Minnesota
DNR aims to increase pheasant harvest
As the grasslands and cattails go, so goes the pheasant. Between 1931 and 1964, the average pheasant harvest in Minnesota was 1,046,000 roosters. Between 1965 and 1986, the yearly average had plummeted to 270,000.
"That's an astounding change," said Kurt Haroldson, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wildlife research biologist at the Madelia Farmland Wildlife Populations and Research Station. "And it correlates with the land use changes that took place across the pheasant range in Minnesota during those years."
As grasslands and cattail sloughs were rapidly converted to row crops in the mid-1960s, the pheasant population crashed. The decline was enhanced by the expiration of the Soil Bank Conservation Reserve, a land retirement program similar to today's Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The 1970s were Minnesota's darkest period in history for farmland wildlife. Federal farm policy encouraged fencerow to fencerow farming, with little consideration for wildlife, water quality, or the environment in general.
Despite the dramatic pheasant declines over the past 50 years, optimism about the future of the ringneck in Minnesota is very much alive. Having learned from past mistakes, we are now enjoying the benefits of more environmentally friendly federal farm programs. With the addition of more than 1 million acres of grass enrolled in the CRP from 1987 to 2003, the pheasant harvest in Minnesota increased 35 percent to 364,000 roosters per year compared to the pre-CRP period (1965-86). And there is room for additional growth.
The DNR's Strategic Conservation Agenda and draft long-range pheasant plan aims for an annual average harvest of 450,000 roosters by 2008 and 750,000 roosters by 2025.

"It would be quite a challenge to return to the days when hunters in Minnesota were regularly harvesting a million roosters a year," Haroldson said. "But averaging 450,000 roosters by 2008 and 750,000 by 2025 is achievable." Reaching those goals, however, will require the political will to dramatically increase the amount of grassland in the pheasant range, Haroldson said.

Last year, hunters actually killed an estimated 511,400 roosters in Minnesota, a significant increase over the 358,000 total the previous year and the 267,000 in 2001. It was the first time the harvest topped the one-half million mark since 1991 and just the second time since 1981. Sustaining such a harvest under present conditions, however, would be highly unlikely, Haroldson said. Excellent weather conditions during the 2003 spring nesting season and favorable conditions over the previous couple of winters helped propel the population skyward last year. A severe winter, or a poor nesting season, however, could quickly send the pheasant population into a steep nose-dive.

Habitat and weather are the two factors that most affect pheasant populations, Haroldson noted. "There's nothing we can do about the weather, but there is a lot that can ­ and should - be done to improve habitat conditions."
Farm programs drive pheasant and other wildlife populations, up or down, Haroldson pointed out. "When you have good conservation programs like CRP or CREP, pheasant populations increase," Haroldson noted.
Pheasants do best in landscapes that contain 30-50 percent grassland with the remainder in row crops, according to DNR research. There are approximately 26 million acres of land in Minnesota's pheasant range; however, only 5.5 percent of that land is presently in undisturbed grassland habitat under the protection of either farm programs (900,000 acres) or wildlife agencies (600,000 acres). DNR research biologists estimate that restoring the average harvest to 450,000 roosters a year would require increasing the current 1,500,000 acres of undisturbed grasslands by another 330,000 acres. To reach the 750,000 mark would require an additional 1,560,000 acres over the current amount. The current Farm Bill has the right programs and funding to achieve the 450,000 harvest goal by 2008. But it takes grass roots effort to convert the programs into habitat. Many landowners are not aware of how conservation programs such as the CRP might benefit their farm. To address this information need, DNR has partnered with the Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources, county Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and Pheasants Forever to provide farm-specific information on conservation programs to eligible landowners. The recent increase in Minnesota pheasant and duck stamps is helping to pay for this effort. But much more work is needed.

The current Farm Bill, including the CRP and other conservation programs, expires in 2007. Work on the next Farm Bill has already started. The recent announcement by President Bush that CRP will be expanded is proof that, especially in an election year, our political leaders are listening to what the voters want. The opportunity to not only maintain, but expand on the legacy of the CRP is here. Let us not forget what happened 40 years ago with the loss of the Soil Bank program.

Weather, habitat influence duck hunting success
Whether it's a success or not will, as always, depend largely on the weather. Minnesota's duck season opened Sept. 25 and will continue for 60 days. The daily limit will be six ducks. In spite of the 60-day season, a high duck harvest is hardly a given, said Steve Cordts, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) waterfowl specialist.
"Look at how unusual the weather has been this summer," Cordts said. "Who knows what the weather patterns might be this fall." Weather, Cordts notes, is the primary factor influencing waterfowl behavior and migration.
If temperatures continue below normal into the fall, more teal and even wood ducks could be missing come opening day, even though the opener is one of the earliest in years. Teal and wood ducks are typically the earliest migrants.
What if Canada, North Dakota and northern Minnesota experience an early freeze-up? That could set off a major migration flight well before the season ends. If the lakes and wetlands in southern and western Minnesota are ice-free at that time, it could be a boon for hunters in those areas of the state.
On the other hand, a sudden, early freeze-up in more southern areas of the state would send the "northern flight" overhead and on to more southern climes before Minnesota hunters even have a chance to break out the thinsulate.
Then again, Cordts points out, if lakes and wetlands remain open late into the year, as sometimes happens, it's conceivable that the season could end before the major push of ducks into the prairie pothole region of Minnesota has occurred.
"There are just so many variables that affect duck movement that it's impossible to predict how successful any particular season will be," Cordts said.
While weather affects duck movement from year-to-year, the DNR continues to improve the wetland habitat to increase duck and goose popu