Info from DNR re graze/hay on WMAs

[memyself@I]

I hope this shows up in a readable version here. I asked the DNR for a list of sites hayed-grazed this fall so I could plan accordingly. They suggested contacting the local managers as they would have info on if its actually happened. The maps, if you can view them, have WMAs listed for the haying-grazing management.

I also contacted the Windom USFWS office regarding haying and grazing, and as usual no one contacted me back.

All of the below is from the DNR St Paul

Dan

Grazing_Plan_NW_Region_Map_060512.pdf

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Grazing_Plan_S_Region_Map_060512.pdf

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GrazingPlan_RegionalMap_R3_20130523.pdf

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Emergency Forage Assistance 2013 List.xlsx

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Grazing - We do not have a good statewide inventory/map of where grazing is happening in a given year. It is high on my priority list for next year. However, we do have regional maps that show where we are currently set up for grazing and these are sites that may have had grazing this year or last year.

Don’t panic when you look at the maps, the vast majority of the sites are “potential sites”. To determine if a WMA has current grazing look at the first number in parenthesis under the WMA name. If the first number is zero, there is likely no grazing there. About 3,000 new acres were fenced this summer, but most of them did not get cattle out.

If a WMA you are looking to hunt identifies current grazing acres (first number is higher than 1), I would recommend you contact the WMA manager directly to find out which fields where grazed.

Conservation grazing is part of a comprehensive strategy for landscape management. We are using grazing as a management tool, just like we use prescribed fire, invasive species management, and brush and tree removal. The key thing to remember about this grazing is that it is conservation oriented and is being driven by us. We are not “opening up” our WMAs to cattle grazing. Cattle can be used for a variety of grassland objectives, but our primary goal is to improve wildlife habitat by increasing plant diversity and structural diversity. Haying can also be a grassland management tool.

Haying - Regarding haying, I have attached the list of sites that were approved for emergency haying for this year only. We do not have record here in St. Paul if all of these sites were actually hayed. Or they may have been hayed in June and have completely regrown by now.