Chapter News Update - Winter 2021

We hope you; your family, & friends are staying safe and had a great Pheasant hunting season given the current environment around the virus (Corvid-19). Thanks to all who renewed or continue to participate in your Pheasants Forever membership. I would like to highlight one donation we received just recently.

Brown County Pheasants Forever received a generous donation from George F. Wiedl estate. George or “Chief” to his friends, was an avid hunter and supporter of the Pheasants Forever mission. His donation was part of his mission to leave a better place in this world and has seen first-hand the diminishing pheasant habitat. He wanted this money to be used in protecting habitat and expanding habitat, so the bird population rises to when he was a younger. We thank his family and honor him here with his kind donation.

Your $35.00 a year for your Pheasants Forever membership is critical to us in supporting the mission to preserve habitat for pheasants and beyond. Please keep up your support this year when you get a renewal notice in the mail.

As well as join us for the 2022 Brown County Membership Drive, 31st Banquet and Family Fun Night. This event is set to take place as follows:

Date: March 19, 2022

Time: Doors Open at 4:30 pm – 10:00 pm

Activities: Games; Raffles; Auctions; Food & Drink

Location: New Ulm Event Center

We will be posting many updates and details on the upcoming banquet on the Brown County Pheasants Forever website or at http://www.browncountypf.org .

Some key changes for this event will be that we are encouraging folks "to buy early tickets or sponsorship bundles". You will be able to have your entry ticket on your mobile phone to get into the event.

We will as well be discouraging on-site ticket purchasing so we have a better handle on food. If you choose to come to the location to buy your tickets, we may not be able to guarantee you a meal. You will be welcomed into the event but, we are trying to track food, so we don’t have large overages which cost a lot of money to the organization. We hope you understand.

Ticket Packages are as follows:

To purchase tickets go to: https://pfqf.myeventscenter.com/event/2022-Brown-County-Pheasants-Forever-Banquet-57740

More details on the banquet to follow in an updated newsletter in January.

Additionally,

Our main fund-raising raffles: “The Hunters Dream Raffle” and “The Hunters Choice Raffle”, was held July 20th and winners were drawn. They are:

"Hunters Choice Raffle" winners were: Ralph G. and Mike B. both from Sleepy Eye.

"Hunters Dream Raffle" winner was: Mike F. from Sleepy Eye.

Lastly,

We are trying to keep all our members and future members updated on a more regular basis through email newsletters like this one and though our website http://www.browncountypf.org and Facebook pages https://www.facebook.com/browncountymnpheasantsforever/ or MeWe pages https://mewe.com/group/600db63b34c0363a7ff931b4 .

Again, we want to thank all our members and volunteers who do so much to help in the Brown County Pheasants Forever (PF) mission.

CONTINUOUS CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM (CRP) SIGN-UP

CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) is a federally funded land conservation program administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). In exchange for a yearly rental payment, farmers enrolled in the program agree to remove environmentally sensitive or marginal crop land from agricultural production and plant species that will improve environmental health and quality. Contracts for land enrolled in CRP are from 10 to 15 years in length. The long-term goal of the program is to re-establish valuable land cover to help improve water quality, prevent soil erosion, and reduce loss of wildlife habitat. This is a great program for pheasant habitat establishment.

Brown Counties Pheasants Forever Farm Biologist Nate Fore is always assessing land to see if it is eligible for CRP! Under continuous CRP signup, land devoted to certain conservation practices can be enrolled in CRP at any time. Offers are automatically accepted provided the land meets certain eligibility requirements. If the land is not eligible for the continuous CRP sign-up, we’ll try to enroll the land through the general CRP sign-up that occurs annually and is subject to competition. If you’re interested in knowing what conservation practices are suitable for your land, please reach out to Nate using the contact information below.

CREP (Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program) MN CREP is a voluntary, federal/state funded land conservation program that uses a science-based approach to target environmentally sensitive land in southern and western Minnesota. This is accomplished through permanent protection by establishing conservation practices via payments to farmers and agricultural landowners. Landowners enroll in the federally funded CRP for 14-15 years and the same land is also enrolled into a state-funded perpetual conservation easement through the Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) Reserve program, administered by the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR). Private ownership continues and the land is permanently restored and enhanced for conservation benefits.

We’re anticipating a new batching period for MN CREP to be announced in the spring of 2022! If you have questions or have land that you’d like to have considered for the program, please reach out Nate using his contact information below.

For more information, including a list of acceptable practices, contact Nate Fore at nfore@pheasantsforever.org he is located at the Brown County USDA Service Center at (507) 794-7997 Ext. 110 or visit fsa.usda.gov/crp.