Company Partners Again in Bird Study

A marsh bird study in central North Dakota again received a generous boost in funding from a pipeline company that transports natural gas across the state.

This is the second year Alliance Pipeline will contribute $10,000 to a study that will evaluate the distribution of wetland bird species and the influence that surrounding landscapes, such as grasslands and crop fields, have on them.

Alliance is partnered in the study with the state Game and Fish Department, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center and Ducks Unlimited.

"The collaboration with Alliance is an important milestone. It is the first industrial company to partner with the department on a State Wildlife Grants project," said Steve Dyke, Game and Fish Department conservation coordinator. "We hope this is the first of many such projects and partnerships with private industry."

The study, which is in its third year, will provide wildlife managers valuable information to better manage wetland bird populations in the future.