Conservation News
Columnist helps property owners with conservation
By Ted Stone
"Sometimes people ask for very simple things," says Blane Klemek, a private land specialist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. "They might ask 'How do I get more birds to my property? or 'How can I enhance a pond on the back 40?' or 'How do I enhance my land for ruffed grouse?'"
Klemek, who also writes a weekly outdoor column for the Times, is the DNR representative charged with helping private landowners in northwestern Minnesota institute conservation practices on their property.
According to Klemek, more than 75 percent of the land in Minnesota is privately owned so when landowners want to establish conservation measures similar to what the DNR might do on public lands the potential benefits for wildlife and other natural resources are enormous.
The DNR's Private Lands Program is new, Klemek says, but the basic idea is for landowners interested in managing their land to contact their local Private Lands Specialist. The specialist will then prepare an environmental stewardship plan for the landowner and help direct him or her to whatever resources might be necessary to carry out that plan.
In northwestern Minnesota, Klemek is the person to call. He says that after he visits a site with a landowner he'll look at what problems there might be, such as wind or water erosion, what would serve as solutions to the problems, and what the potential for the property could be if changes were made. His findings then become part of stewardship plan he develops.
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