Your opinions wanted

I am soon going to be buying the family farm from my dad and have some pretty lofty plans for the pasture area. let me explain. The pasture doesn’t have any cattle, or horses, or anything living it, that is except for the pheasants that have made an unblievable come back the last couple of years.

The problem with it is this. It sits in very low ground and every spring when the rains come the pasture floods because the creek that borders the back side of it gets full.

My plan is to dig a pond at the lowest point, so that the water has a place to collect, rather than flooding the whole thing.

With the rest of it I was planning on tilling it all up (After July) and planing some 60′ wide strips of Millett, and Rye with 30′ strips of dirt, or something else between each.

Here is where my worries come in. I want to do this by the book, but you know as well as I do that the DNR is going to whine about something. No offense to the DNR, as I respect most of there opinions. I am just trying to figure out what they might whine(what there concerns might be) about beforehand so that I can be ready. Let me know what you guys think, so that I can be as prepared as possible. My goals is to have some South Dakota type pheasant hunting right outside my backdoor. Thanks in advance.
Troy

Pheasants Forever would be invaluable to your project. They usually have a rep that can help you out with habitat planning, improvement and governmental regs.

Todd

here is some information on ponds.

DNR pond and permit

Don’t see why the DNR would even have an opinion unless they are supplying your seed. My dad gets help from the GF&P out in SD, but hey simply drop off the seed and leave. It’s his responsibility to plant/manage etc…. Oh ya, it can’t be insured/harvested either.

I agree with Todd, contact your local Pheasants chapter. There might even be some grant money out there to apply for.

Before you do anything, verify that there is not native wetlands plants anywhere you plan on digging up. The DNR or the local extension office should be able to help you. They will walk through the land with you and may even cooperate with some funding. But if they give you money, you have to manage it their way. And if there is anything, they then know about it and can stop you from removing any wetlands.

Sounds like a great idea. Let me know if you need any help with hunting the pheasants, I may be able to be of assistance

Another way to approach it is to go to them for a solution instead of reacting to their unknown objections!! They usually object to something for good reasons!

I’d go to them or use the Pheasants Forever reps to help create a plan that everyone can live with. They may suggest things you never considered and with Ph. Forever and possibly DU, their might be some funding or manpower available for the project.

Troy, You might want to visit with you local county FSA/NRCS office. That stands for Farm Service Agency and Natural Resource Conservation Service, which used to be the old Soil Conservation Service. It should be listed under the USDA in the phone book. They also handle cost share erosional project, identify wetland issues and can be generally helpful with these kinds of things. Tut

Awesome guys! Thanks for all of the information. I can’t wait to get started. Thanks again.