Chapter News Update - October 2023

Presidents Report

We hope your 2023 MN Pheasant season has been fruitful. I did not get out as much as I would have liked. I did notice a very large uptick this year on our public lands in Brown County being hunted. I have stopped and conversed with many folks from all over MN enjoying our public lands here in Brown County. We are blessed with over 34 WMA’s and many acres of CRP or CREP habitat to help sustain our wild pheasant population, no matter how severe the winter is. The best act anyone of us can do is build a food plot near a winter cover area instead of feeding the birds. Any assistance we can be in these efforts, we here at BCPF (Brown County Pheasants Forever) are willing to help.

With the 2024 MN Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener taking place this year out of Sleepy Eye, we will be working with the MN Department of Natural Resource (DNR) to improve and enhance many of the WMA in and around Sleepy Eye. These efforts will be part of the Adopt-a-WMA program in which we are active participants. This will be further detailed below.

Pheasants Forever has acquired another 140 acres of land in Brown County to be additions or new WMAs. These will be highlighted more in future newsletters as these lands are still in transition to publicly owned property. Your dollars you spend at our banquets are being used to help support these efforts.

Hope to see all of you at the 2024 BCPF Annual Banquet will be March 23, 2024.

The 2024 BCPF Annual Banquet will be March 23, 2024, held at the Sleepy Eye Event Center. We hope you mark your calendars early for this event and you can attend and support us. Additionally, we have already saved the date for 2025. It will be on March 22, 2025. All the money raised will be put to good use in Brown County. Some of these efforts are to support the high school trap teams; improve the WMAs with food plots; plantings; parking areas and signage.

Several changes will be taking place at the event regarding games and raffles to better comply with the MN Gambling Boards Rules. We hope when you attend and help us raise critical funds, which we use for habitat work in the county. Although some of the changes may seem inconvenient or unnecessary, we hope you understand why we must make changes to certain games or raffles to meet their requirements.

Tickets can be purchased now for the event at: https://pfqf.myeventscenter.com/event/2024-33rd-Brown-County-Pheasants-Forever-Banquet-87735 . Rooster Bucks will only be available this year as part of a Sponsorship Package. Tickets purchased at the door will be at “premium" price. Save money a get your tickets prior to the event date.

We have secured our masters of ceremony for the event. Bob St. Pierre, Chief Marketing Officer of Pheasants Forever will bring a lot of fun and is a great guy who has hunted and supported Brown County in many ways. Stay tuned for more on who it is as we get closer.

If you have not already heard, Sleepy Eye will be hosting the MN Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener (GPHO) on October 11-12. The town of Sleepy Eye will be in the spotlight for two days as several folks (including the Governor; LT. Governor; MN DNR Commissioner and other local and state politicians) will be attending from all around the state. We at Pheasants Forever are taking an active role in certain parts of this two-day event. We at BCPF are not looking at this event as “Red” or “Blue” but instead, “ Orange”. We are here to support the town of Sleepy Eye and are not trying to make this event political in any way.

An early look at a few of the activities we will be coordinating with the City of Sleepy Eye include:

Friday, October 11: Many of the local businesses will be hosting activities. These are in the planning stages and we will update you as these become available.

Saturday, October 12: There will be a breakfast for registered attendees at the Sleepy Eye Event Center. After the breakfast many of the registered hunters will be led by a team member and be hunting on both MN Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) or on private property. We will be actively seeking up to 35 “Hunter Hosts” for the actual hunt. We are actively seeking and encouraging local resident hunters to be “Hunter Hosts” to help in this effort to take a few guests with them to their favorite hunting location. Please contact Tim Kraskey directly to discuss if interested in helping!

After the Saturday hunt, everyone will come back to the Sleepy Eye Event Center for lunch and closing.

We are actively seeking anyone with private land that is in CRP or a similar type of habitat that can host a small group hunt for the morning of October 12, we would like to hear from you. Please contact Tim Kraskey directly to discuss.

We do want to add a cautionary note for any folks who are not from the local area. Our public lands for the morning of October 12 will be very crowded and used for this event. If you plan to travel to Brown County to hunt, you might find it hard to get on public land.

Want to Build a Food Plot?

If any member is looking to Build a Food Plot? Please let us know if you are interested in seed for the planting. We have access to discounted seed for food plots. We have available Roundup Ready corn and soybeans as well as the Pheasants Forever Signature Food Plot Seed. Please contact us to discuss your plans and needs by the end of January.

