Thoughts?
- Thread starter 3car
- Start date
3car
Active member
Well some do and some don't. I do know if funding deteriorates any more, this type of management will suffer.
Hard to believe this is soley focused on habitat improvement. some of the best WPA's we have hunted have been recently (past 2-5 years) hayed, taking out substantial habitat (depressing to see for us) . Observing all the habitat taken out over the past 4-5 years, this one is hard to digest. A more comprehensive report on this plan would help outdoorsmen & women understand the long term strategy here.
3car
Active member
From what I have seen the large tracts of hayed off WPA's will help facilitate farming the next year. Just helps "break" the ground.
I do believe there are phone numbers associated with the article. You could call them.
SDJIM
New member
Yes habitat loss is the BIG problem.
I keep adding acres (over 100 for this coming year) but I'm not getting as good of results as I had hoped for. MY problem as I see it is that I have become the flush little patch of good habitat surrounded by a bleak barren moonscape of total farming ground. I 'm trying a new approach in that i'm going to plant 75 acres of dense nesting cover in one chunk--maybe it will allow the wildlife an anchor point in this area. 
1pheas4
Moderator
This is all good. They know what they are doing. Smart move on their part placing signs around areas that are grazed/cropped informing the public on what's going on. Good for wildlife, ranchers, and farmers.
CREP went through the same thing. Many people were complaining about it. Today it's producing pheasants and a host of other wildlife.
Nick
CREP went through the same thing. Many people were complaining about it. Today it's producing pheasants and a host of other wildlife.
Nick
UGUIDE
Active member
Good article and good wildlife management. What they are doing is exactly how I would do it. Kill it, crop it and replant it.
The replant species knowledge is decades ahead of what they planted originally.
Will take minimum 5 years to have any huntable bird holding/producing cover.
They (Feds/State) should do a better job in communicating disruptions to the public so hunters don't show up to their honey hole and see a parking lot or crop stubble......
the saavy public lands hunter will pay very close attention to what specifically is being changed on the landscape and plan his routes accordingly. All is public info in the end but you may have to go "hunting" for it.
The replant species knowledge is decades ahead of what they planted originally.
Will take minimum 5 years to have any huntable bird holding/producing cover.
They (Feds/State) should do a better job in communicating disruptions to the public so hunters don't show up to their honey hole and see a parking lot or crop stubble......
the saavy public lands hunter will pay very close attention to what specifically is being changed on the landscape and plan his routes accordingly. All is public info in the end but you may have to go "hunting" for it.
This all has been helpful, agree with short term pain for long term gain.
My fault for not reading more carefully, before responding.
Chris - Are you saying I can find on the SDFG website where they are allowing haying on WPA's, or is there another site where this info is contained? I have also seen trees and cover cleared from these WPA's, which held birds and did not make sense to me. A better understanding of the who/what/whys behind these decisions would be beneficial. My immediate reaction to those changes was negative, but perhaps there is a "master plan" behind it.
Thanks, Lee
My fault for not reading more carefully, before responding.
Chris - Are you saying I can find on the SDFG website where they are allowing haying on WPA's, or is there another site where this info is contained? I have also seen trees and cover cleared from these WPA's, which held birds and did not make sense to me. A better understanding of the who/what/whys behind these decisions would be beneficial. My immediate reaction to those changes was negative, but perhaps there is a "master plan" behind it.
Thanks, Lee
3car
Active member
As far as I know there is not a website were you can go to acquire information on specific habitat management for a particular WPA. I would suggest you call the USFWS office that manages that WPA to get the specifics.
BRITTMAN
Well-known member
Agree that many WPAs have gone bad ... thistle, buckthorn, single cedars, are often popping up ...
I have a problem with how some of these plans are run.
In an era when nesting grasses are disappearing at an alarming rate (CRP losses), converting entire WPA land areas to crop land is somewhat disturbing ... especially on a 5 year plan.
There are a couple of large WPAs in ND where they are farming nearly every last acre except the wetlands ... no real grass buffer strips Lack of buffer strips is also seen on small WPAs being farmed too ... Come on now ... don't they know that grass buffer strips prevents the water from taking on too many chemicals ... algae blooms, etc... and buffer strips prevent silt intrusion from run offs.
I would argue that they could plant 120 - 160 acres at a time and rotate through over multi time periods ... leaving the remaining quarter-to-half section in grass.
Hopefully the US government is charging reasonable lease rates on these farmed acres.
Fire and grazing have shown to be effective management techniques too. On another ND WPA ... they had cattle in what appeared to be newly (1-2 year old) grass stand ... largely bluestem. The grassy area was largely dirt with clumps of grass starting up ... the cattle had "damaged" the soil during wet periods. My uncles grazed their land rather heavy (if not aggressive, but they never treated the land that way).
Never seen a sign at a single ND WPA explaining time table ...
I have a problem with how some of these plans are run.
In an era when nesting grasses are disappearing at an alarming rate (CRP losses), converting entire WPA land areas to crop land is somewhat disturbing ... especially on a 5 year plan.
There are a couple of large WPAs in ND where they are farming nearly every last acre except the wetlands ... no real grass buffer strips
Lack of buffer strips is also seen on small WPAs being farmed too ... Come on now ... don't they know that grass buffer strips prevents the water from taking on too many chemicals ... algae blooms, etc... and buffer strips prevent silt intrusion from run offs.I would argue that they could plant 120 - 160 acres at a time and rotate through over multi time periods ... leaving the remaining quarter-to-half section in grass.
Hopefully the US government is charging reasonable lease rates on these farmed acres.
Fire and grazing have shown to be effective management techniques too. On another ND WPA ... they had cattle in what appeared to be newly (1-2 year old) grass stand ... largely bluestem. The grassy area was largely dirt with clumps of grass starting up ... the cattle had "damaged" the soil during wet periods.
My uncles grazed their land rather heavy (if not aggressive, but they never treated the land that way).Never seen a sign at a single ND WPA explaining time table ...
3car
Active member
Agree that many WPAs have gone bad ... thistle, buckthorn, single cedars, are often popping up ...
I have a problem with how some of these plans are run.
In an era when nesting grasses are disappearing at an alarming rate (CRP losses), converting entire WPA land areas to crop land is somewhat disturbing ... especially on a 5 year plan.
There are a couple of large WPAs in ND where they are farming nearly every last acre except the wetlands ... no real grass buffer strips
I would argue that they could plant 120 - 160 acres at a time and rotate through over multi time periods ... leaving the remaining quarter-to-half section in grass.
Hopefully the US government is charging reasonable lease rates on these farmed acres.
Fire and grazing have shown to be effective management techniques too. On another ND WPA ... they had cattle in what appeared to be newly (1-2 year old) grass stand ... largely bluestem. The grassy area was largely dirt with clumps of grass starting up ... the cattle had "damaged" the soil during wet periods.
Never seen a sign at a single ND WPA explaining time table ...
I would encourage you to call the office that manages the WPA's you are concerned about and report back here on what you find. You have good questions that I bet they can answer for ya.