Photo by Bill Marchel
OUR PROPOSAL
Building a Citizens Conservation Council
The formation of a Citizens’ Conservation Advisory Council to advise the Governor, legislators and the DNR on issues regarding Game, Fish and Wildlife. About 40 states — including all of Minnesota’s neighbors: Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota — have standing citizen advisory councils of dedicated outdoor enthusiasts and natural resource advocates who advise their governors, natural resources agencies, and legislatures directly. Minnesota should do the same. Council would advise the Governor, DNR Commissioner, and the Legislature.
THE
PROBLEM
Many duck hunters see only empty skies in fall. Northern Minnesota deer camps are closing. Too often, pheasant country has gone quiet. Roadsides aren’t managed for wildlife. Grasslands have gone missing, and with them bees, butterflies and other pollinators. For families without the latest gear, fishing isn’t what it once was. This isn’t nostalgia — it’s a decades-long decline and the result of choices made.
Minnesota is blessed with one of the most varied natural landscapes in America — bluff country in the southeast, prairie pothole country across the south and west, hardwood forests at our center, bog and brushland in the northwest, and boreal forest in the northeast. Paired with one of the nation’s strongest outdoor traditions, this diversity should make Minnesota a national leader in fish, wildlife, and habitat outcomes. Today it is not, and Minnesotans feel the difference every time they go outside.
THE OPPORTUNITY
HOW
WE GOT HERE
The diminishment of Minnesota’s precious natural heritage reflects three compounding failures: habitat management that hasn’t kept pace with landuse changes; a Department of Natural Resources that has grown less responsive to landscape and habitat changes — some of it through no fault of its own; and accelerating pressures of human development, industrial agriculture, climate change, and invasive species. None of this is partisan — it is a shared loss felt deeply among hunters, anglers, birders, farmers, moms, dads, kids, and every Minnesotan who values clean water and wild places.
Support us with a financial donation
We appreciate cash and check donations. Please send donations to the following address.
Minnesotans United for Conservation
C/O Fergus Falls Fish & Game Club
P.O. Box 221
Fergus Falls, MN 56538-0221
Checks can be made out to Minnesotans United for Conservation.