Landowners there are several active programs you should be aware of:

New - Landowner-led Prescribed Burns.

Pheasants Forever is assisting in an effort for landowner-led prescribed burns. In cooperation with “Prescribed Burn Association” or PBA, groups of landowners and other interested parties wanting to pool resources such as knowledge, tools, and equipment to perform prescribed burn on private property can gain hands on training and safety skills for performing burns.

Partners in the PBA program include USDA, NRCS, US Fish & Wildlife Services, Pheasants Forever and more. If you are interested in learning more or helping, contact Jason Andersen, Prescribed Burn Coordinator at (402) 210-0444 or at jandersen@pheasantsforever.org .

New - RIM Riparian Floodplain Restoration Easement Program

Landowners there are several active programs you should be aware of: The Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) has received funding through the Outdoor Heritage Fund and Clean Water Fund to secure Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) easements along riparian areas that provide both improved wildlife habitat and water quality benefits. Land currently under a CRP contract may be enrolled and there are different RIM contact lengths and management options available. BWSR will utilize the RIM easement program in partnership with local Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) to target, protect and restore high priority habitat complexes. Applications will be accepted during the months of January, July, and October. Applications must be submitted by the last day of the applicable month. Enrollment begins 10/02/2023.

CRP (Conservation Reserve Program). Sign-ups are currently on-going.

In exchange for a yearly rental payment, farmers enrolled in the program agree to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and to plant species that will improve environmental health and quality. The program’s long-term goal is to re-establish valuable land cover to improve water quality, prevent soil erosion, and reduce loss of wildlife habitat. Contracts for land enrolled in CRP are 10-15 years in length.

Under continuous CRP signup, environmentally sensitive land devoted to certain conservation practices can be enrolled in CRP at any time. Offers for continuous enrollment are not subject to competitive bidding during specific periods. Instead, they are automatically accepted provided the land and producer meet certain eligibility requirements and the enrollment levels do not exceed the statutory cap.

For more information, including a list of acceptable practices, contact your USDA Service Center at visit fsa.usda.gov/crp. or reach out to Nate Fore - Brown County PF Biologist to inquiry. His contact details are below.

Adopt-a-WMA Program

If you have hunted or driven by the Bashaw Wildlife Management Area (WMA,) you might have noticed the new signs we have erected. They are informative and descriptive to the WMA. We have been trying now for 3+ years to get something like this as the standard for all WMAs. This is part of ongoing improvements we are doing as part of the Adopt-a-WMA program with the MN DNR.

We hope you can join us for next spring on Earth Day as we will again get out and do some specific work like planting shrubs, cleaning up garbage, replacing signs or removing fencing on a few WMAs. Mark your calendars now and save the date for this on Saturday April 20th, 2024. Other dates are in the planning stages as we speak to help get many improvements prior to the MN Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener.

Save the date for this on Saturday April 20th, 2024.

The monies we receive through donations, fund raising, and membership are critical to us enhancing or purchasing lands for all the public to enjoy. We encourage everyone to renew their membership to Pheasants Forever or upgrade to a Lifetime membership.

Pheasants Forever is the only national organization with a model of chapters keeping 100% of the funds they raise. While belonging to a larger national organization that has a voice on federal and state conservation policies, chapters are tasked with finding projects for their funds. Minnesota takes full advantage of this model using funds raised for projects locally as well as other areas in the state of Minnesota.

Go to https://www.pheasantsforever.org/Participate/Why-Participate.aspx

andhttps://www.pheasantsforever.org/getdoc/91f8dfad-47ad-46d6-af54-5649db42671f/Membership.aspx help us grow!

BROWN COUNTY PHEASANT’S FOREVER ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
FOUNDED 32 YEARS AGO and SPENT OVER $4 MILLION in Brown County for HABITAT.
OVER 300 HABITAT PROJECTS benefiting OVER 3000 ACRES on PRIVATE land.
PRESERVED OVER 2500 ACRES for PUBLIC ENJOYMENT & HUNTING. Brown County has OVER 34 WMA/WPAs encompassing OVER 4600 ACRES.
PARTICPATED in OVER 2000 ACRES in Brown County land ACQUISITIONS that are now WMA/WPAs.
HOSTS AND PARTICIPATES IN ANNUAL MENTORED YOUTH HUNTS with more than 50 KIDS PARTIPATING
SUPPORT our LOCAL TRAP SHOOTING TEAMS.
PARTICIPATE in MN DNR Adopt-a-WMA program