JACKLEY RELEASES PHEASANT HUNTING INITIATIVE
SIOUX FALLS, SD: As thousands from around the nation gather in South Dakota for the Pheasant Fest convention, Attorney General and Republican candidate for governor Marty Jackley announced his comprehensive plan to revitalize the population of the state bird.
“South Dakota is the pheasant hunting capital of the world, and I will do everything in my power to keep it that way,” Jackley said Thursday. “It is a rich part of our heritage that connects people with the beautiful lands God gave us, and we’re excited to announce our five-point plan to restore the ringneck population.”
According to a South Dakota Game Fish and Parks study, pheasant hunting has a $200 million annual impact on the state’s GDP. It contributes 4,130 jobs, $125 million in wages and salaries and $50 million in tax revenue. The Jackley Pheasant Hunting Initiative aims to support that economic development through five planks:
- Create a Pheasant Restoration Blue Ribbon Commission. The group will gather landowners, sportsmen, the hospitality industry, hunting groups, conservation groups, the airline industry, the Department of Tourism, regional convention and visitor bureaus, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, local chambers, economic development groups, local governments, experts from our university system, and more.
- Build Public-Private Partnerships for Habitat. Jackley will lead an unprecedented effort to raise private capital that will provide the funding to create critical habitat.
- Implement Pheasant Release Program. The effort will begin releasing new generations of pheasants by the 2020 hunting season.
- Offer Volunteer Habitat Stamp and Sportsmen License Plate. These will generate hundreds of thousands in new revenue every year for habitat that will benefit all wildlife and improve hunting access.
- Promote Next Generation Youth Hunting. Passing on the pheasant hunting tradition to our children and grandchildren is yet another critical step in maintaining South Dakota’s status as pheasant hunting capital of the world.
The policy can be read in its entirety here: https://www.martyjackley.com/south-dakota-pheasant-hunting-initiative/
Jackley will be available for media interviews at Pheasant Fest beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.
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I love it- great ideas and it is aggressive.
Another Blue Ribbon Commission is aggressive?? Nothing new here and definitely nothing aggressive. Disappointing.
Here come the Noem Trolls. I like the Commission idea because it shows the initiative will be a priority and not just more lip service. Gov Daugaard did a good job identifying the problems and they did implement some good ideas, but now it is time for aggressive action.
“Aggressive action” to promote a favorite sport? This is insanity. The Republican primary for governor seems to be a big-government bidding war.
it’s all fine but a ‘Blue Ribbon Commission’? ugh. Didn’t DD already do something similar?
I think Jackley just wants to sit on conference calls all day. Not exactly bold leadership
Oooh! Marty’s plan has a logo!! Kristi needs to step up her graphics game!
His commitment to habitat funding is right on- it really does all come back to habitat. Since Noem has been in office our CRP acres have plummeted and our pheasant population has been devastated. She talks about the farm bill a lot, but is just talk- no action when it comes to CRP. Congress won’t do anything so we need to do it ourselves
Anyone else feel like this was rushed out because Noem did one?
I do not like “commissions” and boards
I do like proposals 2-5.
On the whole I like it, just I can see both sides having stuff to send out right after the other one does
Umm, both plans were released within an hour of each other. Pretty clear both were in the works for awhile. Marty really announced his plan last month as part of his tourism initiative. He just cut out the pheasant plan and branded it as it’s own initiative. W
Regardless, who cares which was first.
if you like proposal 3, this might be worth a read for you http://www.capjournal.com/news/pheasants-released-in-south-dakota/article_739c77b2-0e36-11e4-9396-001a4bcf887a.html
Here’s some highlights: “no matter how many pheasants are released every year, they just don’t have much impact on the population.”
“GFP found pen-raised birds achieved a 7% survival rate. Wild birds had a 54% survival rate. In the end, about 3 pen-raised hens out of 100 will reproduce, according to the study.”
3 doesn’t work.
Both plans have good ideas, but not the biggest fan of another commission. I’m curious as to whether the licence plates will generate “hundreds of thousands in new revenue every year”…
Pheasants Forever: “Stocking of pen-raised birds is not an efficient means to increase wild bird populations, as shown by numerous studies over the past 25 years.”
In other words, point 3 won’t work. Only grows the state government.
South Dakota’s entire pheasant population started with pen-raised birds. Pheasants have been wiped out in many areas of the state and studies show they don’t migrate much over a few miles from their home. So simply creating more habitat won’t bring birds back to many areas. I agree that we need to be more aggressive and release some birds once habitat is available. I also like the idea of using private funds to pay for it.
Maybe they could now send out a press release saying we agree with each other.
Looks like the same graphic he used for his pheasant hunt fundraiser. Definitely a rushed effort.
Blue ribbon, Pierre driven effort. Same old same old. Drain the swamp.
After the 96/97 blizzard winter from Hell my Lab brought four hens and a rooster all half dead back to the house in early April. We found dozens of dead Sharptails too but many times a few Grouse will round out a snow cave fort in the snow in shelterbelts and many Sharpies lived on. We didn’t see one living Pheasant anywhere on the property so buying a couple hundred hens repopulated the habitat. It doesn’t take a genius to raise birds but as mentioned above the finest habitat on the planet can’t raise something that’s not there.