Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Pheasants Forever & Partners Permanently Protect 242 Acres in Minnesota’s Carlton County

New wildlife property features wetland, forest, and hunter walking trail

Wrenshall, Minn. ––Pheasants Forever and its dedicated partners have permanently protected 242 acres of wildlife habitat in Minnesota’s east-central region. Spearheaded by the St. Louis/Carlton County Chapter of Pheasants Forever with matching investments from the state’s Conservation Partners Legacy Program and Outdoor Heritage Fund, the White Acquisition features diverse wildlife habitat and an important off-road corridor for the North Country Trail on the Minnesota-Wisconsin border.

Managed under Minnesota’s Forest Stewardship Program, the White Acquisition features 20 acres of wetland with the balance of the property largely forested with a variety of deciduous and coniferous trees at different stages of maturity. The parcel’s former railroad system (utilized as a loop off the main track) has been removed and now serves as a hiking/hunter path for foot travel. The property contains Northwoods wildlife such as deer, ruffed grouse, turkey, and many non-game species.

The new property will be conveyed to Carlton County where it will be managed for wildlife habitat in perpetuity. Additionally, this acquisition will allow the county to increase management of the adjacent land they currently own that was inaccessible.

“This project not only permanently protects a huge swath of wildlife habitat, but also opens up public access to hundreds of additional acres of county-owned land that were previously landlocked,” stated Eran Sandquist, state coordinator for Pheasants Forever. “This innovative and growing partnership provides immense benefits to local wildlife while providing a place for Minnesotan’s to enjoy the great outdoors.”

“Patching together landowner permissions for the North Country Trail is sometimes like putting together a very complicated puzzle with odd-shaped pieces,” said Matthew Davis, North Country Trail Association regional trail coordinator for North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. “Sometimes the piece you need the most is missing. Thanks to this partnership, a contiguous off-road connection between the North Country Trail and the Superior Hiking Trail has come to fruition along with picturesque wildlife resources.”

The White Acquisition was made possible with contributions from the White family, the St. Louis/Carlton County Chapter of Pheasants Forever, North Country Trail Association, Outdoor Heritage Fund, Conservation Partners Legacy Program, and Carlton County.

About Pheasants Forever

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 138,000 members and 760 local chapters across the United States and Canada. Since creation in 1982, Pheasants Forever has spent over $900 million on 550,000 habitat projects benefiting 19 million acres nationwide. In fact, more than 200,000 of those acres are now permanently protected as public lands.

Media Contact

Jared Wiklund

(651) 209-4953

jwiklund@pheasantsforever.org