Behind the Decline in Minnesota's Pheasant Population

Information provided by Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources

A severe winter followed by a wet spring contributed to a significant decline in Minnesota’s pheasant counts. According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the pheasant population index declined 64 percent from 2010 and is 71 percent below the 10-year average.

Contributing factors include:

• A second consecutive severe winter, resulting in hen counts 72 percent below the 10-year average.
• Cold, wet weather during the April through June nesting period, resulting in brood counts 75 percent below the 10-year average.
• Loss of nearly 120,000 acres of grass habitat enrolled in farm programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) since 2007.

Severe winters combined with cold, wet springs are doubly hard on pheasant populations. That’s because fewer hens survive the winter and those that do are less successful in producing broods.    

Pheasant hunters are expected to harvest about 250,000 roosters this fall, the lowest harvest since 1997. This compares to harvests that have exceeded 500,000 roosters five of the past eight years. The 500,000 bird harvests correspond with a string of mild winters and high CRP enrollment.

“We expect hunters to harvest a similar number of birds in 2011 as they did in 2001, which was another year with a severe winter followed by a cold, wet spring” said Kurt Haroldson, a wildlife biologist for the DNR’s Farmland Wildlife Population and Research Group in Madelia. Haroldson noted survey results indicated an unusually low ratio of hens to roosters. This suggests hen mortality was high or hens were nesting or caring for young broods during the survey.  If the late nesting effort was greater than normal, the 2011 pheasant population and the fall harvest may be higher than forecast. Pheasant populations can rebound quickly given good habitat, mild winter weather and favorable spring nesting conditions.

Minnesota is not the only state to see pheasant index declines. Wildlife officials in South Dakota reported a 46 percent population index decline. North Dakota’s spring population survey showed a decline, too. 

The pheasant population estimate is part of the DNR’s annual roadside wildlife survey. The survey summarizes roadside counts of pheasants, gray (Hungarian) partridge, cottontail rabbits, white-tailed jackrabbits and other wildlife observed in the early morning hours during the first half of August throughout the farmland region of Minnesota.

The highest pheasant counts were in the east central region, where observers reported 51 birds per 100 miles of survey driven.  Hunters will find fair harvest opportunities in pockets of south central and southwest Minnesota, but harvest opportunities in most of Minnesota’spheasant range are rated poor to very poor. This year’s statewide pheasant index was 23 birds per 100 miles driven, the lowest index since 1986.  The pheasant index in southwest Minnesota, typically the state’s best pheasant range, fell 82 percent from last year to 19 birds per 100 miles driven.

Haroldson said the most important habitat for pheasants is grassland that remains undisturbed during the nesting season. Protected grasslands account for about six percent of the state’s pheasant range. Farmland retirement programs such as CRP, Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, Reinvest in Minnesota and Wetlands Reserve Program make up the largest portion of protected grasslands in the state.

High land rental rates and competing uses for farmland diminish the economic attractiveness of farmland conservation programs. During the next three years, contracts for 550,000 acres of CRP lands are scheduled to expire. If not re-enrolled, this would reduce CRP acres in Minnesota by 36 percent.

To help offset continued habitat losses caused by reductions in conservation set-aside acreage, DNR has accelerated acquisition of Wildlife Management Areas in the farmland region of Minnesota. DNR also supports habitat conservation on private lands by working with a variety of partners in the Farm Bill Assistance Partnership and Working Lands Initiative. Also, nearly 10,000 acres of private property will be open to public hunting through the state’s new Walk-In Access program.

The August roadside survey, which began in the late 1940s, was standardized in 1955. DNR conservation officers and wildlife managers in the farmland region of Minnesota conduct the survey during the first half of August. This year's survey consisted of 166 routes, each 25 miles long, with 148 routes located in the ring-necked pheasant range.

Observers drive each route in early morning and record the number and species of wildlife they see. The data provide an index of relative abundance and are used to monitor annual changes and long term trends in populations of ring-necked pheasants, gray partridge, eastern cottontail rabbits, white tailed jackrabbits and other select wildlife species.

The gray partridge index was similar to last year but 75 percent below the 10-year average.  The cottontail rabbit index was also below the 10-year and long-term average. The jackrabbit index was 96 percent below the long-term average. Finally, the mourning dove index was 26 percent below last year and 29 percent below the 10-year average.

