MN DNR Reports a 522,000 Rooster Harvest during 2008 Pheasant Hunting Season

Danger on the Horizon in CRP Losses

Pheasants Forever
Source: pheasantsforever.org
Published: Aug. 13, 2009

Pheasants Forever Media Advisory

SUBJECT: Minnesota DNR Reports a 522,000 Rooster Harvest during 2008 Pheasant Hunting Season

WHAT: For the fifth year out of the last six, Minnesota pheasant hunters in 2008 harvested more than a half million roosters. Prior to 2003, Minnesota hunters had bagged more than 500,000 birds during just two seasons since 1964 (1981 & 1991). While the 2008 harvest fell well below the 40-year record set in 2007 with a 655,000 bird harvest, hunter participation and success during the 2008 season remained high.

WHY: Pheasants in Minnesota have enjoyed milder winters and spring conditions advantageous to reproduction in recent years. Those favorable weather conditions, coupled with good habitat on the landscape, including nearly 1.7 million acres of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands in Minnesota, have created the successful pheasant seasons we've enjoyed in the state since 2003. Unfortunately, danger is on the horizon with massive CRP acres set to expire over the next few years. Last year, 107,000 acres of CRP contracts expired in Minnesota, and 65,000 more acres will expire this year. In fact, 621,000 acres of CRP are set to expire in Minnesota between 2010 and 2013. Pheasants Forever is diligently working to re-enroll, replace, and improve those acres of habitat. The new State Acres For wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) practice of CRP is one successful example.

WHO: Consider an interview with the following Pheasants Forever officials in response to today's Minnesota DNR announcement:

 Matt Holland, Pheasants Forever Senior Field Coordinator, (320)354-4377

 Eran Sandquist, Pheasants Forever Regional Wildlife Biologist for western & central Minnesota, (763)242-1273

 Scott Roemhildt, Pheasants Forever Regional Field Representative for southern Minnesota, (507)327-9785

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