Iowa Wetland Assessment and Restorable Wetland Inventory Phase-I Report

Map drained wetland basins in the PPR of Iowa and complete data set for the eastern (Region 3) of the U.S. Prairie Pothole Regionl. These data form the foundation for a newly launced inititative to develop an “Integrated Conservation Design Strategy for the PPR of Minnesota and Iowa.” This new initiative integrates wildlife habitat, water quality and flood attenuation objectives with wetland restoration potential maps to develop multi-objective wetland restoration plans for landscape-scale watershed.

Categories: Data; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, All tags... Academics & scientific researchers, Conservation NGOs, Data Acquisition and Development, Datasets/Database, EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LANDSCAPE, Federal resource managers, Iowa, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Plains and Prairie Potholes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Prairie Pothole Region, Report, Report, State agencies, Wetlands, completed, environment, environment, plains and prairie potholes landscape conservation cooperative, Fewer tags

Sediment Accumulation in Prairie Wetlands under a Changing Climate: the Relative Roles of Landscape and Precipitation

Sediment accumulation threatens the viability and hydrologic functioning of many naturally formed depressional wetlands across the interior regions of North America. These wetlands provide many ecosystem services and vital habitats for diverse plant and animal communities. Climate change may further impact sediment accumulation rates in the context of current land use patterns. We estimated sediment accretion in wetlands within a region renowned for its large populations of breeding waterfowl and migrant shorebirds and examined the relative roles of precipitation and land use context in the sedimentation process. We modeled rates of sediment accumulation from 1971 through 2100 using the Revised Universal Soil Loss...

Categories: Data, Publication; Types: Citation, Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: Climate change, Conservation NGOs, Datasets/Database, Decision Support, EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LANDSCAPE, All tags... Federal resource managers, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Presentation, Regional & county planners, Report, State agencies, Training/Outreach/Workshop, Vulnerability Assessment, avian conservation, climate models, downscale climate models, environment, environment, migratory birds, plains and prairie potholes landscape conservation cooperative, publication, Fewer tags

Report: Manajiwin: Respecting tribes, First nations and cultural resources in cooperative landscape and climate change decision-making

This project will improve tribal and First Nation engagement in cooperative natural resource conservation efforts. Researchers are fostering networking among tribes, First Nations and other relevant partners in the upper Midwest – Great Lakes region, and engaging tribal and First Nation representatives in the development of a set of principles and strategies for their authentic, robust inclusion in regional resource conservation cooperative frameworks. The project is conducting an environmental scan of current climate and landscape change planning initiatives as well as mitigation and resilience-building projects being implemented by tribes and First Nations in the region. The results will lead to broader inclusion...

Categories: Data; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2011, 2011, 2012, 2012, 2013, All tags... 2013, Conservation NGOs, EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LANDSCAPE, Federal resource managers, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Regional & county planners, Report, Report, State agencies, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, climate change, completed, cultural resources, environment, environment, first nations, great lakes, manajiwin, tribal, tribes, upper midwest, Fewer tags

Remote Sensing of Migratory Waterbird Ground Surveys Report

The efficiency and effectiveness of aerial photography by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Midwest Aviation Program has been improved with upgraded components for the Applanix DSS 439 Camera System, including a 60 millimeter lens and gyro-stabilization mount. Both are installed and in use. The stabilization mount improves image resolution and minimizes asymmetrical pixels. The 60 millimeter lens also improves image resolution for higher quality aerial photographs. This advanced equipment results in more accurate bird counts and stereo interpretation of vegetation maps which will ultimately assist management decisions made in biological programs.

