natural history of whip-poor-wills and the importance of riparian habitat for insectivorous bats in southeast SD	Jeffrey Lane, R. Mark Brigham, C. Loren Buck and Michael Swystun
Relative nesting success of neotropical woodland migrants in natural riparian woodlands and farmstead woodlots in southeastern SD	David Swanson
Breeding birds of Newton Hills	Rosemary Draeger and Linda Johnson
Burrowing owl occurrence and abundance on prairie dog colonies in Buffalo Gap National Grassland	Travis Livieri
Surveys of woodpecker abundance and reproduction in response to the Jasper fire	Kerri Vierling
Surveys for rare owl species in the Black Hills	Bill Given
Sica Hollow State Park breeding bird survey	Rosemary Draeger
Big Sioux River Bald Eagle nesting analysis	Robert Schenck
Development of DNA fingerprinting markers for the American dipper	Cynthia Anderson
Breeding bird survey of Oak Ridge GPA and Wilson Savanna	Rosemary Draeger
Section-based monitoring of breeding birds on Grand River National Grassland	Rob Sparks et al.
Survey for long-billed curlews on the Buffalo Gap National Grassland, SD	Travis Livieri
Association of black-backed woodpeckers with mountain pine beetle infestations	Joshua Millspaugh
Sprague's pipits and Baird's sparrows on the Grand River National Grassland	Maiken Winter
Survey of black-tailed prairie dog colonies on Grand River National Grassland for burrowing owls	Craig Knowles
Foraging behavior of ospreys in the Black Hills	Jennifer Fowler
Efficacy of using radio monitored prey in locating active goshawk nests	Chad Cyrus
Lake Oahe nesting gull and tern survey	Ricky Olson
Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve breeding bird survey	Rosemary Draeger and Linda Johnson
Effects of landscape and stand-level factors on forest songbird populations and diversity	Adam Benson
Black-backed woodpeckers in the Black Hills	Christopher Rota
Common nighthawks in agricultural landscapes	Gretchen Newberry
A reassessment of Virginia's Warbler distribution in the Black Hills	David Swanson

FISHES

PROJECT	GRANTEE
Survey of the Fishes of the Bois de Sioux River in South Dakota	Matthew Wagner
Distribution of the sturgeon chub in SD	George Cunningham and Susanne Hickey
Lake chub survey	Ricky Olson
Rare fish surveys in selected streams of eastern SD	George Cunningham
Survey for southern redbelly dace in eastern SD	Steve Wall
Finescale dace and lake chub survey	Ricky Olson

MAMMALS

PROJECT	GRANTEE
Point count survey for the desert cottontail in Badlands National Park	Kelsey Gilcrease
Bat surveys and habitat use in western SD	Joel Tigner
Faunal survey of the bats at the Oak Lake Research Station	Scott Pedersen
A survey for the southern bog lemming in Tripp County, SD	Ricky Olson
Distribution and roost site selection of bats in eastern SD	Vicki Swier
Bat habitat in the Black Hills - Protection of abandoned mines	Joel Tigner
Distribution and habitat associations of flying squirrels in the northern Black Hills	Elizabeth Krueger
Black-footed ferret resource selection	Joshua Millspaugh
Investigating possible hibernacula for the bat population of the Missouri River in SD	Vicki Swier
Plague prevalence in Lower Brule Indian Reservation black-tailed prairie dog colonies	Hugh Britten
Plague prevalence in swift fox and black-footed ferrets	Erica Mize and Hugh Britten
Assessing the risk of plague to black-footed ferrets in Conata Basin, SD	Travis Livieri
Bat Hibernacula Surveys - Winter 2016-2017	Joel Tigner
Occurrence and abundance of porcupine in the Black Hills	Lenora Dombro

HERPTILES

PROJECT	GRANTEE
Survey of western painted turtles: population structure, efficacy of trapping techniques, and hematological measures of stress	Amy Dolan
New resources and continued engagement to better inform the public on the Amphibians and Reptiles of South Dakota	Drew Davis
Surveys for the state-endangered lined snake along the lower James River Valley	Drew Davis
Creating online resources to engage SD citizens in amphibian and reptile identification, distribution, and conservation	Drew Davis
Recruitment and training of SD citizen scientists for FrogWatch USA	Jake Kerby
Amphibian and bird acoustic surveys	Jake Kerby
A preliminary amphibian and reptile survey of the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation, Todd County, SD	Julie and Jody Hibma
Calling survey for the Blanchard's cricket frog in Tripp County, SD	Ricky Olson
Cricket frog survey in Union County, SD	Ron Wilmot, Mike Baker, Theresa Horton and Kim Meerdink
Blanding's turtle and herp survey in northeastern SD	Tom Jessen
Herp. surveys of several state areas in southeast SD with an emphasis on the lined snake	Dan Fogell
Surveys for sagebrush lizard in the Black Hills	Brian Smith et al.
A general survey for the herpetofauna of the Big Sioux River Valley and southeast SD	Tom Jessen
Surveys of the horned lizard at historical locations in SD	Brian Smith and Hugh Quinn
Hibernacula microclimates and overwintering survival of Blanchard's cricket frog in SD	David Swanson
Herpetological survey of eastern South Dakota	Tom Jessen
Black Hills redbelly snake and smooth greensnake activity along roadways near presumed hibernacula	Jodi Massie, Brian Smith, and Hugh Quinn
Surveys for the state-threatened Eastern Hog-nosed Snake in south-central South Dakota	Drew Davis
Ornate box turtle surveys in Fall River County	Nancy Drilling
Surveillance of ranavirus and the novel amphibian pathogen Bsal across South Dakota	Danielle Galvin
Presence of selenium in South Dakota tile wetland species	Kaitlyn Campbell