Publicly funded and maintained ditches that benefits the surrounding land owners but provide no public access are a sweet deal that requires political clout. MN legislature historically has been made up of teachers, lawyers and farmers so not unexpected.
We also have the lottery funds ie; LCMR but the spending seems to not be focused on acquisition these days which is disappointing Upland hunting has become a largely public assess game IMO and we have heavier pressure. As farms get larger and less family owned the hunters are getting pushed off...