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South Dakota GFP Offering Conservation Opportunity

South Dakota Fish, Game & Parks

PIERRE, S.D. –-(AmmoLand.com)- Today (Nov. 23) marks the first day for South Dakota landowners in the James River watershed to enroll environmentally sensitive land through a new program that will provide additional incentives to the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).

Through a unique partnership between the Game, Fish and Parks Department and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency, landowners have the opportunity to set aside agricultural acres that meet certain criteria into a Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP).

Plans call for the program to set aside 100,000 acres in the James River watershed that will improve water quality, provide flood control, reduce soil erosion, and provide recreation access. The CREP will give agriculture producers another option for managing their land for financial incentives that are up to 40 percent higher than the normal rental rate for CRP land.

The James River watershed is an area of critical importance to South Dakota wildlife, and is an area that can provide a valuable expansion of public access opportunities in the eastern part of the state.

“All lands enrolled in the CREP program will be open to public fishing and hunting,” GFP Secretary Jeff Vonk said. “The James River corridor has been a primary pheasant area for the past 60 years. We have the opportunity to produce valuable nesting cover for pheasants as well as other wildlife that depends on wetlands and grassland.”

“We have seen a reduction of 500,000 acres of CRP in the last five years. CREP will help mitigate those losses in an area where we can maximize benefits to upland nesting game birds like pheasants,” Vonk said. “In addition, certain tracts of expired CRP acres in the project area may qualify for re-enrollment in CREP.”

Sign up for the program begins on Nov. 23. Landowners interested in more information on CREP may contact the GFP District Office in Huron (605/353-7145), their local USDA service center, or a Pheasants Forever Farm Bill biologist (www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/PrivateLands/PFBiologists.pdf).

“CREP is a win-win-win for agriculture producers, wildlife, and sportsmen,” Vonk said. “This program will provide an economically sound land management option for landowners, thousands of acres of habitat to benefit wildlife, and access to private land for hunters and anglers.”

Contact: Rocco Murano or Matt Grunig, GFP Huron Office (605/353-7145)

More information on the CREP program is available at this link to the Farm Service Agency Web site: www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=copr&topic=cep

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Pheasants Forever Adds Conservation Program Experts in North Dakota
Farm Bill Biologists in Forman and Dickinson helping landowners with conservation options.

Pheasants Forever

Saint Paul, Minn. – -(AmmoLand.com)- Pheasants Forever is expanding its Farm Bill Biologist program in North Dakota with the addition of two new positions created in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and local Soil Conservation Districts. Matthew Olson of Fort Ransom, North Dakota, is the new Farm Bill Biologist based out of Forman and Jeff Potts of Watertown, South Dakota, is the new Farm Bill Biologist based out of Dickinson.

Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist program is designed to educate farmers and landowners – through one-on-one consulting – about the benefits of conservation programs (such as the federal Conservation Reserve Program, or CRP), as well as assist those farmers and landowners after programs have been implemented. Pheasants Forever first began employing Farm Bill Biologists in 2003 and now has over 45 Farm Bill Biologists working in seven states – Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Farm Bill Biologists have contacted and consulted over 28,000 landowners, resulting in the improvement of over 1.3 million acres of land for wildlife.

“These positions come at an especially critical juncture for North Dakota, where nearly 775,000 acres have expired from the wildlife-friendly CRP in the past five years and another 1.8 million acres are slated to expire in the next five years,” said Jim Inglis, Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist Coordinator, “With continuous CRP practices and other conservation programs, landowners have numerous conservation options. The challenge has always been informing them, and these Farm Bill Biologists meet that challenge head on.”

Matthew Olson
A native of Fort Ransom, North Dakota, Olson joins Pheasants Forever after four years with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. An avid outdoorsman, Olson has an excellent knowledge of the Forman and surrounding area. Olson earned his B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Management from North Dakota State University. He is based out of the Wild Rice Soil Conservation District Office in Forman and can be contacted at (701) 724-3247 or via email at molson@pheasantsforever.org.

Jeff Potts
Potts joins Pheasants Forever after earning his B.S. in Wildlife Fisheries and Science from South Dakota State University. He already has extensive experience in the natural resource field, having worked previously with the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks as a wildlife technician and a land/habitat intern. Potts is based out of the NRCS office in Dickinson and can be contacted at (701) 225-3811 x118 or via email at jpotts@pheasantsforever.org.

Pheasants Forever also has a Farm Bill Biologist position in Jamestown, North Dakota. Steve Stensgard can be contacted at the Jamestown NRCS office (701)252-2521 ext. 129 or via email at SStensgard@pheasantsforever.org. For more information on Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist program, contact Jim Inglis, Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist Coordinator, at (419) 569-1096 or via email at jinglis@pheasantsforever.org.

About:
Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever are non-profit conservation organizations dedicated to the protection and enhancement of pheasant, quail, and other wildlife populations in North America through habitat improvement, land management, public awareness, and education. Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever has 125,000 members in 700 local chapters across the continent.

For additional information please visit www.PheasantsForever.org and www.QuailForever.org

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