Hunting club creates habitat for wildlife

030922.O.PRE.turkeyrelease2008.jpg — Beginning in the 1960s through 2008, the DNR released wild turkeys throughout much of Minnesota. Initial releases used live-trapped turkeys from Missouri, New York, Illinois, and other states. Later, thousands of birds were translocated within Minnesota.

By Robin Fish

March 13, 2022 at 9:40 AM

PARK RAPIDS, Minn. 鈥� Wild turkeys and other varieties of wildlife are benefiting from a partnership between the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Park Rapids Tall Pine Toms chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation.

According to a press release from the DNR, the TPT conducted habitat enhancement projects during the past two years on 796 acres of state forest land around Park Rapids.

Projects were designed to improve current and future turkey habitat, while also benefiting other species such as deer, bear, squirrels, partridge, grouse and songbirds.

Activities included brush cutting to eliminate competition and encourage oak regeneration, planting oak as a future food source, and planting pine seedlings for future roosting sites.

Dano Crandall, TPT president, explained that when forests have trees that are too old and the undergrowth becomes overgrown, it鈥檚 no good as habitat.

鈥淭here鈥檚 areas that we literally just cut out all species of trees and then replanted in a species that enhances the animals to come to that area and use it,鈥� he said. 鈥淒eer browsing on trees. They do not like pine needles, but in desperate times they will eat pine needles. They prefer aspen and popple for eating. Turkeys 鈥� acorns from your oak trees, they eat a lot of those, (as do) deer, rabbits, squirrels.鈥�

In springtime, Crandall said, poults (young turkeys) live on insects, and certain flowering trees promote insect activity. 鈥淵ou need grasslands for grasshoppers and bugs for the poults to eat."

Habitat management, research and partnerships between the DNR and NWTF have created healthy wild turkey populations and excellent hunting opportunities in Minnesota, the DNR release stated.

Crandall explained that the club hired contractors to do the actual work on county and state forest land. 鈥淭hey go in and they cut out the trees that they don鈥檛 want there, and then they replant oak,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f there鈥檚 oak trees growing there, they clean out the older trees so that those younger ones can grow.

鈥淵ou know, an acorn falls in the woods and it will start growing into an oak tree. But if you鈥檝e got 20-, 30-foot-tall pine trees with a really big canopy, that oak tree鈥檚 not gonna grow. So they鈥檙e gonna enhance that area so that oak tree can grow.鈥�

According to the DNR release, the Hubbard County projects were funded with a $13,000 grant from the NWTF Super Fund, which in turn served as a 10% match to secure about $120,000 on Conservation Partners Legacy (CPL) funding. This comes from the Outdoor Heritage Fund through Minnesota鈥檚 2008 Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment.

Crandall gave former DNR employee Tom Stursa credit for writing the grants and focusing them on and around Hubbard County.

Working behind the scenes

Crandall said local hunting clubs, including the Tall Pine Toms as well as the Park Rapids chapter of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, have done a lot of work that goes unrecognized by the general public.

鈥淲e鈥檝e done numerous trails,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a couple three in Smoky Hills. I鈥檝e walked them. They just go in and clear out a path. They plant seed in there, whether it be wheat or rye or grass blends, and it鈥檚 a hunter walking trail. And not just a hunter can walk it; anybody can walk it. You can鈥檛 drive on it. And you just go through and walk through the woods.鈥�

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Crandall described one trail in the Smoky Hills State Forest that leads to a series of big clearings carpeted with natural grasses. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just an area for the deer and the turkey and the animals to have lunch, instead of it being overgrown with forest,鈥� he said.

Habitat benefits wildlife, people

When habitat is threatened, he said, people will see more animals in town because that鈥檚 where the food is. 鈥淭here鈥檚 more pressure,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou start getting development out in these areas, and there鈥檚 gonna be no habitat for any animals.鈥�

Crandall called the results of the habitat projects a benefit for hunters, for people who like to walk through the woods, and for the wildlife.

鈥淚t鈥檚 for anybody who wants to go out there and enjoy nature,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can be walking on one of these trails and come to one of these openings, and boom! There鈥檚 three, four deer. There鈥檚 five, six turkeys. A partridge flew out. Things that you鈥檙e not gonna see in town, but they鈥檙e there. And it鈥檚 for everybody to enjoy.鈥�

Crandall said the clubs are going to continue doing similar things, and he鈥檚 100% behind it. The chapters are not just nonprofits that collect and distribute money, he said, but 鈥渨e are for the hunter. We are for everybody to enjoy nature.鈥�

Getting involved and outdoors

He said you don鈥檛 have to be a hunter to become involved in the local deer and turkey hunting clubs. 鈥淵ou can come to our banquets and win prizes and things. It helps us leverage money to do these projects.鈥�

He said trail maps are available from the DNR, but said you can spot the trails in the state forest because they鈥檙e blocked off from vehicle traffic. 鈥淛ust take a walk. You鈥檒l see nature everywhere.鈥