WOW What a gorgeous Fri afternoon and Saturday in the SW. 50 degrees and sun! A good day to be in the field chasing ringnecks. But I think, for me, an interesting experience regardless. Of course driving home yesterday was dreary and foggy from Willmar to Pequot.
I want to say straight away that my points and concerns, and hence where I spent my time, was in the public lands portion of discussion, because I am an average person of average means hunting, in MN, public lands.
Nicole Davros from MN DNR Madelia spoke about pheasant biology. She stated that undisturbed grass, haylands, pasture, small grains are where the nesting occur. It takes 6 weeks of undisturbed cover to bring off the brood, and once the chicks are hatched they need open areas underneath the dense grass to escape and travel. How much grass is enough? If an area has 5% grass it will produce 30 birds per square mile. 25% grass will provide 160 birds per square mile. Quite a significant difference.
At the end of the session we all had 3 blue dots to use to "vote" on what we felt were the most important things discussed:
#1 Enforce existing laws on buffers, roadsides, and easements. (this being #1 surprised me)
#2 Increase bonding funds for WMA acquisition
#3 Target funds to specific high quality habitat areas through state, local and federal cost share programs.
#4 Increase state and local funding.
#5 Create compensation for long term and perpetual conservation programs
Okay, back to the discussions- we all had a choice as to which 3 of the breakout sessions we wanted at attend in the morning. We all had a chance to provide ideas which were posted at each station. I attended all 3, however, after lunch we were to pick 1 area to attend and discuss at length which were our top 3 areas. Roadsides were something we discussed at length. I expressed my concerns, and for me, this goes way back, that its come down to roadsides?! Some stated it was better than nothing. You have to face the facts that mowing practices along the township roads in particular, is a mess, just as farming up to the edge of the road is. Who owns it, and was it ever enforced (doubtful) is unknown and in farm country who cares?
We discussed improving the quality of habitat on WMAs. Good discussion here, there were several people from the cattlemans assoc who feel that grazing, done properly, can help-the key word properly. That said, IMO, if we don't have enough folks already to maintain what we have and enforce buffers etc how on earth can we have anyone take care of overseeing grazing? And to those who took out pasture and haylands several years ago to put them into corn and beans, why should you be helped? WMAs aren't a bank for you. The removal of tall trees is to reduce avian predation, however small trees and shrubs are beneficial and needed. I did bring up that the liability issue and training is a roadblock to having volunteers help in restoring and maintaining habitat. Some suggested that volunteers are great but they have to be supervised as well which is a challenge in itself.
The lack of enforcement on buffers etc is an issue, and I had more than 1 person tell me of their personal experiences. So why aren't they being enforced and how will statutory changes help? Good question. My thoughts again are not enough people or people that are in charge of enforcing don't care, or have enough time, or don't have someone that will stand behind them. Maybe the answer is a letter to the landowners who mow or farm next to roadsides or have buffers etc that "this is to notify you that next year we will begin enforcing the laws" at least they have been given notice that changes are coming. And if enforcement doesn't begin, then shame on us. We don't need more laws if the ones in place aren't being enforced (do we?)
I agree on acquiring more land, its the only thing we really control. If the farm bureau, township and county boards, corn growers and soybean growers assn etc etc want to continue to oppose, let them and so what.
We also agreed that a target of 50000 acres of WIA is needed, I believe that said we are around 21000 acres now
Lastly, as we all know, the federal farm bill is the key. If more conservation provisions aren't included and the focus is on all production, things will get worse, for the lands and waters and all the life they support. Take a look whats happened and what continues to happen-it speaks for itself.
The results and discussion items will be ready for the DNR roundtables on Jan 15th and should also be posted on the DNRs website.
Dan
I want to say straight away that my points and concerns, and hence where I spent my time, was in the public lands portion of discussion, because I am an average person of average means hunting, in MN, public lands.
Nicole Davros from MN DNR Madelia spoke about pheasant biology. She stated that undisturbed grass, haylands, pasture, small grains are where the nesting occur. It takes 6 weeks of undisturbed cover to bring off the brood, and once the chicks are hatched they need open areas underneath the dense grass to escape and travel. How much grass is enough? If an area has 5% grass it will produce 30 birds per square mile. 25% grass will provide 160 birds per square mile. Quite a significant difference.
At the end of the session we all had 3 blue dots to use to "vote" on what we felt were the most important things discussed:
#1 Enforce existing laws on buffers, roadsides, and easements. (this being #1 surprised me)
#2 Increase bonding funds for WMA acquisition
#3 Target funds to specific high quality habitat areas through state, local and federal cost share programs.
#4 Increase state and local funding.
#5 Create compensation for long term and perpetual conservation programs
Okay, back to the discussions- we all had a choice as to which 3 of the breakout sessions we wanted at attend in the morning. We all had a chance to provide ideas which were posted at each station. I attended all 3, however, after lunch we were to pick 1 area to attend and discuss at length which were our top 3 areas. Roadsides were something we discussed at length. I expressed my concerns, and for me, this goes way back, that its come down to roadsides?! Some stated it was better than nothing. You have to face the facts that mowing practices along the township roads in particular, is a mess, just as farming up to the edge of the road is. Who owns it, and was it ever enforced (doubtful) is unknown and in farm country who cares?
We discussed improving the quality of habitat on WMAs. Good discussion here, there were several people from the cattlemans assoc who feel that grazing, done properly, can help-the key word properly. That said, IMO, if we don't have enough folks already to maintain what we have and enforce buffers etc how on earth can we have anyone take care of overseeing grazing? And to those who took out pasture and haylands several years ago to put them into corn and beans, why should you be helped? WMAs aren't a bank for you. The removal of tall trees is to reduce avian predation, however small trees and shrubs are beneficial and needed. I did bring up that the liability issue and training is a roadblock to having volunteers help in restoring and maintaining habitat. Some suggested that volunteers are great but they have to be supervised as well which is a challenge in itself.
The lack of enforcement on buffers etc is an issue, and I had more than 1 person tell me of their personal experiences. So why aren't they being enforced and how will statutory changes help? Good question. My thoughts again are not enough people or people that are in charge of enforcing don't care, or have enough time, or don't have someone that will stand behind them. Maybe the answer is a letter to the landowners who mow or farm next to roadsides or have buffers etc that "this is to notify you that next year we will begin enforcing the laws" at least they have been given notice that changes are coming. And if enforcement doesn't begin, then shame on us. We don't need more laws if the ones in place aren't being enforced (do we?)
I agree on acquiring more land, its the only thing we really control. If the farm bureau, township and county boards, corn growers and soybean growers assn etc etc want to continue to oppose, let them and so what.
We also agreed that a target of 50000 acres of WIA is needed, I believe that said we are around 21000 acres now
Lastly, as we all know, the federal farm bill is the key. If more conservation provisions aren't included and the focus is on all production, things will get worse, for the lands and waters and all the life they support. Take a look whats happened and what continues to happen-it speaks for itself.
The results and discussion items will be ready for the DNR roundtables on Jan 15th and should also be posted on the DNRs website.
Dan