Keystone Woods and the controversy over dogs, birds and land use

With the press of a button on a transmitter Wednesday afternoon Tom Newell made the sound of a quacking duck break the silence at Keystone Woods Wildlife Management Area in northern Washington County Craig Minder s male yellow Lab Clifford without delay stood at attention Newell of Scandia then pressed another button to launch a ring-necked pheasant already dead and marked with an -inch colored streamer into the air about yards away right where the sound of the duck quacking could be heard Minder pretended to shoot a wooden handler gun in the direction of the bird and Newell pressed another button that sounded like a rifle firing Clifford waited patiently to be instructed to retrieve Once given the order Bird he had to use his nose and eyes to locate the prize Tom Newell seated and other members of the Northern Flight Hunting Retrievers Association watch Craig Minder of Houlton Wis work with Clifford his yellow Lab during field training at Keystone Woods Wildlife Management Area in northern Washington County on Wednesday April Mary Divine Pioneer Press They have to stay at our side until the bird is down in the field for hunting Minder explained When he brings it back he has to deliver it to hand He can t just drop it Minder and Newell were among the members of the Northern Flight Hunting Retrievers Association who gathered at Keystone Woods near the southeast corner of Manning Avenue and th Street late Wednesday afternoon to work on advanced field training with their retrievers The Minnesota Department of Natural Tools is allowing the Minnesota Federation of Field Trial Clubs to use the land from April through Aug for hunting dog field trialing and training The organization is paying for a non-exclusive lease meaning that the land is still open to the community even when MFFTC members are using it stated Brandon Schad the DNR s assistant central regional wildlife manager The lease allows dogs to be off-leash on the acres during a time April to July when bird-nesting season normally requires dogs to be leashed in Wildlife Management Areas It also allows for the use of non-toxic ammunition release taking of live birds and motor-vehicle use within the acres which also are not typically allowed in a Wildlife Management Area Various users of the -acre Keystone Woods Wildlife Management Area which opened officially in October question why the MFFTC is being allowed to use the land Nothing against dog training or hunting but it s pretty disappointing that an -acre WMA that was paid for with million in population funds is being partly leased to an unique group for such a paltry fee explained Kent Grandlienard former town board chair of Baytown Township Conservation advocates say the land which includes woodlands wetlands and prairies has special ecological significance Of particular concern is the rusty-patched bumblebee and Blanding s turtle both of which are federally listed as endangered species reported Laurie Schneider executive director of the Pollinator Friendly Alliance Organization has used property for decades The frozen shores of Barker Lake in the Keystone Woods Wildlife Management Area in northern Washington County Keystone Woods which is owned and operated by the Minnesota Department of Natural Materials is the former Kelley Land and Cattle Co The -acre property is located in Hugo and May Township Courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Natural Guidance The area that the MFFTC is leasing covers about two-thirds of the grasslands north of the parking lot on Barker s Lake Road and about half of the shoreline of Barker s Lake Schad announced The MFFTC which has held dog field training and trials on the property for decades last year leased acres of the land from the DNR for Schad stated Under the terms of the current lease no dog training may occur before noon between April and May to mitigate impacts to turkey hunters he announced In addition no live fire including starter pistols is allowed prior to a m for the duration of the lease DNR functionaries have the right to adjust the times to minimize or avoid neighbor conflicts the lease states and will meet with MFFTC agents to discuss any proposed changes to shooting times at least days in advance of any change The lease ends on Aug the day before the early waterfowl-hunting season for ducks geese and doves opens on Sept Schad announced The DNR also allows field trialing training at the Four Brooks WMA near Onamia Four Brooks and Keystone Woods are the only two WMAs in the state that have leases with the MFFTC Schad revealed Schad revealed there were no issues informed during the MFFTC s lease last year at Keystone Woods We didn t run into conflicts and we did have other uses whether it was by hunters or bird watchers during the time that the lease was in place last summer he reported Strong feelings on both sides A dirt road winding through the Keystone Woods Wildlife Management Area prior to restoration in northern Washington County Keystone Woods which is owned and operated by the Minnesota Department of Natural Information is the former Kelley Land and Cattle Co The -acre property is located in Hugo and May Township Courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Natural Information During public-input sessions about the use of Keystone Woods earlier this year DNR officers heard a lot of strong feelings on both sides of the issue Schad mentioned What the agency really looked to do was try and balance those different ideologies he reported MFFTC members originally proposed leasing an additional acres but DNR leaders declined that request Schad announced A coalition of conservationists and organizations in recent days urged the DNR to enact a moratorium on further