Categories: Data; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: Academics & scientific researchers, Conservation Planning, Data Acquisition and Development, EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LANDSCAPE, LCC Network Science Catalog, All tags... Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Map, Mississippi River Basin, Report, WI-03, Wisconsin, completed, eastern tallgrass prairie and big rivers landscape conservation cooperative, environment, environment, imageryBaseMapsEarthCover, remote sensing, Fewer tags

Effects of oil and gas development on grassland birds

Oil and gas development in North Dakota is occurring at a rapid rate, and managers and biologists are ill-equipped to address and minimize damage from oil development and related activities on fish and wildlife habitat. This project aims to gather information on impacts to grassland birds from oil and gas development to better inform conservation managers.The 2012 pilot season was a success. Bird surveys were conducted at 18 oil wells and four control sites. Preliminary findings showed reduced densities of grassland birds near wells compared with away from wells, but the effect varied among species. Continuing work will strengthen inferences as well as attempt to assess effects on uncommon species such as Baird’s...

Categories: Data, Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, Conservation Planning, All tags... EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LANDSCAPE, Federal resource managers, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Plains and Prairie Potholes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Project, Report, State agencies, Vulnerability Assessment, completed, energy development, environment, environment, grassland birds, oil and gas, plains and prairie potholes landscape conservation cooperative, Fewer tags

Capture and interpretation of down-scaled climate change models to benefit avian conservation

Will downscale climate data using statistical and dynamical approaches and project future climate at an 8-km grid resolution.

Categories: Data, Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2010, 2011, 2012, Climate change, Conservation NGOs, All tags... Datasets/Database, Decision Support, EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LANDSCAPE, Federal resource managers, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Plains and Prairie Potholes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Prairie Pothole Region, Presentation, Project, Regional & county planners, Report, State agencies, Training/Outreach/Workshop, Vulnerability Assessment, avian conservation, climate models, completed, downscale climate models, environment, environment, migratory birds, plains and prairie potholes landscape conservation cooperative, Fewer tags

Projected wetland densities under climate change: habitat loss but little geographic shift in conservation strategy

Climate change poses major challenges for conservation and management because it alters the area, quality, and spatial distribution of habitat for natural populations. To assess species’ vulnerability to climate change and target ongoing conservation investments, researchers and managers often consider the effects of projected changes in climate and land use on future habitat availability and quality and the uncertainty associated with these projections. Here, we draw on tools from hydrology and climate science to project the impact of climate change on the density of wetlands in the Prairie Pothole Region of the USA, a critical area for breeding waterfowl and other wetland-dependent species. We evaluate the potential...

Categories: Data, Publication; Types: Citation, Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2010, 2011, 2012, Climate change, Conservation NGOs, All tags... Datasets/Database, Decision Support, EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LANDSCAPE, Federal resource managers, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Plains and Prairie Potholes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Prairie Pothole Region, Presentation, Publication, Regional & county planners, Report, State agencies, Training/Outreach/Workshop, Vulnerability Assessment, avian conservation, climate models, completed, downscale climate models, environment, environment, migratory birds, plains and prairie potholes landscape conservation cooperative, Fewer tags

Full life cycle vulnerability assessments for the birds of the upper Midwest and Great Lakes

Full life-cycle vulnerability assessments are identifying the effects of climate change on nongame migratory birds that are of conservation concern and breed in the upper Midwest and Great Lakes region. Full life-cycle analyses are critical, as current efforts likely underestimate the vulnerability of migratory land birds due to a focus on assessing only one component of the annual cycle. The approach provides a framework for integrating exposure to climate changes, sensitivity to these changes, and the potential for adaptation in both winter and summer seasons, and accounts for carry-over effects from one season to another. The results of this work will inform regional management by highlighting both local and...

Categories: Data, Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2011, 2012, 2013, Conservation NGOs, EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LANDSCAPE, All tags... Federal resource managers, Great Lakes, LCC Network Science Catalog, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Project, Report, State agencies, Tribes, Vulnerability Assessment, climate change, completed, environment, environment, migratory birds, upper midwest, vulnerability, Fewer tags

Publication: Demographic consequences of climate change and land cover help explain a history of extirpations and range contraction in a declining snake species

Developing conservation strategies for threatened species increasingly requires understanding vulnerabilities to climate change, in terms of both demographic sensitivities to climatic and other environmental factors, and exposure to variability in those factors over time and space. Weconducted a range-wide, spatially explicit climate change vulnerability assessment for Eastern Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus), a declining endemic species in a region showing strong environmental change. Using active season and winter adult survival estimates derived from 17 data sets throughout the species’ range, we identified demographic sensitivities to winter drought, maximum precipitation during the summer, and the proportion...

