Moist Soil Management Information:

[Bailey]

I think our best bet at a moist soul unit in Minnesota certainly is not with the dnr or that clown Jim Cox. We would probably have to get a group together and create our own which of course is not easy. But I think to have any sort of duck haven in minn you have to go it alone while flipping the MWA and the dnr the finger.

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[Quack]

It's pretty easy- just buy a rice farm and do what you want with it.

[Bullet21XD]

A few things to keep in mind.

MO developed areas because the ducks were already using them. They didn't just put up a levee, plant some shyte, and watch the ducks flock to it. Imprinting was likely a large factor to their success.

They are also in an area of convergance of multiple flyways. Kinda like why you see more birds migrate through SD than MO in the spring.

And...for those thinking of going to Otter or
GP and slaying limits of Greenheads....good f-ing luck!! These areas are controlled hunt areas. Another HUGE factor in their success. Not like MN, where every phuctard in the county can spend all day running ducks out of what little habitat is left.

[Bailey]

A few things to keep in mind.

MO developed areas because the ducks were already using them. They didn't just put up a levee, plant some shyte, and watch the ducks flock to it. Imprinting was likely a large factor to their success.

They are also in an area of convergance of multiple flyways. Kinda like why you see more birds migrate through SD than MO in the spring.

And...for those thinking of going to Otter or
GP and slaying limits of Greenheads....good f-ing luck!! These areas are controlled hunt areas. Another HUGE factor in their success. Not like MN, where every phuctard in the county can spend all day running ducks out of what little habitat is left.

I wouldn't go to either of those areas. I'd go to nodaway valley where draw success is very high. They also have a free roam area in case you don't get drawn. They have been averaging close to 4 dicks a day per person. Lots of days nobody gets turned away.

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[greatwhitehunter3!]

They have been averaging close to 4 dicks a day per person. Lots of days nobody gets turned away.

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I'll have to pass at that opportunity!

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[Mr. Lee]

Good luck buying a rice farm. The real value in a rice paddy is in its value to convert it to a wetland. The land is generally worth about 500 bucks an acre,except if it is a rice paddy with a levee, it is worth 20 times that. Take down the levees,manage the invasives, monitor hydrology for 5-7 years and sell it as wetland credits. There is a lot more to it than that, but people are buying land such as rice farms for the sole purpose to create "wetlands" i.e. make money.

On top of this the requirement for a "wetland" for the most part is no open water…..ie marsh.

Its another giant government scam IMO. A wild rice farm has at least 10 times the number of critters,including ducks than any of the "restored wetlands" ever will.

AS far as moist soil? Works great. This year at the Mallard club no rice was grown. Everything was fallow, except for about 20 acres I planted in millet and another 50 I just disked up and rolled. Did not plant anything in those 50 acres and I didn't work most of it up till late June or July. It came up mostly smartweed and barnyard grass. I flooded the millet and barnyard grass in though out sept. Most water just came from runoff. We held about 3,000 ducks starting the weekend after duck season opened until freeze up. The ducks preferred the smartweed over the millet.

I no longer live and work at the mallard club, but I may work up there part-time during the summer.(planting millet,spraying reed canary,cattails ect) I really do like doing the whole moist soil thing. The reward is when the ducks show up by the thousands.

[greatwhitehunter3!]

Good luck buying a rice farm. The real value in a rice paddy is in its value to convert it to a wetland. The land is generally worth about 500 bucks an acre,except if it is a rice paddy with a levee, it is worth 20 times that. Take down the levees,manage the invasives, monitor hydrology for 5-7 years and sell it as wetland credits. There is a lot more to it than that, but people are buying land such as rice farms for the sole purpose to create "wetlands" i.e. make money.

On top of this the requirement for a "wetland" for the most part is no open water…..ie marsh.

Its another giant government scam IMO. A wild rice farm has at least 10 times the number of critters,including ducks than any of the "restored wetlands" ever will.

AS far as moist soil? Works great. This year at the Mallard club no rice was grown. Everything was fallow, except for about 20 acres I planted in millet and another 50 I just disked up and rolled. Did not plant anything in those 50 acres and I didn't work most of it up till late June or July. It came up mostly smartweed and barnyard grass. I flooded the millet and barnyard grass in though out sept. Most water just came from runoff. We held about 3,000 ducks starting the weekend after duck season opened until freeze up. The ducks preferred the smartweed over the millet.

I no longer live and work at the mallard club, but I may work up there part-time during the summer.(planting millet,spraying reed canary,cattails ect) I really do like doing the whole moist soil thing. The reward is when the ducks show up by the thousands.

What's your take on how big a MSM area should be to be worthwhile doing?

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[Bailey]

Good luck buying a rice farm. The real value in a rice paddy is in its value to convert it to a wetland. The land is generally worth about 500 bucks an acre,except if it is a rice paddy with a levee, it is worth 20 times that. Take down the levees,manage the invasives, monitor hydrology for 5-7 years and sell it as wetland credits. There is a lot more to it than that, but people are buying land such as rice farms for the sole purpose to create "wetlands" i.e. make money.

