Governor's pheasant workgroup

B

BigRand

Active member
Figured this would have been put up as soon as it came out. Since it hasn't here's the link.
http://gfp.sd.gov/pheasantsummit/docs/PHWG Final Report.pdf
Read the whole thing. Seems like they understand there's a problem and are trying to come up with ways to keep SD as the pheasant capital. A couple of the ideas comming out of this seem to be very good. Hopefully they will be able to act on some of if not all their plans now that they have some. Wondering what others thoughts are.
 
Perspective

Writing from my beloved state of Iowa I can share that I am happy to see the work of your fellow South Dakotans concerning the future of pheasants.:)

We have tried--unsuccessfully--for quite some time in Iowa to get our leaders and legislature to investigate and attempt to correct to downtrend of pheasants here.

A large part of me hopes that what your state and its leaders are doing "rubs off" on neighboring states and that much of your hard work becomes "the model" for us to follow.

It may sound old fashioned but I still desire the pursuit of local game, family meals around the table, caring for your neighbors and the sense of community that our nation was founded upon. The pursuit of local game included pheasants and pheasant hunting for me since the age of 3.

Many of us have been pleading for change. I believe your task force and the recommendations are a great start. We all have much to do to restore our pheasants for future generations!:)

Thanks
 
I've been waiting for this one.:) Thank you for the link BigR. There's some reading within that file so it will have to wait until morning.;)

Lights out:D
 
I like the proposal except for raising the Federal Duck stamp fee from $15 to $25. As an avid duck hunter this bothers me. Mainly becuase hunting fees have increased quite a bit in most states over the past year due to the cuts of federal funding to state wildlife agencies. It is my belief that an additional increase in the price of a duck stamp could drastically reduce the number of duck hunters. Which sounds all good in theory (trust me I am a duck hunter from NC), however habitat conservation depends greatly on license fees, so a drop in the number of licenses purchased is never a good thing.

Also I think it is somewhat annoying that a Pheasant Habitat work group is spear heading a proposition to increase the price of the Federal DUCK Stamp, something that upland hunters would have no direct impact upon. Meaning that upland hunters would be benefiting by no direct action of their own, and would stand to gain from purchases of licenses of waterfowl hunters while not contributing to the solution themselves. This wont sit well with many waterfowlers. Maybe instead they should institute a State or Federal Upland Game Bird Stamp thus it is a "use based" cost if you will.
 
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UGUIDE said:
Thanks for posting. I read it a couple days ago and thought the group did a good job. Now the heavy lifting. Implementing the 8 initiatives.
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Some good ideas, but as you state will see what actually gets accomplished. They are hitting a lot of issues that agriculture may be deaf to. Taxes, land use, drainage, etc. The ethanol tax works for me because that's what killed our habitat (Not really a fan of non-user taxes otherwise).
 
Do you think it has anything to do with $$???


The South Dakota Department of Tourism estimates pheasant hunting generates $223 million in retail economic impact annually and an additional $111 million in salaries annually. Those revenues are the result of 76,000 resident and 100,000 non-resident pheasant hunters purchasing licenses, fuel, food and lodging during the state?s three-month hunting season. The season?s opener is also acknowledged as the busiest weekend of the year at the Sioux Falls Regional Airport. In fact, the state estimates there are 4,500 jobs linked directly to the pheasant hunting industry and related tourism.
 
I think the issue if addressed that would help pheasant numbers the most in the short term is restricting or changing to a later date the mowing of the right of way. I know Haymaker and others are against this but you can't make everyone happy. It is easy to say someone else should pay more money for gas, licenses or sporting supplies but I think a lot harder to implement.
 
its not just the ditches.....all alfalfa gets cut as soon as it's ready and the more cuttings the more income.....no different than planting more corn...it's all income related to the producer.......Kansas is the same way, early wheat crop, early harvest=poor bird production...in wet years when wheat harvest runs 2-3 weeks behind, we usually see better bird production....pheasants are nothing more than a by product of what farming practices and nature allows...
 
Hunter I agree, but you can't stop or delay harvesting alfalfa or any other crop. You can with the correct property tax policy change the right of way mowing. Something that should be relatively do able. More taxes or fees for waterfowlers and others is going to be some hard lifting
 
Chip said:
Hunter I agree, but you can't stop or delay harvesting alfalfa or any other crop. You can with the correct property tax policy change the right of way mowing. Something that should be relatively do able. More taxes or fees for waterfowlers and others is going to be some hard lifting
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You are right, the part about the ditches does concern me a little. If you had your way what would be your ditch policy? What is all the money they are trying to raise going to be used for?
 
If it were up to me I would not allow the ditches to be mowed until Aug 15. Along with that I think the landowners should be compensated in reduce property taxes for the restriction after all the landowners are taxed for the ditches
 
Chip said:
If it were up to me I would not allow the ditches to be mowed until Aug 15. Along with that I think the landowners should be compensated in reduce property taxes for the restriction after all the landowners are taxed for the ditches
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I believe the law now says that we can cut hiway ditches july 15th. When CRP is released for emergency haying and grazing the date is august 2nd. I have hayed CRP that way a few times over the years, I have never found a nest that late. Perhaps last year with all the late hatched birds there would have still been some nesting going year. Are you talking about all ditches? It is very difficult to mow the township ditches around here, but cattle can get to places it would be dangerous to try to mow so I graze the ditches by the road that I need to use in the winter. There is a big difference in the snow when I graze. This year I left 2 miles of road ditch uncut along hiway 12. I just let it rest. I doubt many if any pheasants were produced there because there is so much nesting habitat in the area. In an area where it is farmed ditch to ditch, ditches may be more valuable. So I doubt waiting that long would be very effective.
 
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