Categories: Data, Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: 2010, 2011, 2013, 2013, Academics & scientific researchers, All tags... Conservation NGOs, EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LANDSCAPE, Federal resource managers, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Publication, Report, State agencies, Tribes, Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Vulnerability Assessment, climate change, completed, environment, environment, great lakes, upper midwest, vulnerability, Fewer tags

A multispecies dependent double-observer model: A new method to for estimating multispecies abundance

Conservation of biological communities requires accurate estimates of abundance for multiple species. Recent advances in estimating abundance of multiple species, such as Bayesian multispecies N-mixture models, account for multiple sources of variation, including detection error. However, false-positiveerrors (misidentification or double counts), which are prevalent in multispecies data sets, remain largely unaddressed. The dependent-double observer (DDO) method is an emerging method that both accounts for detection error and is suggested to reduce the occurrence of false positives because it relies on two observers working collaboratively to identify individuals. To date, the DDO method has not been combined with...

Categories: Data, Publication; Types: Citation, Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2012, 2012, 2013, 2014, EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LANDSCAPE, All tags... Informing Conservation Delivery, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Land Use, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Plains and Prairie Potholes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Private land owners, Publication, Report, Vulnerability Assessment, completed, environment, environment, plains and prairie potholes landscape conservation cooperative, sagebrush, Fewer tags

Assessing Bat and Bird Fatality Risk at Wind Farm Sites using Acoustic Detectors

Wind power is a promising clean energy technology that has grown rapidly in recent years (EIA 2013). In spite of its environmentally friendly reputation, industrial wind energy generation can have serious impacts on wildlife. Bat and bird collision fatality rates have been alarmingly high at some wind farms. Proper siting of wind facilities may help minimize collision impacts as the wind energy industry continues to grow. Bat and bird fatality rates vary greatly among sites; however, there is no reliable method for assessing collision risk prior to development. My goal was to develop a method for predicting fatality rates based on nocturnal activity patterns measured by ground-level recording of bat and bird calls....

Categories: Data; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, Bats, All tags... Document, EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LANDSCAPE, Federal resource managers, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Landscape, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Monitoring, Plains and Prairie Potholes, Plains and Prairie Potholes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Report, State agencies, Vulnerability Assessment, Wind Energy, completed, energy development, environment, environment, migratory birds, plains and prairie potholes landscape conservation cooperative, Fewer tags

Report: Scenarios for forest reserve expansion and adaptive management under alternative climate change scenarios in the northern Great Lakes

Researchers assessed how an expansion of forest reserves and climate-adaptive management may improve ecological connectivity and resilience under different climate scenarios. Resilience is measured as the capacity for these systems to maintain extant forest communities and aboveground live biomass. Forest landscape change was simulated via a spatially explicit forest ecosystem model, LANDIS-II. Simulations covered areas in northern Minnesota and northern lower Michigan that represent northern Great Lakes forest types. Restoring and maintaining ecological connectivity is one of the primary climate change adaptation strategies available to land managers, in addition to silvicultural practices. This study is...

Categories: Data; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2011, 2011, 2012, 2012, 2013, All tags... 2013, Conservation NGOs, EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LAND USE/LAND COVER, EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LANDSCAPE, Federal resource managers, Great Lakes, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Private land owners, Regional & county planners, Report, Report, State agencies, Tribes, Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Vulnerability Assessment, climate change, completed, connectivity, environment, environment, forests, upper midwest, Fewer tags

U.S. Geological Survey Gap Analysis Program- Land Cover Data v2.2- Formation Land Use

This dataset combines the work of several different projects to create a seamless data set for the contiguous United States. Data from four regional Gap Analysis Projects and the LANDFIRE project were combined to make this dataset. In the northwestern United States (Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Washington and Wyoming) data in this map came from the Northwest Gap Analysis Project. In the southwestern United States (Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah) data used in this map came from the Southwest Gap Analysis Project. The data for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia came from the Southeast Gap Analysis Project and the California data was...

