Chapter News Update - October 2023

Presidents Report

We are just days away from another MN Pheasant Opener on October 14 at 9:00 am. Hope you have been doing some trap shoots, getting your dog in shape (and yourself), and have procured your license and stamps. The days will start to become shorter and the high crisper. The cackles will awaken your senses as you walk through the grass. Hope this is getting you excited.

We have been busy this summer with many projects and a few events. Through the Adopt-a-WMA program, we have provided the public lands in Brown County with numerous updates. 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.

Additionally, we would like to call out a special congratulations to our friends at the Nicollet Conservation Club (NCC) in being honored by Outdoor News as this year's recipient of the “Leadership Award”. The folks at NCC year-in and year-out go well beyond the call-in support of habitat, conservation and supporting our youth in the outdoors. Again, congratulations from all of us at BCPF.

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 supports us. All the money raised will be put to good use in Brown County. Some of these efforts are support the high school trap teams; improve the WMAs with food plots; plantings; parking areas and signage.

Have a great opener and hope to see you in the field.

We are in planning mode for the 2024 annual banquet. The date is set for March 23, 2024, and will again be held at the Sleepy Eye Event Center.

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 you understand why we must make these changes to meet their requirements.

We have secured our masters of ceremony for the event. He 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.

New - WPA in Brown County

A new Wildlife Production Area (WPA) was established in Brown County called the “Middle River WPA”. This WPA was a project by US Fish & Game and our friends at Ducks Unlimited. The project required removal of drain tiles; remove sediment; adding berms to hold water; remove trees and shrubs; and currently in the grassland restoral stages. It is located off County Road 22 and east of County Road 11. It is over 110 acres with 20 + acres being wetlands. The remaining acreage is currently being restored or replanted in native grasses and wildflowers. This property is currently open to the public.

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.

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.

So far this year we have created better or new parking areas on the following WMAs (Wildlife Management Areas): Bashaw; Vogel; Roseneau-Lambrect; Terry and Rieck's Slough. Some of the activities include: New parking area signage; replaced yellow WMA signs; new gravel in the parking areas; and mowed parking areas. We are actively targeting 5-6 WMAs per year to work on.

Additionally, we planted over 40 acres of food plots on WMAs in cooperation with the MN DNR and local farmers cooperatives. We will continue to expand and help drive this effort to have longer term habitat and food for better winter survival. If you have a local WMA near you and want to help in these efforts, reach out to us and we will see how we can work together.

Next spring on Earth Day 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. Save the date for this on Saturday April 20th, 2024.

Unfortunately, our planned mentored youth hunt was postponed and later cancelled due to uncooperative weather. We'd like to continue to give new hunters an opportunity to learn how to hunt safely and enjoy the outdoors by chasing the willie pheasant. If you know a child who would like to join us on a hunt, please reach out to us so we can assist you in finding that opportunity. This is not limited to pheasants. Talk to us about turkeys, deer or even trapping as well. We know a lot of folks whom we can point you towards.

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 28 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