Drinkwalter Sandhills
Drinkwalter property (Photo by NCC/Josh Dillabough)
Drinkwalter Sandhills is located within the Lauder Sandhills complex. It supports a stabilized sand dune system with sandhill prairie, wetlands and woodlands habitats present. The percentage cover is approximated at 80 per cent sandhill woodland, 19 per cent sandhill prairie and 1 per cent sandhill blowouts. The habitats located on the conservation lands are considered “Deciduous Woods, Sandhills” and are identified as a priority for conservation within the Prairies and Parklands Conservation Blueprint.
Several species at risk have been confirmed on the property: common nighthawk, eastern wood-pewee, silky prairie-clover and monarch.
The property is also known to have sandhill obligate species including spinystar cactus, big sand tiger beetle, nationally-rare sand bluestem and sand reedgrass.
The increasing stabilization of eolian sandhill complexes threaten the persistence of early-successional sandhill-obligate species. Those listed above, as well as others that may be present (e.g. prairie skink, Manitoba’s only lizard) will thrive under the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC's) management intended to maintain and restore sandhill prairie.
Quick facts
Prairie skink (Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
Habitat type: native sandhill prairie, sand blowouts & sandhill forest
Size: 160 acres
Closest town: Grand Clairiere, MB
Total fundraising goal: $115,000
Remaining to be raised: $38,000
This southwestern Manitoba property is currently under conservation agreement. The landowner would like to donate the property to NCC in memory of his spouse. He wishes NCC to take title and maintain his legacy of managing for biodiversity and for future generations.
Please join us and support our grassland conservation initiative to conserve projects like Drinkwalter Sandhills. This is your chance to be a part of the conservation of this important place, a place that provides a connection to the land for today, and for tomorrow.
Donations may be pledged over time and made by cash, credit card, cheque, or securities transfer. All or a portion of your gift may be committed to our provincial stewardship endowment fund, which helps to ensure the long-term care and management of NCC’s properties in Manitoba. Up to 20% of your gift may support activities that advance NCC’s mission in Manitoba. In the event that this project becomes fully funded, your gift will be directed to NCC’s next urgent priority in Manitoba.