Categories: Data; Types: ArcGIS REST Map Service, Map Service; Tags: Alabama, Alaska, Aleutian and Berind Sea Islands, Appalachian, Arctic, Northwestern Interior Forest, All tags... Arizona, Arkansas, California, Central United States, Colorado, Connecticut, Continental United States, Delaware, Desert, District of Columbia, Eastern Tallgrass Prairie and Big Rivers, Florida, Georgia, Great Basin, Great Northern, Great Plains, Gulf Coast Plains and Ozarks, Gulf Coast Prairie, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Atlantic, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northeastern United States, Northwestern United States, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pacific Islands, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Southeastern United States, Southern Rockies, Southwestern United States, Tennessee, Texas, Upper Midwest and Great Lakes, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Western Alaska, Wisconsin, Wyoming, biota, ecology, environment, land cover, landcover, vegetation, wildlife habitat, Fewer tags

North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative Ecoregion Boundary

This dataset represents the North Atlantic LCC's ecoregion boundary. Landscape conservation cooperatives (LCCs) are conservation-science partnerships between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and other federal agencies, states, tribes, NGOs, universities and stakeholders within a geographically defined area. They inform resource management decisions to address national-scale stressors-including habitat fragmentation, genetic isolation, spread of invasive species, and water scarcity-all of which are accelerated by climate change.

Categories: Data; Types: ArcGIS REST Map Service, ArcGIS Service Definition, Downloadable, Map Service; Tags: Data, LCC Network Science Catalog, North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative Data.gov, border, boundary, All tags... completed, conservation, fish and wildlife service, landscape conservation cooperatives, lcc, partnership, Fewer tags

Identification & Risk Assessment of Most Climate Vulnerable Terrestrial Species and Natural Communities and Climate Vulnerability Assessment in the UMGL LCC

For management agencies, there is a growing need to understand (1) how climate change affects and will continue to affect wildlife populations of conservation concern, and (2) how the negative Upper Midwest Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative Request for Funding 2013 demographic effects of climate change can be mitigated through management strategies. Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment (CCVA) integrates available data and scientific understanding in a transparent process, details assumptions and uncertainties, and ultimately projects population-level responses of target species to future climate change. Climate change is already influencing distributions and abundances of species throughout North...

Categories: Data, Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2010, 2011, 2013, 2013, Academics & scientific researchers, All tags... Conservation NGOs, EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LANDSCAPE, Federal resource managers, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Project, Report, State agencies, Tribes, Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Vulnerability Assessment, climate change, completed, environment, environment, great lakes, upper midwest, vulnerability, Fewer tags

Relationships among swimming performance, behavior, water velocity, temperature, and body size for Sager and longnose dace

Migration barriers and resulting habitat fragmentation are a major conservationconcern for freshwater fishes. Characterizing the swimming abilities of fish is vital forfishway design and identifying potential movement barriers. The objective of this studywas to assess the swimming performance of two of the most widely distributed prairiefishes, the large-bodied, large river sauger Sander Canadensis, and the small-bodied,small stream longnose dace Rhinichthys cataractae. Swimming performance for bothspecies was assessed using a variety of metrics (passage success, maximum ascentdistance, maximum sprint speed) in an open channel flume over a range of velocities(sauger, 51, 80, 93 cm/; dace, 39, 64, 78, and 90 cm/s),...

