# You're MiDNR at work



## superposed20ga (Dec 14, 2005)

I'm posting this here because what has happened is to the detriment of excellent rabbit habitat. When it comes to habitat improvement for pheasants and small game, I no longer believe that MiDNR nor Pheasants Forever knows what they are talking about. My evidence is the destruction of habitat where THERE WAS PHEASANTS at Lake Hudson Rec Area. This effort under the Michigan Pheasant Restoration Initiative by Pheasants Forever and MiDNR was a huge fail there. I'm sure that those involved meant well, but I'm also certain that NONE of those involved spent anytime in those areas of Lake Hudson Rec Area where they did their habitat "improvement." The reason that I say this is that there was previously pheasants in those areas. The area was diverse with fencerows, brush and small fallow weed fields. Pretty much what great pheasant habitat in Michigan used to be like in the golden days. Now they've created a monoculture of large fields of "grassland". No habitat diversity. No edge cover. Go there in the winter when there is snow and you'll find no pheasant tracks. There are no pheasants living there. And in their infinite wisdom, the DNR is burning the brushpiles they created that currently are great rabbit and small mammal habitat. They literally have creating brushpiles as one of their goals for improving small game hunting on their website. Instead they literally have destroyed great habitat for pheasants, rabbits and small mammals. There is nothing more dangerous than people with the energy of the heart but ignorance of the mind. I quit Pheasants Forever after seeing what they've done, and renewed my belief that MiDNR is staffed by more armchair biologists than field biologists.


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## Waif (Oct 27, 2013)

I remember pheasants. Been awhile...
Also recall the surprise of them using certain type brush piles for cover.
As well as shelterbelt type timber near field edges at times.

It's great that folks want to work habitat for birds.
They could start where there are no birds due to habitat or other reasons , first. By study.
Till birds are introduced and studied it's not as easy to make the call as to what priorities should be.
High predation rates don't help.
And trying to establish ground nesting birds in a predator rich habitat is an exercise in futility. No matter how good the habitat appears. More so as predators gain experience with pinching hens and eggs at night.


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## rhobbs (Aug 17, 2015)

I was not pleased when they removed the fence rows on the fields off of medina. I squirrel hunt that a quite a bit and was always surprised by how many squirrels the dogs would tree in them on the way back to the big woods.

People don't realize how valuable those fence rows are to wildlife. I was told that they removed them so the birds of prey didn't have as much spots to roost while hunting the new switchgrass fields, not sure if that is true or not.


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