Bus tour to Pope County offers insights into grassland management

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Pope County Soil and Water Conservation District is hosting a Grassland Management Demonstration Site Bus Tour August 19 and 20 to view scattered demonstration sites in Pope County.

The bus tour begins at the Pope County Fairgrounds with registration at 7:30 a.m. and the bus leaving at 8:15 a.m. and will proceed to three scattered grazing sites in the morning, a lunch stop at Swift Falls Park and two site visits in the afternoon.

The bus tour will end at the Pope County Fairgrounds at approximately 2:30 p.m. A panel discussion will follow.

Pre-registration is requested. There is a $5 registration fee to cover the cost of the lunch. To register, contact Pope SWCD at (320) 634-5327 or e-mail info@popeswcd.org.

Working Lands Initiative is a public/private partnership for wildlife development on working farms, where local teams work with landowners to meet local needs and priorities. This project demonstrates the potential benefits of managed grazing, an underutilized management tool, for grassland habitat and wildlife.

Small side-by-side plots on public and private land will demonstrate the similarities and differences of various grassland management practices.

This project is funded mainly through a grant from the Minnesota DNR Working Lands Initiative. Program partners include the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Chippewa River Watershed District, Glacial Ridge Pheasants Forever, Glacial Ridge Cattlemen Association, Pope County Pheasant Restoration, Terrace Sportsman, Bar J. Ranch, Jenniges Hidden Acres, Big Valley Milling, Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Nature Conservancy, US Fish and Wildlife, USDA-FSA, Glacial Lakes Environmental Trust Fund.

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