MN: Wanted: waterfowlers with time and opinions

[Tyler Rother]

By Tim Spielman Associate Editor

DNR seeking nominations for duck-hunting focus group

St. Paul - Have an interest in duck hunting? Have thoughts on how it could be improved? Have some spare time?

If the above apply, you might be able to help your local DNR as it gathers useful information leading up to next fall's season.

The DNR this week announced it's in the process of developing a focus group of 12 people - three from conservation groups and the remaining nine "at-large" from throughout the state. The group will meet four times, once a month from March until June, and each session will focus on a single topic, according to a DNR press release. Input will be sought on matters such as recruitment and retention of duck hunters, habitat issues and strategies, and hunting and harvest issues such as season dates and bag limits.

Those interested should nominate themselves by March 14. Send an email to commissioner.dnr@state.mn.us with your name, address, and a short take on your interest and background. Participants will be reimbursed for travel expenses. The meetings likely will last two to three hours.

At various levels, this is a period of possible changes in waterfowling in the state, according to Ray Norrgard, DNR wetland wildlife program leader. The state might be looking at different hunting zones and season splits this fall, as well as hunting hours. Nationally, federal officials are developing the latest environmental impact statement regarding waterfowl hunting and its effects.

"This (focus group meetings) comes at a good time to have these kinds of discussions with stakeholders," Norrgard said.

"I suspect we could see some pretty significant changes in coming years (if duck numbers hold up, and a ‘liberal' framework remains in place)," he said.

Norrgard said he hopes the nine at-large focus group members represent various areas of the state. The other three members will come from the Minnesota Waterfowl Association, Delta Waterfowl, and Ducks Unlimited. Those representatives hadn't yet been named.

Minnesota DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr said in a press release that information gained from focus group members will be used in conjunction with survey information, public input meetings, stakeholder gatherings, and biological assessments, to formulate this fall's hunting season.

Norrgard said the focus group information also will be used during the next few years as state officials address waterfowl management and hunting. Minnesota, he said in an agency press release, has a "long and storied waterfowl history," but wetland loss, wetland and shallow lake degradation, limited nesting cover, and unfavorable migration patterns have cast a pall over the tradition.

"The next chapter of our state's waterfowl history will be defined by what happens on the land and the actions taken by conservation agencies, conservation organizations, and those who hunt," Norrgard said. "Focus group participants will have an opportunity to influence these actions."

http://outdoornews.com/minnesota/news/article_170de4ec-44e8-11e0-aadf-001cc4c002e0.html