advance and recreational pursuits at Keystone Woods WMA in until biological surveys and the ecological significance of the land are thoroughly examined Unfortunately the DNR chose to act prematurely and opened hunting and trapping at Keystone Woods in without giving worthy consideration for conserving at-risk and endangered wildlife species coalition members wrote in an April letter to DNR administrators The DNR s initial emphasis demonstrates a clear need for more Minnesotans to be actively engaged in collaboration with the DNR so that conservation is maximized and not undermined by heavily promoting hunting trapping fishing and dog training Schneider one of the signatories on the letter commented the MFFTC members have been given the right to use the area around Barker s Lake which she called one of the most of beautiful areas in the WMA I don t know how other non-hunting people birders hikers visitors will be able to use that land when they are out there hunting and shooting and firing their rifles having their dogs off-leash revealed Schneider who lives in Stillwater Township They re out there killing birds including waterfowl That is society land I don t see how they can lease that out to a for-profit organization to use Concerns about disrupting wildlife Of special concern is a family of short-eared owls a rare species that nests on the ground and has been spotted at the WMA she announced It s an overall concern of damage to the land and the at-risk animals that are there from insects to birds to beaver she stated The DNR is charged with protecting the state s natural support Where is that coming in You don t see that being applied in their advancement of this land Commented Greg Burnes president of the St Paul Bird Alliance formerly St Paul Audubon What we have is population land paid for by the general masses and managed through community funds being given over to a private group for their programs which are not legal engagements for the general populace The argument that the MFFTC has traditionally used the land for dog training and trialing and should be grandfathered in holds no water he reported That was back when it was private land and now it s community land Burnes commented If the private owners had had an ATV race track on their land would the DNR allow that to be grandfathered in The firing of weapons outside of the legal hunting season disrupts wildlife particularly nesting birds and limits the use of the land by the general populace who paid for the land he mentioned Who wants to go look for wildlife when there are guns going off It s just not a very inviting climate Another area of concern MFFTC members can release domestic-raised birds at the WMA which could be a probable malady vector for wildlife he noted Escaped birds also could interbreed with native birds and damage the wild gene pool he commented They say allowing this will promote more people to get involved in hunting but that s at the expense of other groups getting to use the property for what they want to do he declared Our birding group would like to get younger and other folks involved but I can t take them out on days that these folks are out there and gunfire is going off That limits us in our ability to grow our base Wildlife staff at the DNR are collaborating with colleagues in the agency s Ecological and Water Materials division to identify and define rare plant and animal communities on the WMA declared Gretchen Miller the central region s wildlife manager While short-eared owls a species of special concern in Minnesota have been ascertained at Keystone Woods WMA all available records suggest that the owls are migratory in the area and prefer to nest further north and west in Minnesota DNR representatives have worked to balance wildlife habitat and public-user experiences Miller announced Working with dog clubs offers a great opportunity to get people outdoors on the WMA and staff will be working with them to monitor events and their prospective for impacts to the landscape she added Schad commented the DNR agreed to just a one-year lease with the MFFTC to give the agency flexibility to fine-tune and adjust things if necessary Both the DNR and the clubs want to get things right he reported We want to do things very intentionally and so we re giving ourselves that flexibility A balancing act The size of Keystone Woods and its proximity to the metro area means the DNR is exploring additional opportunities at the site including fishing piers and trails that might not be present on our typical WMAs to provide a greater user experience or a greater breadth of user experiences Schad mentioned Dog training is a common avenue for people to get into hunting so we do see particular benefits there which is part of the reason that we re working with the clubs on this and allowing it he disclosed What we re trying to do is balance all these different uses and deposit values and I hope that we ve done a pretty good job of that he revealed I think we have taken into consideration the wildlife requirements other users There is still a vast majority of the land where these sessions won t occur So if you re not relaxed with it there s a lot of nice wetlands and lakes like Maple Marsh Lake where the programs will not be occurring Related Articles Inspection continues into cause of Woodbury house fire that killed singer Jill Sobule Jill Sobule singer-songwriter known for I Kissed a Girl dies in Woodbury fire State fines Regions Hospital for improper physiological waste disposal Stillwater Lift Bridge opens for the season St Paul police plan to encrypt dispatches as have Minneapolis other agencies John Zeman president of the Minnesota Federation of Field Trial Clubs disclosed club members have been using the land formerly the Kelley Land