Habitat & Conservation  |  01/19/2023

Pheasants Forever Announces Inaugural Habitat Management Area Designation for Public Hunting


e2654586-7a26-436a-bded-20a2715e72aa

A major step combining habitat protection and public access under company ownership

Pheasants Forever today revealed the organization’s first “Habitat Management Area” (HMA) designation in east-central Minnesota. The sprawling, 197-acres located in Kanabec County sets the stage for future purchases and management of quality wildlife habitat with this designation and under the umbrella of the company’s Build a Wildlife Area® program.

This is a major accomplishment and new era for The Habitat Organization, providing our employee team and chapters with another opportunity to protect and manage strategically significant properties when other options for public ownership have been exhausted,” said David Bue, chief development officer for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. “By utilizing The Forever Stewardship Fund, we’re helping to fulfill a conservation legacy for our members and donors.

The organization’s first HMA in Minnesota was made possible by the vision of the late Dennis Norby, a dedicated member of Pheasants Forever who succumbed to a battle with cancer in 2020. Norby, a rural electrician, hunter, and conservation-minded landowner from Mora, Minnesota, chose Pheasants Forever to carry out a legacy plan for his property. Long-term expenses for ownership of the land by Pheasants Forever are covered under The Forever Stewardship Fund – made possible by donors and chapters. Plans are being developed to further enhance the property through prescribed fire, seeding, and volunteer tree removal. The HMA is now open to public recreation and has been enrolled in Minnesota’s Walk-in Access Program (#943).

Consisting of grasslands, wetlands, cropland, and brushy cover surrounded by pastureland and small farms, the organization’s first HMA is helping to create a complete habitat mosaic for ring-necked pheasants and other wildlife. Located within one-mile from the Erickson-Lidstrom Family Wildlife Management Area, Pheasants Forever envisions a habitat corridor/complex for the future and will work diligently to help create more upland habitat and access in the immediate vicinity.

For more information about Pheasants Forever’s first, Minnesota-based Habitat Management Area, or to contribute directly to the Build a Wildlife Area program and The Forever Stewardship Fund to support more permanent habitat protection projects, please contact regional representative Will Clayton at wclayton@pheasantsforever.org or (320) 905-0226.