Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Wisconsin Wildlife
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Wisconsin Wildlife Project


Bioenergy and Wildlife Conservation in Wisconsin

January 2007 - December 2012


Personnel

Participating Agencies

  • Wisconsin Focus on Energy

In anticipation of using environmentally sensitive land for production of bioenergy crops, the state of Wisconsin has developed voluntary guidelines for safe and sustainable bioenergy crop production. Upward of six million acres of open land not currently in row crop production may be available, potentially providing a substantial contribution to Wisconsin’s energy needs. However, these lands currently contribute other ecosystem services such as clean water and wildlife habitat. Initial discussions of guidelines and standards have identified gaps in knowledge necessary to provide practical guidance to growers; including nutrient requirements of bioenergy crops such as switch grass and short rotation woody crops, and methods for identifying and quantifying wildlife habitat impacts. The overall goal of this research is to understand the conservation implications changes in land use for bioenergy production.