Pheasants Forever Chapters Help Create New 160-Acre GPA in South Dakota
Pheasants Forever 06.02.14
Minnehaha & Brookings County chapters contribute to acquisition
South Dakota pheasant hunters will have the new 160-acre Gideon Game Production Area (GPA) to explore in northwest Moody County this pheasant season. The South Dakota Game, Fish, & Parks Department purchased the land using Pittman-Robertson dollars, contributions from the Minnehaha and Brookings County Pheasants Forever chapters and the Tony Dean Legacy Memorial Fund. The new GPA is being named in honor of Gideon Moody, a U.S. Senator from South Dakota in the late 1800s and namesake of Moody County.
“This is a beautiful property with excellent upland habitat for pheasants and deer, along with some temporary and seasonal wetlands for waterfowl,” reported Steve VanderBeek, regional habitat manager for South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks. “The land has been enrolled in a Wetlands Reserve Program easement and open to public hunting through our Walk-In program the last few years. Today, I’m excited to report this gem will be permanently protected.”
Pittman-Robertson dollars, tax revenue generated from firearms and ammunition sales, accounted for 75 percent of the $160,000 used to purchase the land. The Brookings County Pheasants Forever Chapter, the Minnehaha County Pheasants Forever Chapter and the Tony Dean Legacy Memorial Fund made up the remaining 25 percent match used to permanently protect the habitat and open it up to public hunting as a state Game Production Area. The new Gideon GPA is only 10 miles south of Brookings and within 50 miles of Sioux Falls making it an excellent public hunting option for two of South Dakota’s largest population centers.
“This is a tremendous example of successful conservation in the age of partnerships,” explained Mike Stephenson, Pheasants Forever’s regional field representative for South Dakota. “No group can turn the tide for habitat alone. This project is an illustration of what’s possible when local volunteers, foundations and government agencies work toward common conservation goals.”
Pheasants Forever launched Quail Forever in August of 2005 to address the continuing loss of habitat suitable for quail and the subsequent quail population decline. Bobwhite population losses over the last 25 years range from 60 to 90 percent across the country. The reason for the quail population plunge is simple - massive losses of habitat suitable for quail. There are five major factors leading to the losses of quail habitat; intensified farming and forestry practices, succession of grassland ecosystems to forests, overwhelming presence of exotic grasses like fescue that choke out wildlife, and urban sprawl.
