The Outdoors

By Scott Rall, Outdoors Columnist

I am one of those dyed-in-the-wool property rights kind of guys. I would never, and I mean never, set foot on anyone else’s property without permission. I think that any person who trespasses on another person’s property without permission should be held to the highest account of the law. I hear of many landowners who might go out and shoo a trespasser away and never take any real action with the help of law enforcement to hold that person accountable.

I wish I could change that. Trespassers make it much harder for the ethical and law-abiding hunter to receive permission to hunt on another person’s private land. The world kind of follows the “I was wronged by one bad apple hunter so all other hunters must be bad too” way of thinking. We as hunters have to be responsible for our own actions and do what we can to make sure other hunters act appropriately.

With that said, I often feel bad when I am walking on public lands and see other kinds of bad behavior. The public lands I am referring to would be Federal Waterfowl Production Areas and State Wildlife Management Areas. These are areas owned by the citizens of whom I am and count myself as one. The lands are managed by the Federal and State agencies charged with their upkeep and maintenance.

Make no mistake that these are not state or federal lands. They are citizen-owned lands and are simply managed by those same agencies. Me and every one of you actually own those acres.

I was out doing some work as part of our adopt a wildlife management area program and saw the neighboring land owner had tilled and planted into the marked area managed for wildlife. Some will scalp around the signs and get an extra row or two. Would this same person do that to a neighboring farmer and farm into their neighbor’s field? I see areas where the line fences have been removed and just the tall white marker poles are left to identify the property line. I have never seen a farmer scalp into their neighbor. Others are even more brave.  They will till into the wildlife area and in the process take out all of the marker posts and signs. I have seen all of the signs run over for the entire length of the ½ long property boundary. With the signs gone, it is even easier to move over for that extra 3 or 4 rows or more.

Why would someone drive their equipment into a wildlife area to turn around? This crushes the habitat and makes it unsuitable for wildlife until the next growing season. Would anyone you know turn their equipment around in the neighbors’ beans and run them over? I have never seen it.

I won’t say it never happens, but I have not seen tillage equipment wrapped around an electrical CO-OP highline pole. Nor do I see them crushing the other utilities fiber optic cable boxes all located along and within the road right away.

Another common issue I see when it comes to the respect for citizen-owned wildlife lands is that some folks, not a lot but some, think that cutting and haying the grass in the ditch is all OK. Would anyone basically steal their neighbor’s forage without permission? I certainly don’t think so, but for some reason there are those who think the grasses along a citizen-owned wildlife land are just there for the taking. With less than 2% of all lands in southwest Minnesota in some form of public ownership, this undisturbed grassland and un-mowed road ditches account for substantial wildlife reproduction and recruitment. They also benefit pollinators and all sorts of other non-game creatures trying to eke out an existence. When this unauthorized mowing has taken place, I have seen it done 20 yards past the right of way and directly into the WMA.

The only way to act as an ethical hunter is to be absolutely certain you have permission to hunt on the land you use. Treat landowners the same as you would want to be treated if you were letting someone hunt on your own property. Police yourselves vigilantly and also others to ensure they act properly as well. On the other hand, we as public land owners should also be treated with the same level of mutual respect. Damaging or destroying wildlife areas for an extra row or two is also the wrong way to go.

Landowners deserve respect. Let me repeat that, landowners deserve respect, but so do the small percentage, less than 2% in most Southwest Minnesota counties, of wildlife acres that provide the food and cover our natural resources cannot survive without.

Let’s work together to make sure we each get what we need and deserve. I for one am going to do my best to see that this happens.

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If you have any questions, reach out to me at scottarall@gmail.com.