This concise history traces how the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources shifted from hunter-focused game management to an ecological, biodiversity-based approach with the creation of the Nongame Wildlife Program in 1977. A national model, the program supports surveying and restoring species from butterflies and bats to bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and trumpeter swans. Written for Minnesotans who donate via the Nongame Wildlife Checkoff—and all who use DNR guidance—it shows how citizen generosity has protected wildlife and habitats.

I plan to begin using it in my college wildlife classroom

—Bill Faber, professor of wildlife, Brainerd Vocational Tech