Categories: Data; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2010, 2011, 2012, Conservation NGOs, Document, All tags... EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LANDSCAPE, Federal resource managers, Informing Conservation Delivery, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Plains and Prairie Potholes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Private land owners, Report, State agencies, Tribes, Vulnerability Assessment, climate change, completed, environment, environment, fish passage, native fish, plains and prairie potholes landscape conservation cooperative, Fewer tags

Using a multiscale, probabilistic approach to identify spatial-temporal wetland gradients

Wetland hydroperiod, the length of time water is available in wetlands, is sensitive to changes in precipitation, temperature and timing due to climate variation. Truncated hydroperiod has major implications for wetland-dependent species (e.g., waterfowl, amphibians) and human water allocation (PPP LCC Need 1). To characterize wetland hydroperiod in the Plains and Prairie Pothole Region, we first identify location and hydroperiod of wetlands using field-based and remotely sensed training data (RapidEye, Landsat). We define hydroperiod as wetland ephemerality, where ephemerality represents the persistence of a wetland across the growing season. We then link hydroperiod to climatic variation by relating climate time-series...

Categories: Data, Publication; Types: Citation, Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2012, 2012, 2013, EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LANDSCAPE, Federal resource managers, All tags... Informing Conservation Delivery, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Plains and Prairie Potholes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Publication, Publication, Regional & county planners, Report, State agencies, climate change, completed, environment, environment, plains and prairie potholes landscape conservation cooperative, water availability, wetlands, Fewer tags

Grassland Birds and Unconventional Oil Development in Western North Dakota

Unconventional oil development in the Bakken shale region has increased rapidly as a result of new technologies. This region also supports a particularly high density and diversity of grassland bird species, which are declining across North America. We examined grassland bird response to unconventional oil extraction sites (i.e. developed with hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling) and associated roads in North Dakota. Our goal was to quantify the amount of habitat that was indirectly degraded by oil development, as evidenced by patterns of avoidance by birds. Grassland birds avoided areas within 149 m of roads (95% CI: 4 – 294 m), 267 m of single-bore well pads (95% CI: 157 – 377 m), and 150 m of multi-bore...

Categories: Data; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, Bats, All tags... EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LANDSCAPE, Federal resource managers, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Landscape, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Monitoring, Plains and Prairie Potholes, Plains and Prairie Potholes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Report, Report, State agencies, Vulnerability Assessment, Wind Energy, completed, energy development, environment, environment, migratory birds, plains and prairie potholes landscape conservation cooperative, Fewer tags

Iowa Wetland Assessment and Restorable Wetland Inventory Phase-II Report

Map drained wetland basins in the PPR of Iowa and complete data set for the eastern (Region 3) of the U.S. Prairie Pothole Regionl. These data form the foundation for a newly launced inititative to develop an “Integrated Conservation Design Strategy for the PPR of Minnesota and Iowa.” This new initiative integrates wildlife habitat, water quality and flood attenuation objectives with wetland restoration potential maps to develop multi-objective wetland restoration plans for landscape-scale watershed.

Categories: Data; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, All tags... Academics & scientific researchers, Conservation NGOs, Data Acquisition and Development, Datasets/Database, EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LANDSCAPE, Federal resource managers, Iowa, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Plains and Prairie Potholes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Prairie Pothole Region, Report, Report, State agencies, Wetlands, completed, environment, environment, plains and prairie potholes landscape conservation cooperative, Fewer tags

Manajiwin: Respecting tribes, First nations and cultural resources in cooperative landscape and climate change decision-making

This project will improve tribal and First Nation engagement in cooperative natural resource conservation efforts. Researchers are fostering networking among tribes, First Nations and other relevant partners in the upper Midwest – Great Lakes region, and engaging tribal and First Nation representatives in the development of a set of principles and strategies for their authentic, robust inclusion in regional resource conservation cooperative frameworks. The project is conducting an environmental scan of current climate and landscape change planning initiatives as well as mitigation and resilience-building projects being implemented by tribes and First Nations in the region. The results will lead to broader inclusion...

Categories: Data, Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2011, 2011, 2012, 2012, 2013, All tags... 2013, Conservation NGOs, EARTH SCIENCE > LAND SURFACE > LANDSCAPE, Federal resource managers, LCC, LCC Network Science Catalog, Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, Project, Regional & county planners, Report, State agencies, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, climate change, completed, cultural resources, environment, environment, first nations, great lakes, manajiwin, tribal, tribes, upper midwest, Fewer tags