Michigan Pheasant Restoration Initiative Coalition Midpoint Report: Steady Success for Future Ringnecks

Pheasants Forever and its partners have published the much-anticipated Michigan Pheasant Restoration Initiative Coalition (MPRI) Midpoint Report – the findings are encouraging for the future of pheasant hunting and upland wildlife in Michigan. During the first five years of MPRI, participating organizations have impacted over 385,000 acres within the initiative’s priority landscape, including the implementation of Farm Bill practices, habitat projects, and landowner cooperatives.

MPRI is a conservation initiative to restore and enhance Michigan pheasant habitat, populations, and hunting opportunities through public-private cooperatives of 10,000 acres or more, improving habitat for pheasants and other wildlife on a landscape level. MPRI works by acquiring state and federal resources to assist landowners within the cooperatives to improve wildlife habitat on their property, as well as within habitat on select public lands.

“Our efforts in the first five years of MPRI have laid the groundwork for critical habitat restoration, a positive pheasant population response, and increased hunter success in the future,” stated Bill Vander Zouwen, Pheasants Forever’s regional representative in Michigan. “Pheasants Forever and its coalition partners have made great progress toward the goals of the initiative, and we hope this initial report will inspire upland hunters and landowners to get involved with this unprecedented cooperative effort for pheasants in Michigan.”

Michigan hunters saw a licensing restructure in 2014 that has provided additional funding for MPRI in the form of Wildlife Habitat Grants provided by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to local, state, federal and tribal units of government, as well as non-profit groups. Pheasants Forever has been the recipient of more than $633,000 in DNR grants to complete habitat projects on publicly accessible lands. Additionally, local chapters of Pheasants Forever in Michigan have led the charge for upland habitat improvements as part of MPRI from 2010-2015:
 
  • 75,161 acres of total habitat improvements
  • 59,247 acres of food plots planted
  • 8,553 acres of native grassland planted
  • 6,709 acres of native grassland improved
  • 482 acres of wetland restored
  • 170 acres of woody cover planted
Pheasants Forever chapters in Michigan are starting to witness the fruits of their labor as an integral part of the initiative. “The habitat work being supported by MPRI is having a positive influence on the landscape and wildlife in the Verona State Game Area,” explained Bob Watson, secretary for the St. Clair Chapter of Pheasants Forever. “Our local chapter believes in the mission of MPRI and financially helps support the habitat work being implemented. The bird dogs and I appreciate these areas and hope future generations of upland hunters will be able to enjoy the opportunities that Verona and other MPRI projects have to offer.”

The MPRI Coalition Midpoint Report will be one of the many topics discussed during the Michigan Pheasants Forever State Convention on Saturday, January 16, from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The annual meeting, focused on the organization’s wildlife habitat mission, brings together chapter volunteers, coalition partners, and Michigan pheasant hunters to connect, energize, and celebrate upland habitat accomplishments.

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 140,000 members and 700 local chapters across the United States and Canada. Chapters are empowered to determine how 100 percent of their locally raised conservation funds are spent; the only national conservation organization that operates through this truly grassroots structure.

Photo Credit: James Bearss - Bob Watson, secretary for the St. Clair Chapter of Pheasants Forever in Michigan, poses for a picture with a rooster harvested during the most recent Michigan pheasant season at Verona State Game Area. 

Media Contact
Jared Wiklund
(651) 209-4953
jwiklund@pheasantsforever.org