Pheasants Forever chapter hatches plan to bolster quality wildlife habitat in their area
By Emily Spolyar, North Dakota State Coordinator for Pheasants Forever
In North Dakota, chapter members are putting their money where their boots (and bird dogs) want to be most: in high-quality, accessible habitat.
Recognizing the significant loss of habitat in their area, and the implications of these lost acres, Pheasants Forever MonDak Chapter #619 hatched a plan to bolster quality wildlife habitat in their area. Specifically, they wanted to impact lands that would be open for public hunting.
The state walk-in access program, Private Lands Open to Sportsmen (PLOTS), run by North Dakota Game and Fish (NDGF), offered the best opportunity for them to do just that.
With hopes to leverage funding and further their impact, they worked with both NDGF and Pheasants Forever staff to apply for grant dollars from the North Dakota Outdoor Heritage Fund (OHF).
As volunteers, the grant application process and program development was a major undertaking for the MonDak Chapter, but their passion for the PF mission and desire to make an important impact in their communities fueled their fire.
MonDak’s hard work paid off when the proposal was accepted by the OHF Board!
MonDak PF Chapter members, PF staff and NDGF staff gather at the North Dakota Capitol after a successful OHF presentation.
This program will allow Pheasants Forever to provide landowners in Williams and Divide counties with an additional incentive payment for enrolling in the PLOTS program and planting new habitat acres. The program will help implement 5,000 acres of new habitat that will be open to public access.
Kent Reierson, chapter representative for the MonDak chapter, had this to say about the program: “Our chapter knows that wildlife in northwestern North Dakota needs quality habitat to survive our northern extremes. We also live in an area of high hunter pressure with low public access. Partnering with the existing NDGF program was a natural fit. Hard to imagine anything better than more birds and more access!”
Thank you to the MonDak Chapter and to NDGF for their commitment to creating more of what we all love — habitat, wildlife and public access.
This story originally appeared in the 2024 Spring Issue of Pheasants Forever Journal. To support Pheasants Forever’s habitat mission and to receive every issue of Pheasants Forever Journal, become a member today.