The Kittson-Roseau Aspen Parkland IBA is an extensive area in extreme northwestern Minnesota. The Aspen Parkland region, extending from northwestern Minnesota through the Canadian prairie provinces, is a unique transition zone between the prairie and coniferous forest biomes. Most of the IBA lies on the lakebed of Glacial Lake Agassiz and is extremely level with the only relief provided by ancient beach ridges rising a few feet above the otherwise flat terrain. The IBA includes much of eastern Kittson and northwestern Roseau counties and a small portion of Marshall County. The western border of this IBA roughly follows U.S. Hwy 59, from near Karlstad, northwest to the Manitoba border. Much of this IBA is relatively inaccessible, with few roads.

Approximately one-third of this IBA, including most of the important core tracts, is owned by the Minnesota DNR. Of primary importance are several large state Wildlife Management Areas, including Roseau River, Beaches Lake, Caribou, Twin Lakes, and Skull and Lake Lake Bronson State Park. The Nature Conservancy owns several tracts of land in this IBA, as part of the Wallace C. Dayton Conservation and Wildlife Area. There are significant areas of Conservation Reserve Program grasslands, as well as hayfields and pastures. The semi-natural state of these intervening areas provide important connections between many of the large blocks of aspen parkland vegetation. Vegetation is characterized by a complex mosaic of prairie, sedge wetlands, aspen groves, and oak savanna. Historically, fire played an important role in maintaining the open character of this landscape. The dominant trees in this region are quaking aspen and bur oak, typically rather small in stature, occurring in groves interspersed with prairies and wetlands. Fire suppression has allowed many of these areas to develop into dense forests of larger trees.

In the United States, aspen parkland occurs only in Minnesota. The Kittson-Roseau Aspen Parkland IBA encompasses the largest, most intact areas of aspen parkland remaining in the state. This relatively remote area is far from major population centers and therefore is infrequently visited by most birders. Most information on numbers of birds is based on surveys by MN DNR County Biological Survey (MCBS

Eleven Sandhill Crane fall migratory roost sites have been identified, the total number of cranes at these roosts ranges from 5,830-11,725 individuals.No fewer than 262 species of birds have been observed within this IBA, including 175 breeding season species. More than 60% (150/238) of Minnesota’s regularly breeding species occur in this IBA. This IBA has 75% of all recent Minnesota Horned Grebe records, 14% of Wilson’s Phalaropes, Horned Grebe (75%), Wilson’s Phalarope (14%), Yellow Rail (13%), Marbled Godwit (14%), Short-eared Owl (6%), Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow (20%) American Bittern (12%),and Upland Sandpiper (13%) Franklin’s Gulls are very common during migration and throughout the summer, but there are no known nesting colonies within the IBA

Several other species of conservation concern, particularly Sharp-tailed Grouse and Whip-poor-will, are relatively common in the IBA. Sharp-tailed Grouse surveys conducted by the MNDNR Section of Wildlife have been summarized for the two “work areas” which encompass this IBA, but extend outside of the IBA boundary. A minimum of 601 males were counted on 37 active leks in these work areas. The exact numbers of birds within the actual IBA have not been determined. A database of historic (active and non-active) dancing ground locations shows 40 historic leks in the IBA, and 16 leks within the work areas outside of the IBA boundary.

Frequent fire was essential in maintaining the open character of the aspen parkland landscape. In the absence of fire open grassland and sedge habitats became overgrown with undesirable levels of woody vegetation such as willow shrubs and aspen. Much of this region is very poorly drained. A network of large ditches has already resulted in the drainage of vast areas allowing cultivation of areas that otherwise would be unsuitable to agriculture. Sedge wetlands and wet prairie, and species dependent on these habitats are very sensitive to even small drops in water levels. The current drainage system has increased the amount and speed of runoff, much of which now drains onto existing wetlands. The result is that nests and nesting habitat of ground-nesting birds may be flooded out. Continued or increased drainage would further impact or destroy shallow wetland and wet prairie habitats. Because this landscape has very low topographic relief, it can be quite susceptible to flooding. The loss of grassland and wetland habitat has exacerbated this problem. Flood control projects, or other impoundments, have been proposed in and near this IBA. Depending on their placement, construction, and operation, any such projects could negatively impact or eliminate sensitive habitats, particularly sedge wetlands. Many socioeconomic factors affecting agricultural practices and profitability could have widespread impacts on bird habitat. Changes to the amount of agricultural land enrolled in CRP could greatly influence the amount of grassland habitat. Overgrazing of existing grasslands, and in some cases sedge wetlands, is a problem on parts of this IBA. Gravel pits are currently somewhat limited in this area, but continue to be a threat, particularly on beach ridges. Expansion of extraction industries could have detrimental effects on native birds and their habitats. Invasive and non-native plants/animals are currently a moderate threat.