The PPJV boundaries include one-third (100,000 square miles or 64 million acres) of North America’s Prairie Pothole Region (PPR). The millions of wetlands and associated grasslands in the U.S. PPR make it one of the most unique habitats in the world. The habitat in the PPJV is critical for nesting habitat, but also plays a very important role as migration habitat, particularly for shorebirds. The PPJV has a long history of the development of sophisticated models and spatial planning tools to target conservation actions on a landscape scale. Outcome based scientific tools are recently developed that estimate the number of birds produced given a defined habitat conservation effort Area is rich in avifauna = 18 species of waterfowl; 96 species of songbirds; 36 species of waterbirds; 17 species of raptors; and 5 species of upland game birds. Duck breeding population in the U.S. PPR = 4.25 million pairs Seven prairie waterfowl species = 76% of U.S. Duck Harvest Wetlands within the PPJV boundary provide habitat for 40 species of breeding waterbirds, such as American White Pelicans, rails, and herons. Largest colonies in the world of Franklin Gulls are found here. The U.S. PPR harbors 30% of the U.S. and Canadian population of Black Tern. The U.S. PPR harbors 27% of the U.S. and Canadian population of Marbled Godwit. Populations of grassland bird species are declining steeper then any other habitat-based guilds of North American birds. Of their total population, 70% of nesting Baird’s Sparrow settle with the PPJV boundaries. Seventy-five percent of the total population of Chestnut-colored Longspur is found in the U. S.; 50% of that population is found within the PPJV boundaries during summer months. Forty percent of the total population of Sprague’s Pipit is found in the U. S.; 60% of that population is found within the PPJV boundaries during summer months. Small wetlands attract higher densities of breeding duck pairs then large wetlands Ten 1-acre wetlands = 20 pairs, whereas One 10-acre wetland = 7 pairs Grassland in the U. S. portion of the PPR = 22 million acres (2006) CRP acres in U.S. PPR = 8 million (2006) CRP grasslands = 2.2 million ducks annually In 2007, 800,000 acres of CRP lost in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota Since 2002, over 500,000 acres of native prairie lost in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Grassland loss (2006) in U. S. portion of PPR = Montana (56%), North Dakota (72%), South Dakota (65%), Minnesota (86%) and Iowa (93%).