North Dakota
North Dakota Outdoors: Public lands success story in ND
Submitted Photo
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department manages more than 200 wildlife management areas consisting of more than 200,000 acres spread out across the state. NDGF photo.
“Government land” is a pretty standard designation for most public hunting property.
While 93% of land in North Dakota is held in private ownership, mixed in among the remaining 7% – from national grasslands, national wildlife refuges and waterfowl production areas – is an array of owners and managers.
Having lived and worked in North Dakota my entire life, just the mention of these public lands evokes memories of working, hunting and appreciating what is available. Those lands previously mentioned are all considered federal lands, each with a different role and purpose.
Depending on the location and state, those same-colored signs can be found across the country.
Within North Dakota, the state Game and Fish Department manages more than 200 wildlife management areas (WMA) consisting of more than 200,000 acres spread out across the state.
As you can imagine, there are different soil, habitat and wildlife usage between Magnolia WMA just off Interstate 94 in Cass County to the remote WMAs such as Killdeer Mountain WMA in Dunn County.
What makes the 200,000-plus WMA acres found across the state similar is a concentrated effort to improve wildlife habitat and provide opportunities for hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts.
Robert W. Henderson WMA, located just 6 miles east of Bismarck, is a good example.
Five years ago, 100 acres of the roughly 550-acre WMA was a mat of Kentucky bluegrass.
“The bluegrass got to be about 6- to 10-inches tall then it just matted itself out,” said Levi Jacobson, department wildlife resource management supervisor in Bismarck, of the land that was previously farmed. “We were grazing it aggressively to try and bust through some of that and bring some of the native plants back and we just weren’t gaining ground.
So, we had the neighboring landowner come in and farm it for three years with soybeans, corn and soybeans again.”
May 2022, the revival began by planting a diverse, native mix of 13 forbs and 10 grasses to mimic the native prairie that once dominated the landscape.
“The first year it was planted it was really dry and we didn’t know how successful the planting would be as it often takes a couple years to express vegetation above ground as most of the growth is put into establishing roots,” Jacobson said. “And then this year, with all the moisture it really blew up and looks really good.”
Earlier in summer, some of the native species were shoulder-high and taller, with an impressive undergrowth. The wildlife in the area, from deer to pheasants, to many other bird species, should benefit.
“We try to go heavy on the forbs and the wildflowers because those are going to produce food and the grass is going to provide a lot of cover,” Jacobson said.
The truth of it is once native prairie sod is broken, it’s impossible to completely restore it to a truly native, untouched state.
While more than 75% of the state’s native grasslands have been lost over time, the department continues its effort to enhance wildlife habitat on WMAs around the state.
North Dakota
North Dakota voters to decide single-subject requirement for future constitutional amendments on June 9
BRECKENRIDGE — Coaches, teammates, friends and family gathered in the south parking lot of Breckenridge High School for another state tournament sendoff.
Corbin Abner Lee / Wahpeton Daily News
This year, it was Troy Berndt taking the ceremonial convertible ride. He is headed to St. Michael-Albertville High School for the Minnesota Class A State Track and Field Meet on June 4-6.
Corbin Abner Lee / Wahpeton Daily News
He will be running in the third heat of the 400-meter prelims, scheduled for 4:52 p.m. June 4. There are seven athletes in each heat, 21 total, and nine will advance to the finals at 6:20 p.m. June 5.
The top two finishers in each heat advance, along with the next three best times. Berndt’s personal best time of 50.67 has him seeded 13th, but the 10th-, 11th- and 12th-seeded runners are less than five hundredths of a second ahead of him. The eighth- and ninth-seeded runners are also close, at 50.33 and 50.39, respectively.
Berndt dropped nearly seven-tenths of a second from his previous personal best at the Section 6A West Subsection Meet on May 21, running 51.35, and shaved another 0.68 seconds off at the Section 6A Championships on May 28 with a time of 50.67. If he keeps lowering his time, he will have a shot at reaching the podium against the best runners in Class A.
Corbin Abner Lee / Wahpeton Daily News
Results and photos will be available online immediately following the race June 4 and in the June 10 print edition of the Wahpeton Daily News.
Corbin Lee is a sports reporter for the Wahpeton Daily News and Richland County News-Monitor. Corbin can be reached by calling (701) 291-3551 or emailing corbin.lee@wahpetondailynews.com.
On this day in 1971, Rugby repeated as North Dakota’s high school sand greens golf champion behind medalist Dwight Stempson’s winning performance.
Here is the complete story as it appeared in the paper that day:
Rugby Repeats As Sand Greens Golf Champion
RUGBY, N. D. — Rugby repeated as North Dakota high school sand greens golf champion here Wednesday, posting a four-man total of 293 strokes for 18 holes.
Led by medalist Dwight Stempson’s medalist 36-35 — 71, the Panthers were eight strokes ahead of runnerup Stanley, which had a 301. Following were Garrison 311, Beulah 315, Leeds 322, Ashley 323, Bottineau 328, Pembina 329, Tioga 332, Parshall 341 and Hettinger 342.
Stempson and teammate Bruce Carlson each had one-under par 71s, but Carlson was unable to be at the regional and wasn’t qualified for individual honors.
Rounding out the Rugby totals were Delwin Wilson 40-37 — 77 and Dennett Hutchinson 35-39 — 74. Gary Kirchoffner, 41-39 — 80, was Rugby’s fifth entrant with the best four-of-five scores counted.
Runnerup Stanley was led by Steve Springan’s 34-38 — 72 and Joe Springan’s 36-38 — 74. Their two-man total of 146 strokes was good enough for the doubles title. Two strokes back with a 148 was the duo of Stempson and Wilson. Stan Saathoff and Mike Stepina of Garrison each had 76s for a 152 total and the Ashley combo of Steve Maier (76) and Dave Kretschmar (78) was fourth with a 154.
Stempson was the driving contest winner with a distance of 280 yards. Chris Knutson of Garrison headed the pitch and putt competition.
Kate Almquist is the social media manager for InForum. After working as an intern, she joined The Forum full time starting in January 2022. Readers can reach her at kalmquist@forumcomm.com.
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