Freske Named Minnesota Conservation Partner of the Year

Ducks Unlimited (DU) named Bruce Freske the 2025 Minnesota Conservation Partner of the Year. Freske has been a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for 37 years, spending the last 15 years as a project leader in the Morris Wetland Management District (WMD).

The award was presented by DU conservation staff during the Minnesota state convention, attended by over 300 of DU’s most dedicated volunteers and Major Sponsors.

“I’ve enjoyed partnering with DU throughout my career, both early on the East Coast and more recently here in Minnesota,” Freske said. “DU provides wetland engineering and funding expertise to help complete complex, expensive wetland conservation projects. And more recently, with state appropriations from Minnesota’s Outdoor Heritage Fund (OHF), DU has expanded its program capacity to help with land protection, small wetland restoration and grassland enhancement projects through its Living Lakes Initiative.”

As a project leader in the Morris WMD, Freske led a team that managed 249 Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs) encompassing 54,307 acres and dozens of easements on private land, which were purchased and protected through the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund (duck stamp dollars). The counties in the Morris WMD support the most duck pairs of any WMD in the state, accounting for 25% of the total duck pairs across Minnesota's six WMD survey areas. Many of the protected lands contain remnant native prairie and intact wetlands, along with grasslands and the wetlands restored and enhanced in partnership with DU.

During Freske’s tenure, DU provided wetland engineering and financial assistance to improve water-control structures and enhance wetland habitat at five WPAs: Loen, Stewart, Ben Wade, Long Lake and Wiley. The partnership between the USFWS and DU expanded to include two DU field biologists who helped design 101 wetland basins (totaling 108 acres) and over 1,000 acres of prairie grasslands.

With Freske’s support and funding from Minnesota’s OHF, DU acquired 12 grassland habitat conservation easements totaling 1,357 acres. USFWS easements allow for continued working land uses such as delayed hay cutting after July 15 (the end of the primary bird nesting season), managed livestock grazing and compatible land use rights retained by private landowners. Under Freske’s watch, 309 properties have been added to existing and new WPAs in addition to 22,764 acres of easements protecting prairie pothole wetland and grassland habitat.

“DU applauds Bruce Freske’s dedication and drive to protect and restore prairie pothole wetlands and grasslands in western Minnesota, and partner with DU and other non-profit organizations,” said John Lindstrom, DU conservation program manager. “DU relies on partnerships with federal conservation agencies to fulfill our mission throughout the U.S. Freske’s eagerness to partner with DU to spend state OHF grant funds and private DU Major Sponsor investments to our Living Lakes Initiative has been imperative to expanding our conservation program.”