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DU Presents “Beyond The Call” Awards To Perch Lake Partners

Deborah Loon (left) and Mike Malling (right) accept Beyond the Call awards from Jon Schneider (center).

Ducks Unlimited

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. --(Ammoland.com)- Ducks Unlimited presented two key Minnesota partners with “Beyond The Call” awards for work above and beyond the call of duty to make the Perch Lake enhancement project possible.

Deborah Loon of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge Trust, and Mike Malling of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service were recognized at the trust’s October board meeting by Ryan Heiniger, DU director of conservation programs for Minnesota and Jon Schneider, DU manager of Minnesota conservation programs.

“The Perch Lake project has been a high priority for our local, state and federal partners for many years, as it is so valuable to migratory waterfowl and one of the state’s designated wildlife lakes,” said Loon, executive director of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge Trust.

“The trust was proud to be a partner in this project and help bring it to fruition.”

In 1971, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources legally designated Perch Lake in Blue Earth County for wildlife management purposes. The 310-acre lake has a history of abundant waterfowl use, but is periodically compromised by carp and other invasive fish entering from the nearby Cobb River.

Shortly after the designation, the Minnesota DNR installed a water control structure on private land to allow water level management on the lake that would induce natural fish winterkill conditions and rejuvenate the marsh. By the mid 1990s the structure was no longer functioning, and because the structure and lake outlet were on private land, it could not legally be replaced until the land was acquired by a public conservation agency.

“The challenging conservation work we tackle to enhance, restore and protect Minnesota’s key shallow lakes for waterfowl simply cannot be accomplished without strong partnerships,” Schneider said during the presentation. “Enhancing Perch Lake with an improved water control structure was made possible only through a decade of perseverance by Mike Malling and strong land acquisition efforts and negotiations by Deb Loon. Without the leadership of these two individuals and the strong support of both the trust and the service, Perch Lake would still be unprotected and unmanaged today.”

After years of effort by many conservation partners, Malling and Loon spearheaded an effort to acquire the 110-acre outlet tract and several others on Perch Lake to help restore the lake’s watershed and provide DNR and DU with legal access to the lake’s outlet to replace the structure. DU engineers surveyed and designed a new variable crest outlet water control weir structure equipped with a fish barrier feature. The structure returned water levels in the lake to normal levels, and will be subsequently used by the DNR in future water level management actions designed to keep the lake in an optimal state for migratory birds, especially waterfowl.

“DU was a very important partner in the success of this project as well, and their wetland engineering expertise was invaluable,” Malling said.

Funding support for the engineering of the project was provided through a 2008 grant from Minnesota’s Environment & Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources. DU then installed the new structure in spring 2010 using a combination of other state and federal grants from LCCMR and the North American Wetlands Conservation Act.

The land will be transferred from the trust to the service and managed as a federal Waterfowl Production Area, and the DNR will manage the Perch Lake structure through a cooperative agreement with the trust and service. The project is part of DU’s Living Lakes Initiative and the Minnesota DNR’s Duck Recovery Plan. These cooperative efforts call for the enhancement, restoration and protection of shallow lakes and large marshes for both waterfowl migration and brood-rearing habitat.

Ducks Unlimited is the world’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving North America’s continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 12 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever.

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Build a Wildlife Area Campaign Yields Waterfowl Production Acres in Wright County
Build a Wildlife Area campaign dedication is August 3rd.

Build a Wildlife Area Campaign Yields Waterfowl Production Acres in Minnesota

Pheasants Forever

Buffalo, Minn. --(AmmoLand.com)-  Minnesota’s 2009 Build a Wildlife Area campaign has resulted in a new Waterfowl Production Area in Wright County.

The 65-acre addition to the Pelican Lake West Waterfowl Production Area will be officially dedicated on Tuesday, August 3rd. In eight years, Pheasants Forever and partners in Minnesota Build a Wildlife Area campaigns have led in the creation of 3,165 acres that have been opened to public hunting and outdoor recreation as federal Waterfowl Production Areas or state Wildlife Management Areas.

The 65-acre Weldele tract - sold by John and Sandra Weldele - connects to the Pelican Lake West Waterfowl Production Area and also neighbors the Pelican Lake state Wildlife Management Area, strengthening a great wildlife complex.

“This land has been in their family a long time,” said Eran Sandquist, Pheasants Forever Regional Wildlife Biologist, “An honest and hardworking Minnesota family, the Weldeles wanted to protect their land from development. Not only is the area permanently protected, but thanks to the Weldeles and the Build a Wildlife Area campaign is a place countless others will enjoy.”

In addition to the Build a Wildlife Area campaign, major funding for the land acquisition came via the Outdoor Heritage Fund and Pheasants Forever’s Minnesota Habitat Fund, Pheasants Forever chapters, Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, Minnesota Waterfowl Association, Ducks Unlimited and Muller Family Theaters.

The dedication ceremony will take place on Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 at 6PM. The location is Edmondson Ave NE / County Highway 15 (South of 60th St. NE, north of 50th St. NE), Buffalo, MN 55313. Representatives from Pheasants Forever, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will be on hand, and photo and interview opportunities are available. For more information, please contact Eran Sandquist, Pheasants Forever regional wildlife biologist, at (763) 242-1273 or esandquist@pheasantsforever.org.

Build a Wildlife Area – Minnesota
Pheasants Forever National and the Anoka County (Minnesota) Chapter of Pheasants Forever combined forces with Outdoor News (a series of Midwest outdoor publications), Gander Mountain and Game Fair to launch the initial effort Build a Wildlife Area campaign effort in 2003. Major partners have also included Ron Schara Enterprises, Federal Premium Ammunition, Apple Auto Group, and KFAN Radio. Since then, Minnesota Build a Wildlife Area campaigns have resulted in more than 3,000 acres that have been opened to public hunting and outdoor recreation.

Build a Wildlife Area: $1 = $3
Through a unique funding mechanism, the Build a Wildlife Area program puts 100 percent of the funds raised directly toward land acquisitions utilizing state, federal and other grants. It’s been Pheasants Forever’s pledge from the beginning to see that every dollar of your donation is multiplied x3 through matching grants that Pheasants Forever has in place with state natural resource agencies, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and other partners. In other words, your $25 donation is worth $75 and your $10,000 donation is worth $30,000 for the Build a Wildlife Area campaign.

Build Wildlife Area Accomplishments in Minnesota

Pheasants Forever is dedicated to the conservation of pheasants, quail and other wildlife through habitat improvements, public awareness, education and land management policies and programs.

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