michigan pheasant restoration initiative
TRANSCRIPT
Michigan Pheasant Restoration Initiative
About the MPRI
The Michigan Pheasant
Restoration Initiative
(MPRI) is a conservation
initiative to restore and
enhance Michigan
pheasant habitat,
populations and hunting
opportunities on private
and public lands. The MPRI
works by acquiring state
and federal resources to
assist landowners within
cooperatives in improving
wildlife habitat on their
property and by improving
habitat on selected state
game areas, recreation
areas and other public
and private lands. MPRI
partners also work to
secure adequate staffing
to accomplish MPRI
habitat improvement,
hunter access, education
and outreach, hunter
recruitment, retention and
reactivation and
population monitoring
goals.
Goals for 2016 to 2020
Staffing
1. Secure funding to maintain 7 Farm Bill Biologists and a Cooperatives Coordinator for the Michigan Pheasant Restoration Initiative (MPRI) and secure funding to add 3 new Farm Bill Biologists for MPRI priority counties.
2. Hire an Adopt-A-Game-Area Program Coordinator to facilitate accelerated habitat restoration on MPRI state lands.
3. Hire a multi-year Education and Outreach Coordinator (Pheasants Forever (PF)) and a Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation (R3) Coordinator (National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF)).
Cooperatives
1. Foster showcase co-ops in 3 areas within the MPRI priority counties, focusing added attention on co-ops with the most potential for success to set examples for other co-ops.
2. Provide 20,000 acres of habitat on co-op lands and conduct pheasant monitoring within co-ops.
3. Provide training and education opportunities for co-ops including Pheasant Rendezvous, habitat days and habitat workshops, mid-contract management meetings.
Habitat Improvement
1. Enhance and restore 5,000 acres of grassland and wetland habitat on MPRI priority state lands, 1,400 acres of wetlands through the wetland mitigation bank, 10,000 acres of CRP lands, 1,500 acres of CRP SAFE diverse grasslands and 500 acres of CRP SAFE Pollinator, 500 acres of HAP lands and over 100,000 more acres on public and private lands through Pheasants Forever, USFWS Partners for Wildlife, Ducks Unlimited and other coalition partner programs.
2. Advocate for 40-million-acre cap on CRP acreage in the next Farm Bill as well as offer rating criteria that increases acceptance rates for landowners in the MPRI.
3. Secure substantial new acreage in CRP SAFE targeting pheasants, ducks, savannah sparrows, and monarch butterflies.
Education, Outreach and Communications
1. “Grasslands are Great” communications campaign with email blasts each month, periodic social media posts and radio spots/interviews about the importance of grasslands to pollinators, songbirds, humans, etc.
2. Prepare accomplishment reports annually and at the end of 2020.
3. Host workshops and open houses at premier DNR grassland management properties each year for the public and to bring about Legislative support.
Hunter Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation
1. Host Pheasant Fridays, Great Outdoor Jamborees, Mentored Hunts, novice adult hunts and shooting events with bb-gun trailer each year, with the goal of raising participation each year.
2. Participate in developing a comprehensive plan for addressing gaps in the hunter recruitment continuum discovered through a statewide survey of government and conservation organization programs. In addition, conduct a survey to determine trends in pheasant hunter numbers and determine amount of recruitment, retention and reactivation brought about by MPRI programs.
3. Provide at least 2 learn to hunt trailers for DNR and conservation organizations to use.
Hunter Access
1. Apply for another Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP) federal grant for $2 million to grow the Hunter Access Program.
2. Maintain 20,000 acres of HAP lands in MPRI counties.
3. 2500 acres will be purchased by the DNR in the MPRI area, with potential for grassland restoration and associated recreation. 1500 of these acres will be in the primary MPRI counties.
Population Monitoring
1. Continue the rural mail carrier survey of pheasants for broad population trend monitoring.
2. Maps of habitat will be developed for all active pheasant landowner cooperatives.
3. Pheasant surveys to be conducted in each active landowner cooperative according to procedures provided by DNR, and survey results will be submitted to DNR for recordkeeping and publicity.
Pheasant Translocations
1. Translocation criteria will be established to clarify the situations when the DNR will translocate pheasants.
2. DNR completes Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with donating state for future wild pheasant translocations.
3. Co-ops that meet habitat criteria that do not have remnant pheasants responding to habitat improvements to receive a translocation of wild pheasants.
Funding
1. Apply for grants and request funding for MPRI with a focus on grassland and wetland habitat and pheasant restoration, including CRP-SAFE, CRP, GLFWRA, NAWCA, CREP II, USDA-EQUIP, DNR Wildlife Habitat Grants, HIP and Monarch/Pollinator Program funding sources.
2. Raise funds through a new Adopt-A-Game-Area Program.
3. Advocate for MPRI Pheasant Plan priority to continue beyond 10 years.
Michigan Pheasant Restoration Initiative * Goals for 2016-2020