Public hunting has opened on 52 acres of former cropland near Wilmont, Minn., priming what will soon become a significant wildlife haven in the southwestern corner of the state.
Funded by state taxpayers under the Legacy Amendment, the $5 million David B. Jones Tract of the Swessinger Wildlife Management Area is 1 square mile of land in transition from intensive row cropping to its former existence as an oasis for ducks, pheasants, deer, bees, birds, butterflies and other natural life.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing for a wildlife manager,'' said Bill Schuna, area wildlife supervisor for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in Slayton.
"It's truly one of the centerpieces of wildlife conservation in southern Minnesota,'' said Scott Rall, a conservationist and ardent pheasant hunter from Worthington. "This is a sexy spot when it comes to habitat.''
Conserving such a large, continuous block of land in the depths of Minnesota farm country is uncommon, if not rare. It's an area of the state where 90 percent of prairie wetlands have been drained and nearly all native prairie uplands have been wiped out by agriculture.
The surface water that remains is often severely polluted by the runoff of phosphorus, other farm chemicals and manure.
Schuna said DNR employees will work at the site this week, planting seed for a diverse mix of native prairie plants on 120 acres of high ground. Meanwhile, contractors are vying for the job of restoring 30 wetlands elsewhere on the property. Those remnants of the prairie pothole region have been long lost to farming's artificial drainage systems. The old ditches and tiling will be dismantled or changed to restore natural surface hydrology.
Jon Schneider of Ducks Unlimited, manager of the project, said the 640-acre spread is wedged between two existing wildlife and waterfowl sites. The complex of wetlands and prairie will be large enough and diverse enough for ducks to produce young, he said.
