Jan. 30, 2025



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*Minnesota DNR News
*




*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
*

Jan. 30, 2025




*For more information:* <[email protected]>

Contact the DNR Information Center
by email  <[email protected]>or call 888-646-6367.





In This Issue

* Sign up for firearms safety certification [ #link_1491411839600 ]
* Action plans outline strategies to enhance habitats for ducks and pheasants [ #link_1491411977526 ]

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Sign up for firearms safety certification

Though most hunting seasons are more than seven months away, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources encourages anyone who plans to take a firearms safety class to sign up now.

Firearms safety certification is required of anyone born after Dec. 31, 1979, to purchase a hunting license in Minnesota. It’s recommended for anyone who hunts, even if by law they don’t need to be certified. People who are certified are less likely to be injured, or worse, in a firearms-related hunting incident.

The DNR and its volunteer firearms safety instructors put on hundreds of classes each year and certify more than 23,000 students. However, classes tend to fill quickly and people who put off signing up might not be able to find a class close to home. Those who wait too long might have to wait for next year to get certified.

“It’s becoming increasingly common for us to receive calls from people during late summer and early fall who are panicked because they can’t find an open firearms safety class,” said Capt. Jon Paurus, DNR Enforcement education program coordinator. “There are a lot of open classes on the calendar now, but that number will diminish as the year goes on. We urge people to make a plan and sign up now.”

For more information about firearms safety certification and the class calendar, visit the DNR website [ [link removed] ] (mndnr.gov/safety).

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Action plans outline strategies to enhance habitats for ducks and pheasants

Area wildlife managers across Minnesota soon will begin planning and implementing updated strategic conservation efforts designed to foster stewardship of ducks, pheasants and their habitats. These efforts follow the state’s recently updated pheasant and duck action plans.

“We’re excited to be shifting into implementation of our updated action plans,” said Dave Trauba, wildlife section manager for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “People will be seeing work based on the priorities outlined in these plans in the coming year.”

The pheasant and duck action plans were updated during the last 10 months. Conversations with and input from conservation organizations, state and federal agencies, Tribal Nations, technical experts and the public contributed to the objectives and strategies outlined in the plans.

Each plan outlines short-term actions that will help fulfill long-term conservation goals and focus the DNR’s funding and conservation efforts related to ducks and pheasants.

Key objectives outlined in the plans include:


* Acquiring additional habitat by maintaining the current pace of wildlife management area acquisitions overall while increasing the proportion within priority areas identified for pheasants and ducks.
* Improving access to private land for outdoor recreation by increasing acres enrolled in the DNR’s Walk-In Access Program.
* Increasing the quality and quantity of duck and pheasant habitat through restoration and enhancement on state-administered land and managed shallow lakes.
* Supporting the work of partners to protect, restore and enhance duck and pheasant habitat throughout Minnesota.
* Refining research and monitoring priorities for ducks, pheasants and their habitat, and implementing and continuing research and monitoring work to address these priorities.

“These action plans highlight our priorities for pheasants and ducks through 2030,” Trauba said. “The objectives and strategies laid out in the plan allow the DNR and its conservation partners to assess and adjust activities in response to changing conditions as we work to meet our long-term conservation goals for ducks, pheasants and their habitats.”

More information about habitat work, activities and accomplishments related to the action plans and the plans themselves are available on the Minnesota DNR waterfowl management webpage [ [link removed] ] (mndnr.gov/waterfowl) and pheasant management webpage [ [link removed] ] (mndnr.gov/pheasant).

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minnesota department of natural resources [ [link removed] ]

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