Celebrate Our Outdoor Heritage

September 24, 2013

Mark your calendar. Saturday, Sept. 28 is National Public Lands Day and National Hunting and Fishing Day.

National Public Lands Day is the nation’s largest, single-day volunteer effort for public lands. This year marks NPLD’s 20th anniversary. Celebrate with volunteers from your community at parks and other public places – visit the NPLD webpage to find an event near you.

Since 1971, National Hunting and Fishing Day has been called the most effective grassroots campaign ever undertaken to promote hunters, anglers and the conservation benefits they provide for all Americans. Join the celebration and enjoy the outdoors this weekend.

There is no better time than now to make a donation to the TRCP – your generosity helps support our mission to guarantee all Americans quality places to hunt and fish.

Learn more about the TRCP’s accomplishments over the past decade.

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by: Christen Duxbury

posted in: Highlights

August 27, 2013

BLM Gets Earful on Fracking Proposal

The government is hearing comments ranging all the way from don’t allow hydraulic fracturing at all on federal lands, to don’t pass new rules regulating it on such lands, as it considers a proposal to do the latter.

A public comment period ended Friday on a Bureau of Land Management proposal to update drilling rules on federal lands to reflect the widespread use of modern fracking techniques in oil and gas development.

Food & Water Watch estimates that more than 1 million comments have been submitted to the White House and BLM “urging them to protect public lands from fracking.” It said a coalition of 276 environmental and consumer organizations including itself, Americans Against Fracking and 350.org have delivered President Barack Obama and the BLM nearly 650,000 public comments asking the government to outright ban fracking on such lands.

Read the full story on GJ Sentinel.com.

by: Peter Hamma

posted in: Highlights

July 9, 2013

Farmers and Fishermen to Switch Places for Conservation Exchange

Why would a South Dakota farmer want to trade places with a Louisiana Gulf fisherman? The TRCP launched an exchange program this summer to answer that question and seek solutions to conserve America’s great native prairies and coastal waters.

In the TRCP “Barnyard to Boatyard Conservation Exchange,” three South Dakota farm couples will travel to Cocodrie, La., in July for a three-day educational outing to learn about the trials and triumphs of managing businesses reliant on healthy Louisiana Delta and Gulf of Mexico ecosystems, complete with a fishing trip along Louisiana’s Cajun bayous.

Subsequently, three couples engaged in commercial fishing, tourism and recreational fishing from the Louisiana Delta region will travel to Sioux Falls, S.D., in August to participate in an intensive, three-day briefing on the innovations and realities of grain and livestock farming and ranching, capped off by a trip to the Sioux Empire Fair.

In the nation’s capital and around the country, the TRCP works to strengthen laws, policies and practices affecting fish and wildlife conservation by leading partnerships that influence decision makers.

“Our hope is that these six couples will return to their communities and stress the need to take action to conserve our nation’s natural resources for future generations,” said Tim Kizer, private lands field coordinator for the TRCP. “This is not a quick fix. It will take time. Some long-held opinions and practices must change, but we are in this for the long haul. This exchange is about equipping people with the tools to make a difference for their own futures, as well as those of their children, neighbors and their new friends thousands of miles away.”

Reporters interested in attending the Barnyard to Boatyard Exchange should contact Cathryn Kennedy, cathryn@cathrynkennedy.com (612.309.3951); Pam McCarthy-Kern, pam.mck@earthlink.net (612-360-0647); Katherine McKalip, kmckalip@trcp.org (406.240.9262) or Tim Kizer, tkizer@trcp.org (479-530-8855).

by: Christen Duxbury

posted in: Highlights

July 7, 2013

Meet Ryan and Kerri Wagner

Wagners Inc.

Farm: Wagners Inc., near Roslyn, S.D., a closely held family operation. Ryan and Kerri and Ryan’s dad are majority owners and manage the operation.

Acreage: 4,000 acres and also custom farm for others

Row Crops: Corn, soybean and spring wheat

Family: Three children: Grady – 4 ½ years; Anna — 2 ½ years; and Harrison – 7 months

History: Ryan’s grandfather moved to South Dakota to farm in the 1950s; Ryan’s dad and uncles operated the farm in the 1980s. Ryan moved back in 2007 and continues to work with his dad full-time on the farm. The Wagners used to have a diversified operation, including a cattle feedlot until 2004.

Conservation: Wagners Inc. is 100 percent continuous no till, and has been practicing no till for more than 30 years. Ryan’s dad first implemented the practice as a means to conserve moisture. Now they know the additional benefits of soil health and maintaining organisms in the soil. The Wagners have also participated in the federal Conservation Stewardship Program since its early days. Conservation is almost second nature to the region, Ryan says, noting the unique topographical challenges of the Prairie Pothole region of South Dakota.

Why are you participating in the Conservation Exchange?

It gives me an opportunity to go to another part of the country where I can learn some new management practices. I’m also curious about aquaculture as a possible market for soybean meal for fish food.

What do you hope to learn?

Regardless of what industry we are in, we can learn management tips, tricks of trade. I’m also interested in learning about their culture. And I’m looking forward to teaching about our industry and sharing with them.

What else: Ryan is a mechanical engineer and worked in that industry for five years before farming. His wife, Kerri, is a former high school math teacher and now is a full-time mother and farmer.

by: Christen Duxbury

posted in: Highlights

July 6, 2013

Meet Dawn and Patrick Scheier

DAWN & PATRICK SCHEIER (Pronunciation note: Scheier rhymes with tire.)

Scheier Farms: Near Salem, SD

Row Crops: Corn & Soybeans

Acreage: 1,600; also farm with brother for a total of 3,000 acres

Family: 3 adult children: Rebecca Lacey, 24; Ben & Brittany, 22. Ben is part-time farming with his parents.

History: Patrick is a fourth generation farmer. His great-grandfather homesteaded in South Dakota. Patrick grew up on the family farm five miles from his current farm. He started his own operation in 1980 and married Dawn in 1983. Both are full time farmers now. Previously they had operated cow-calf and hog operations.

Conservation: Some no till, shelter belts, & grass ditches

Why are you participating in the Conservation Exchange?

Dawn: I like to learn. TRCP is a lot about wildlife preservation, and South Dakota is a good hunting area. I also want to learn about the Dead Zone; we hear a lot that. They (Louisiana fishermen) provide food too. It will be interesting to see and hear their perspectives.

Patrick: The fishing interests me the most. I want to learn about that area – learn about governmental regulations they (Louisiana fishermen) face, environmental issues…what they go through. And they can learn about what it takes to farm here.

What Else: Dawn is a public speaking volunteer with Common Ground, a consumer education program about farming and how food is raised, funded through the corn and soybean check-off dollars.