What We Do
The Minnesota-Wisconsin Ecological Services Field Office works to conserve and protect endangered species and their habitats and support landscape-scale habitat restoration in the Great Lakes. Our team is divided among three suboffices located in Bloomington, Minnesota, Green Bay and Madison, Wisconsin.
Management and Conservation
Threatened and Endangered Species
Our responsibilities under the Endangered Species Act include conserving declining species before listing is necessary, adding species to the list of threatened and endangered species, working to recover listed species and cooperating with other Federal agencies and partners to conserve endangered species.
Conservation Planning Assistance
Through early and thoughtful planning, we work to conserve fish, wildlife and their habitats by providing technical assistance on construction activities, energy development (transmission lines, hydro and wind power), transportation and urban development.
Environmental Contaminants
The Environmental Contaminants program is the only program in the federal government solely responsible for evaluating the impact of environmental contaminants on fish and wildlife. We work to prevent, reduce and eliminate the adverse effects of environmental contaminants on wildlife and habitats.
Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration
Through the U.S. Department of the Interior's Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) program, we analyze and restore natural resources injured by the discharge of oil or release of hazardous substances into the environment. Our contaminants specialists collaborate with trustees and partners to perform scientific studies that inform negotiations to reach legal settlements with responsible parties. Funds from financial settlements are used to directly restore injured sites and species and compensating the public for their loss of natural resources. For more details about NRDAR cases in Minnesota and Wisconsin, visit our Projects and Research page.
Grants and Partnerships
We administer many Endangered Species Act grants to provide funding to states, tribes, organizations and individuals for listed species conservation activities. We also work with landowners to restore habitat on private lands through the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program and with a diversity of partners to restore Great Lakes coastal habitats through our Coastal Program and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.