Chapter News Update

Presidents Report

We have been getting the spring rains to help the soil moisture, which is great, but tough to plan any planting of food plots this year because of it. We hope landowners do add food plots near winter cover for not only pheasants, but deer, turkeys, and other wildlife this spring. If you need assistance in planning or seed, we actively support these efforts.

This year’s Earth Day or habitat day was held on Saturday April 20th. We had about 20 volunteers out to create new parking areas and replace nearly 5000 yds. of boundary signage for the Rosenau-Lambrect WMA. I want to thank all the volunteers for assisting in this effort. We have additional dates for habitat projects listed below in the Adopt-a-WMA section. We hope you will be able to join us in one of the activities.

We as well want to remind parents to consider looking at outdoor camps for their kids to enjoy this summer. We have many outdoor options we can help with. Some of the options for camps you might want to consider are Tune Camp; Woodie Camp; etc. These camps are outdoor driven, and kids come away with many enjoyable events from the activities. Talk to us if interested. We can assist you in how to get more information.

The 2024 MN Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener (GPHO) is taking place this year out of Sleepy Eye. We have been participating in meetings with the Sleepy Eye Chamber of Commerce as well as the MN Department of Natural Resource (DNR) to support Sleepy Eye in this event as it relates to hunting on opening day.

Adopt-a-WMA program in which we are active participants we have a series of dates in June, July, and August to improve the public lands which we actively support. Please review the dates and we hope you can come out and led a hand with these efforts.

The Nicollet Conservation Club (NCC) Youth Day is set for July 20th at the NCC facilities. This event is driven by our friends at Nicollet County Pheasants Forever. Mark your calendar and save the date.

A new Pheasants Forever Farm Bill Biologist is going to be joining our group in the next couple of weeks. Once she is onboard, I will send an update about her to all our readers. She will be in the Sleepy Eye FSA offices.

The 2024 BCPF Annual Banquet was held March 23, 2024, held at the Sleepy Eye Event Center. With over 330 people in attendance we want to thank all the members, attendees and sponsors who attended the event. All the money raised will be put to good use in Brown County.

The money we raised will be used for the following activities:

● Support local trap teams.

● Support youth events.

● Support the Adopt-a-WMA program.

● Support the acquisition of new public lands.

● Support lobbying efforts in Washington.

● Support outdoor recreational and hunting events.

We want to extend a personal thanks to our emcee and masters of ceremony at the event Bob St. Pierre, Chief Marketing Officer of Pheasants Forever. He always brings a lot of fun and energy to the banquet and is a great guy who has hunted and supports Brown County in many ways.

Next years banquet is currently set for March 22, 2025 and will be held again at the Sleepy Eye Event Center.

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. Several folks (including the Governor; LT. Governor; MN DNR Commissioner and President/CEO of Pheasants Forever, along with 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. 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 still in the planning stages, but events being discussed are: a new WMA public lands dedication for recent lands that BCPF has acquired; trap shoot at the Sleepy Eye Sportsman’s Club; local business tours; educational events; and maybe some street party activities. As these plans solidify, we will update you as these become available.

Saturday, October 12: There will be a hunter’s breakfast for registered attendees at the Sleepy Eye Event Center. After the breakfast many of the registered hunters will be led by a “Hunter Hosts” and be hunting mostly on public land at a MN Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) or in some cases 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 you are interested in helping!

After the hunt, everyone will be invited to come back to the Sleepy Eye Sportsman’s Club for lunch.

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 on opening day.

The 2024 Nicollet Conservation Club (NCC) Youth Day is set for July 20th starting at 9:00 am. This will be hosted again by the NCC along with the lead sponsor of Nicollet County Pheasants Forever. Brown County, Martin County and Blue Earth County Pheasants Forever organizations will also be active at this event.

Some of the Key Activities Include:

● Archery Target Shooting;

● Gun Target Shooting;

● Fishing:

● Electronic Trap Shooting;

● Paintball Target Shooting;

● Visit with MN DNR Game wardens.

Lunch will be provided and registration links will be posted on the BCPF Facebook page and the Pheasants Forever Event Center pages as they are available.

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 burns 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 “Wetlands” and “Floodplain” Restoration Easement Program

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 contract 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 are being accepted for these programs. 

CRP (Conservation Reserve Program)

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 “General CRP” sign ups, you should contact your local FSA representative to get the timing of current signups and the current programs.

For more information, including a list of acceptable practices, contact your USDA Service Center at visit fsa.usda.gov/crp.

Adopt-a-WMA Program

We held the first of a few WMA habitat days on April 20th. We nearly completed all the signage updates and two new parking areas on the Rosenau-Lambrect WMA complex. This complex consists of over 700 acres of public lands. In 2023 and 2024 we have added to this nearly 140 acres of new land acquisitions.

As part of this year’s efforts to get many of the public WMAs improved for this falls MN Governor’s Pheasant Opener, we have additional dates for habitat projects that are: June 15, July 27 and August 17. Locations and times will be posted prior to each date. Signups will also be listed on the BCPF Facebook page and PF Event Center. We hope you will be able to join us in one of the activities.

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 37 YEARS AGO and SPENT OVER $4 MILLION in Brown County for HABITAT.
OVER 500 HABITAT PROJECTS benefiting OVER 5,000 ACRES on PRIVATE land.
PRESERVED OVER 3,000 ACRES for PUBLIC ENJOYMENT & HUNTING. Brown County has OVER 35 WMA/WPAs encompassing OVER 4,800 ACRES.
PARTICIPATED in OVER 3,000 ACRES in Brown County land ACQUISITIONS that are now WMA/WPAs.
BROWN COUNTY HAS OVER 24,000 acres in HABITAT.
HOSTS AND PARTICIPATES IN ANNUAL MENTORED YOUTH HUNTS with more than 200 KIDS PARTICIPATING
SUPPORT our LOCAL TRAP SHOOTING TEAMS.
PARTICIPATE in MN DNR Adopt-a-WMA program. Planting food plots, replacing signs, removing trash & barb wire, creating parking areas, and more.