The Yellow Medicine Soil & Water Conservation District was duly organized as a governmental subdivision of this State, and a public body corporate and politic on the 17th day of April, 1950.
Program pays local landowners to allow public hunting on their land
Local landowners can earn money by allowing public hunting on their private land through the Walk-In Access (WIA) program, according to Ian Olson of the Yellow Medicine County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD).
“WIA is an effective way for landowners to generate extra revenue from their habitat acres,” Olson said. “We hope to enroll 500 WIA acres in Yellow Medicine County by June 1st deadline. This will be added to 424.4 acres of WIA in our county which were enrolled in multi-year agreements last year.”
WIA pays landowners by the acre to allow hunting access. The program targets privately owned parcels of 40 acres or more that are already enrolled in a conservation program such as Reinvest In Minnesota (RIM) or Conservation Reserve Program. River bottoms, wetlands and other high-quality habitat will also be considered for WIA this year.
Bonuses are added if more than 140 contiguous acres are enrolled, if the land is within one-half mile of existing state or federal hunting land, or if a multi-year agreement is signed. WIA is entering its second year as a pilot program.
“We had a great response from landowners last year,” said Marybeth Block, WIA coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Last year 90 landowners enrolled about 9,000 acres across 21 counties in southwest Minnesota. This year, Block hopes to have a total of 25,000 acres enrolled.
“Studies across the country say that hunter numbers are declining because it’s getting tougher to find places to hunt,” Block said. “WIA is one way to address this, while also rewarding landowners for keeping their land in high quality habitat.”
Olson said it is important for landowners to know that enrollment in WIA is voluntary, and recreational use laws provide extra liability protection for WIA acres. Landowners can opt out of the program in 30 days by notifying the state and returning the boundary signs.
WIA land is for public hunting only. No target practice, trapping, dog training, camping, horseback riding or fires are allowed. No vehicles are allowed on conservation land. Parking is along roads or in designated parking areas. Once private land is enrolled in the program, bright yellow-green hexagon signs are placed at the property boundaries.
Contact the Yellow Medicine County SWCD office for more information at 320-669-4442 ext. 3. For maps of the 21 counties enrolled in the program and other WIA information, visit www.mndnr.gov/walkin. Locations of parcels enrolled for 2012 will be on the website in August.
The WIA program is a partnership between the DNR, SWCD, Board of Soil and Water Resources, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is funding the first two years of the pilot program.
The SWCD/NRCS prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, natural origin, age disability and where applicable, sec, martial status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or a part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program.