Partnerships Help Improve Water Quality and Wildlife Habitat

Since 2002, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR) has partnered with the Board of Water & Soil Resources (BWSR) and Pheasants Forever Inc. to administer a grant program to help implement the Federal Farm Bill.  The purpose of the program is to promote and implement conservation programs that result in more acres of grass and wetlands for water quality and wildlife habitat.  The State has awarded several grants to Minnesota Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) to hire staff for the promotion and implementation of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Continuous Conservation Reserve Program (CCRP), Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) and Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP).  “Pheasants Forever is grateful to the MNDNR-Division of Wildlife and BWSR for their leadership to help put sound conservation practices on the ground within the pheasant range.” said Matt Holland, Pheasants Forever, Director of Conservation - MN.  To date the grant program has helped enroll over 50,000 acres of land into conservation programs throughout Minnesota.

In 2004, the Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) took one step further and initiated CRP promotion partnerships with several local groups.  The Stearns SWCD and Pheasants Forever Inc. now have agreements with the Sauk River Watershed District, North Fork Crow River Watershed District, Clearwater River Watershed District and the Grand Lake Association to promote and implement CRP within their respective areas of the county.  "These partnerships allow us to pin point high priority areas of the county", said Jason Selvog -Pheasants Forever, Farm Bill Biologist.  "Working with these local groups is a great benefit because they have knowledge of where these programs are needed within their areas, and in many cases, have names of landowners that have already expressed interest", said Selvog.

For more information about Pheasants Forever contact: