Brule-Lyman Counties is the newest addition to the Pheasants Forever-led Community-Based Habitat and Access Program, which utilizes donations from businesses and local Pheasants Forever chapters to provide incentive payments to private landowners who open their high-quality habitat to public hunting access through South Dakota's Walk-In Area program. Pictured, from left: Anthony Hauck, Pheasants Forever director of public relations, Matt Morlock, Pheasants Forever South Dakota state director, Emy Marier, Pheasants Forever membership specialist, Kelly Hepler, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Secretary, and Andrew Vavra, Pheasants Forever director of marketing.
Quality habitat. Public access. Thriving wildlife. Booming economies.
Those four goals represent a quickly-expanding initiative in South Dakota which started in Aberdeen, moved to Mitchell, and is now slated to generate 2,000 acres of additional walk-in hunting opportunities for a two-county region along the Missouri River.
The Brule/Lyman Community-Based Habitat Access Program is a new phenomenon in the Chamberlain area of South Dakota thanks to the financial assistance of Lyman County PF, Mid Dakota PF, Missouri River Central PF, Chamberlain Chamber of Commerce, and a wide variety of local businesses that cater to upland hunters in each year.
The formula is simple. Finances contributed to the initiative by Pheasants Forever and its partners are used to provide an extra sign-up incentive for Brule and Lyman County landowners enrolling in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), as well as the state Walk-In Area program, which accounts for 1.2 million acres of public hunting in South Dakota. The plan is a win-win for landowners and rural communities, habitat and associated wildlife, and for upland hunters who flock to the state’s grasslands each year to partake in legendary wingshooting opportunities.
To enroll or learn more about the new Brule/Lyman Community-Based Habitat Access Program, contact Pheasants Forever Farm Bill biologist(s) Nick Goehring at
NGoehring@pheasantsforever.org or 605-216-4390, and Jessica Downey at
JDowney@pheasantsforever.org or 605-869-2216 x3.