“There is a very healthy pheasant population in this region, and we want to sustain these numbers,” explained Chad Bloom, Pheasants Forever regional representative for southern Minnesota. These numbers can be largely attributed to the more than 1,400,000 Minnesota acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). However, over 600,000 of those acres are set to expire in the next five years. “The potential effects of this will be devastating on pheasants and other wildlife if groups like Blue Earth County Pheasants Forever don’t continue combating the disappearance of habitat,” Bloom continued.

The Blue Earth County Pheasants Forever chapter will work closely with landowners and farmers to show the benefits of conservation on the landscape. Minnesota native and recently elected chapter president Tom Benson notes, “Being a part of Pheasants Forever, working to improve and protect upland habitat is such a worthwhile cause.”

Benson, originally from Jackson, is a longtime Pheasants Forever volunteer and upland hunter. “Our chapter’s top priorities are to continue improving the habitat in our region and introduce youth to the outdoors. Minnesota has great hunting opportunities; however, with the threat of losing CRP acres, we need to protect and enhance every acre on the landscape to increase nesting and winter cover for pheasants and other wildlife. We also plan on holding youth outdoor involvement days to get the next generation of conservationists excited about the outdoors.”

The Blue Earth County Pheasants Forever chapter
• Other chapter officers include David Karge of Mankato as habitat chair, John Reeves of Mankato as treasurer, and Jeff Wersal of Lake Crystal as youth/education chair.
• Chapter meetings are held on the first Monday of the month at the Eagles Club at N. Riverfront Drive in Mankato.
• The chapter’s annual banquet will be held on September 14 at the Eagles Club.

For more information on the Blue Earth County Pheasants Forever chapter, please contact Tom Benson at (507) 345-1015 or email Tom. For more information regarding “The Habitat Organization” in Minnesota, please contact Chad Bloom at (320) 292-4771 or email Chad.

Pheasants Forever, including its quail conservation division, Quail Forever, is the nation’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to upland habitat conservation. Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever have more than 135,000 members and 720 local chapters across the United States and Canada. Chapters are empowered to determine how 100 percent of their locally raised conservation funds are spent, the only national conservation organization that operates through this truly grassroots structure.

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