Warm weather this weekend and last offered Minnesota's wildlife -- especially its pheasants -- a reprieve from what has been a nasty winter.
Pheasants and pheasant hunters have been enjoying the results of seven consecutive mild winters: high ringneck populations and the highest harvests seen in 40 years.
But this winter, with its plentiful snow and persistent cold, spells trouble.
"I think we've lost a fair number of birds," said Kurt Haroldson, Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist. "I think we'll see a decrease in the population."
The recent warm spells should help, though, because it frees fields of snow, allowing birds to find food.
"Right now we have a lot of open spots in fields, and that definitely should help," Haroldson said Friday.
Temperatures were expected to hit the mid-40s in southwestern and western Minnesota.
"But it's been a rough winter," he said. Snow covers food, stresses birds and make them spend more time in the open searching for food, exposing them to weather and predators.
The rest of the winter -- and the spring -- will be key to the fall ringneck population.
"I think we're looking at fewer hens in the spring than the past few years," Haroldson said. "And the fall population will be a function of how many hens we have and how successful they are during breeding season."
Meanwhile, in the Sauk Rapids area of central Minnesota, wildlife appears to be doing OK.
"I'd say things are looking good here for turkeys, pheasants and deer," said Fred Bengtson, DNR area wildlife manager. "The fawns are looking healthy."
Conservation spending The Lessard Outdoor Heritage Council will receive suggestions Monday on how to spend some of the $78 million of expected revenue over the next year from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy amendment approved by voters last fall.
There will be no shortage of ideas.
Conservation groups and government agencies will offer about 22 projects totaling $69 million to restore, protect and enhance wetlands. Those projects would garner another $51 million in matching dollars -- mostly federal money -- resulting in $120 million in conservation work. About 66,000 acres, including uplands, would be affected. Protection includes permanent easements on private lands and the acquisition of lands.
The list, which only includes projects that can begin immediately, was hastily assembled by 30 conservation groups and government agencies.
The council also will receive another 20 proposals Monday totaling about $30 million for prairie habitat. Those projects would affect about 20,000 acres, including about 7,000 that would be acquired and 13,000 that would be restored or enhanced. Acquired lands must be open to public hunting under the law. The projects are being offered by about 15 organizations and government agencies.
Projects involving forest and fish and wildlife habitat will be presented to the council Feb. 23. All told, the council could receive an estimated $200 million in proposals.
The 12-member council will sift through the proposals and recommend to the Legislature by April 1 how the money should be spent.
A feeding frenzy? Supporters of the outdoor amendment pushed to have a citizens council oversee spending. But some are concerned a money-grab already is occurring. Darby Nelson, a citizen member of the Lessard Outdoor Heritage Council (LOHC), expressed concern over a bill introduced at the Legislature by Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, that would take $1 million from the Outdoor Heritage Fund to fund the Minnesota Conservation Corps.
Wrote Nelson on the Conservation Minnesota website: "The intended purpose of the council was to insert the citizen voice into how habitat monies would be spent, with the hope that politics would play a reduced role in the disbursements of funds.
"By sidestepping the LOHC, Hansen's bill blows that notion to smithereens. Hansen's action, if allowed, would set a precedent that would effectively render the LOHC moot and feed the cynicism of citizens toward government. Lots of folks across the state would justifiably feel betrayed if the promise of the Lessard Outdoor Heritage Council is gutted."
To read all of his comments, see www.theamendment.org/track/news/?id=1083.
Did you know? • Bills have been introduced in the Legislature to allow two lines while fishing, even in open water, and to allow portable stands to be left overnight on state wildlife management areas for bear hunting.
• Fishing continues to be good on Upper Red Lake, with anglers reporting the best action in the early morning, conservation officers report. Fishing on Lake of the Woods has slowed.
• Conservation officer Paul Parthun of Lake George was teaching a safety class for young snowmobilers when he was flagged down by a 14-year-old snowmobiler who broke his arm attempting to make a quick U-turn by accelerating and then quickly braking. The sled tipped over.
"This was a perfect demonstration for the students of how not to operate a snowmobile," Parthun reported.
• Anglers are having success catching rainbows and splake in Lake and Cook counties.
• Conservation officer Scott Fritz of La Crescent reports the turkeys are having a tough go of it with deep snow.