The 2011 August Roadside Report and pheasant hunting prospects map can be viewed and downloaded from http://mndnr.gov/hunting/pheasant.

Pheasant hunting’s future linked to waning grassland protection program

Like a black Labrador past its prime, one of the nation’s premier grassland conservation programs is covering less ground these days. 

Twenty years ago, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) had strong legs in Minnesota, covering more than 1.7 million acres with native grass that provided pheasants with the food and cover they need. Today, that number has shrunk to 948,000 acres. Soon, it could drop more. That’s because 550,000 acres of existing CRP contracts are scheduled to expire during the next three years.    

“CRP was born in 1985 and now, 26 years later, it’s waning,” said Bill Penning, farmland wildlife coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). “If the declining enrollment trend continues, Minnesota’s ability to grow wild birds, reduce soil erosion, and provide clean water and other conservation benefits will be further reduced.”

Penning said about 120,000 acres of Minnesota CRP and other farm program grasslands have been converted to cropland since 2007.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s CRP was put into federal Farm Bill policy as a way to remove marginal agricultural lands from tillage and benefit the nation’s lands and waters by taking erodible croplands out of crop production. It did that. Over the past two and one-half decades, private landowners converted steep slopes and other environmentally sensitive areas to native grasses, windbreaks and other forms of vegetation. This occurred through cash-for-conservation contracts that paid landowners to keep good soil and water practices on the land for 10 or 15 years. Now, many of these contracts are expiring. New contracts aren’t taking their place, mostly because CRP rental rates have not kept pace with higher crop prices.

“Unless federal policy changes to make CRP a more attractive option for private landowners, the future isn’t bright for ground-nesting pheasants, ducks and pheasant hunting-related tourism,” said Dennis Simon, DNR Wildlife Section chief. “Basically, CRP is in need of CPR. And that means pounding out a policy that achieves the necessary economic, conservation and outdoor recreation that people desire.” Simon added a growing concern is that the 2012 Farm Bill may weaken CRP protections or mandate reductions in CRP acres.

The current economics that are good for crop farming – upwards of $7 a bushel for corn and $13 a bushel for soybeans – are the opposite for protecting environmentally sensitive lands.  Kurt Haroldson, a DNR wildlife research biologist at Madelia, said that fact comes clear when reviewing the results of the 2011 general CRP signup period. “Minnesota landowners enrolled 33,180 acres into CRP, but 127,535 acres will expire. Although continuous signup acreage has not yet been reported, it appears net CRP enrollment will decline significantly.” He said decreased funding for CRP has left landowners with little choice but to put their land back into production.

Simon said state and other federal wildlife conservation programs are temporarily balancing CRP losses. In 2010, Reinvest In Minnesota/Wetland Reserve Program easements, state wildlife management area acquisition, federal waterfowl production area acquisition and other land conservation efforts offset CRP losses by 8,000 acres. However, starting in 2012, projected CRP losses are so large that state program gains will not offset them.

“The message to pheasant hunters is that federal farm policy has a profound effect on the number of acres available for hunting and the number of birds that end up in the bag,” said Simon. “I encourage hunters to get involved and help shape the 2012 Farm Bill.”

Farm policy and pheasant harvests long have been linked. Minnesota’s highest pheasant harvests were from 1931 to 1964 when farms were smaller, the variety of crops planted was broader, and a federal soil bank conservation program was providing additional benefits. The lowest pheasant harvests occurred from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s when fence-to-fence corn and soybean farming took root and grass planting declined. From 1987 until now – the CRP era – pheasant harvests have been above the fence-to-fence farming lows and the diversified farming highs.  

The 655,000-bird harvest in 2007, a modern era record, declined to 359,000 birds last year. This year’s harvest is expected to be modest, too. Ultimately, declines in harvest could lead to decline in hunting-related spending.

“Upland game hunting is an important contributor to Minnesota’s economy,” said Simon. “Though pheasant hunting’s direct impact has not been teased-out, a 2006 federal report states upland game hunters spend about $121 million per year in Minnesota and support 895 in-state jobs.”