and Cattle Co to train hunting dogs and hold dog events for close to years The former cattle ranch which had been owned by the same family since the s is considered one of the largest tracts of undeveloped land in the Twin Cities metropolitan area The property has rolling hills and open grassland for training upland hunting dogs and wetlands and ponds that provide areas for training retrieving and waterfowl hunting dogs Zeman mentioned Training generally starts in the spring as soon as the snow melts he explained Members primarily use pigeons quail pheasants and chukar partridge for training he mentioned Club members can have their dogs off-leash within the area of the land that the MFFTC is leasing before July which is the end of the nesting season Dan Phelps of Forest Lake places a pen-raised pheasant in a remote-controlled winger during field training at Keystone Woods Wildlife Management Area in northern Washington County on Wednesday April Mary Divine Pioneer Press Club points to controlled training The group represents about different dog clubs and leasing the land at Keystone Woods gives club members in the metro area an opportunity to get to an area within a half-hour drive of the Twin Cities to be able to train their hunting dogs Zeman announced Zeman who trains pointing dogs reported club members rarely authentically shoot birds during training With the pointing breeds like mine we use homing pigeons quite a bit primarily he commented Those homing pigeons just fly back to the coop then we can recycle them We can use them again We plant the bird the dog points to the bird using their nose We flush the bird we fire a blank pistol to seemingly fire and the bird flies all the way back home These pigeons can fly up to miles back to their home coop When club members are out using guns it s dependably in a safe manner in a safe place where there s really no probable for somebody to get in the way he revealed That s one of the reasons we re in the areas that they chose to let us use We desired to be well away from the main parking area We re fairly well off of the road and further back there than largest part people are going to go Club members are allowed to park in a designated area where the general inhabitants is not allowed separating them further Zeman reported Club members are also allowed to use two ATVs at a time to haul equipment he reported All birds killed on the premises must be disposed of properly outside of the Keystone Woods WMA under the terms of the lease Zeman noted majority of of the birds used by club members come from highly regulated producers and that there have been no instances of the birds having avian flu or other diseases that he is aware of Club members encourage people who visit Keystone Woods to stop by and see the work that they are doing Every one of us dog trainers are dog enthusiasts and we love to show off our dogs Zeman announced There s been no other component that has done more for retaining and recruiting new hunters than the dog This is not a dog park Clifford a yellow Lab returns to his owner Craig Minder of Houlton Wis with a retriever dummy during field training at Keystone Woods Wildlife Management Area in northern Washington County on Wednesday April Minder is a member of Northern Flight Hunting Retrievers Association which has permission to use part of the WMA for training through Aug Mary Divine Pioneer Press WMAs are established to protect lands and waters that have a high prospective for wildlife production residents hunting trapping fishing and other compatible recreational uses according to the DNR Zeman announced preponderance of the state s WMAs are used by hunters especially pheasant and waterfowl hunters The use of the dog component for folks enjoying wildlife management areas is huge he reported You literally cannot ethically and effectively hunt upland birds or waterfowl without a dog You have to have the dog in order to ethically recover shot-game birds whether it be a duck that lands in the cattails or a pheasant that hits the ground running like they tend to do when we hunt them Each member of the Northern Flight Hunting Retrievers Association who trained a dog at Keystone Woods on Wednesday had to sign a contract stating that they had read and understood a list of rules prior to using the land The dogs which were trained one by one each had to retrieve three birds and two plastic training bumpers from five different hunting blinds During one retrieval Minder used a loud whistle and hand signals to have his retriever Clifford retrieve a target that was yards away It took the dog no more than seconds When he was done he raced back to Minder s side Related Articles Dakota County Need a bike Rick s annual bike sale takes place May Walleyes take center stage as Minnesota Fishing Opener approaches Stillwater Lift Bridge opens for the season Skywatch Dippers and bears flying high MN Medical Department updates fish consumption guidelines for PFAS This is not a dog park explained Chuck Stokes club secretary and former board member We don t let the dogs just run willy-nilly where they could possibly kick a nest up In years of training out here one of my dogs has never kicked a nest up This is controlled training to elevate our dogs so that they are the best we can have in the field to conserve the championship that we shoot when we hunt Like Zeman Stokes encourages members of the constituents who have concerns about the club s use of the land to come watch club members and their retrievers in action We re doing everything we can to show the general as well as the DNR how good we take care of the property he noted When it was the Kelley farm we treated this as if it was our own We are still doing that We want everybody to know how much we value this place