On top of this the requirement for a "wetland" for the most part is no open water…..ie marsh.

Its another giant government scam IMO. A wild rice farm has at least 10 times the number of critters,including ducks than any of the "restored wetlands" ever will.

AS far as moist soil? Works great. This year at the Mallard club no rice was grown. Everything was fallow, except for about 20 acres I planted in millet and another 50 I just disked up and rolled. Did not plant anything in those 50 acres and I didn't work most of it up till late June or July. It came up mostly smartweed and barnyard grass. I flooded the millet and barnyard grass in though out sept. Most water just came from runoff. We held about 3,000 ducks starting the weekend after duck season opened until freeze up. The ducks preferred the smartweed over the millet.

I no longer live and work at the mallard club, but I may work up there part-time during the summer.(planting millet,spraying reed canary,cattails ect) I really do like doing the whole moist soil thing. The reward is when the ducks show up by the thousands.

3000 ducks in your moist soul area is probably more then the refuge at swan lake lake this year at its peak. Swan is another one they dumped a ton of money into with little results. Why does Minnesota simply ever refuse to try anything that actually works! It's as if they have to be stubborn and do it their way no matter what and to heck if it works or not. Fowler thinks I should be thanking him Cox but if Cox can't see how effective moist soil is then he's beyond help imo.

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[Mr. Lee]

What's your take on how big a MSM area should be to be worthwhile doing?

One acre is worth doing. The more ducks you get the quicker they eat it out.



3000 ducks in your moist soul area is probably more then the refuge at swan lake lake this year at its peak. Swan is another one they dumped a ton of money into with little results. Why does Minnesota simply ever refuse to try anything that actually works! It's as if they have to be stubborn and do it their way no matter what and to heck if it works or not. Fowler thinks I should be thanking him Cox but if Cox can't see how effective moist soil is then he's beyond help imo.

Yes I agree. One of the problems is that the "powers to be" value a basically worthless tamarack swamp more than productive wetlands….especially moist soil….because it is not "natural".

[Fish Felon]

Good luck buying a rice farm. The real value in a rice paddy is in its value to convert it to a wetland. The land is generally worth about 500 bucks an acre,except if it is a rice paddy with a levee, it is worth 20 times that. Take down the levees,manage the invasives, monitor hydrology for 5-7 years and sell it as wetland credits. There is a lot more to it than that, but people are buying land such as rice farms for the sole purpose to create "wetlands" i.e. make money.

On top of this the requirement for a "wetland" for the most part is no open water…..ie marsh.

Its another giant government scam IMO. A wild rice farm has at least 10 times the number of critters,including ducks than any of the "restored wetlands" ever will.

'
I came across this concept the other day and had never heard of it. How much do you know about it? Everything I read was vague and it took me awhile to even figure out what they hell the credits stood for at the banks.

My very basic understanding of it is that as a private owner, city or county you put a permanent easement on your property to protect say 5 acres of wetlands you get a credit of 5....but it seems that like you said different types and quality of wetlands are worth more or less. Is that right and by how much? Say the rice patty you're talking about is really good, how many credits can it count up to? Can an acre be worth 4 or 5 credits?

The idea after that is that those credits can be sold to developers to account for wetland losses. Say a developer has a project in Minneapolis that will take out two acres of wetlands. Can they buy two credits to cover for it, but from where? Do they have to be credits that originated in Hennepin County? Obviously an acre of wetland would then be worth a lot more in Hennepin County versus Aitkin County. Or can credits from anywhere in MN work?

Can companies that cause environmental disasters get out of by buying credits as a penalty? Is that another component to this? Do these also function as carbon credits, because they create a carbon sinks, or is that an idea they want these to count for? Like some coal plant goes way over their allotted emissions for the year and are forced to buy a bunch of these as a carbon tax?

Is my attempt to understand this even close or am I way out in the Effing stratosphere on this one?

The whole thing seems really complicated but there's going to be a shitload of money in it to stick with "no net loss."

Recently, a Presidential Memorandum was released that encourages private investors to restore public land and natural resources through mitigation banks, where investors can perform compensatory mitigation for credits that can be used to offset development impacts. The National Mitigation Banking Association is an association of entrepreneurial companies that purchase land and waters to restore them and create these mitigation banks. More than 100 conservation banks and more than 1300 wetland and stream mitigation banks have been approved, restoring and protecting over a million acres of private land. NMBA members have raised more than a billion private dollars that can be put to work, in cooperation with federal agencies, for conservation. By creating a marketplace for land restoration credits, the economic uses of public resources can be balanced with their long-term stewardship. The land can be productively used, but not used up.

Wayne White, President
National Mitigation Banking Association

NMBA represents the private investment sector of the $25B natural restoration industry supporting 220,000 jobs across the country – jobs ranging from Ph.D. scientists and engineers to nurserymen and forestry workers. Our members provide the highest quality mitigation available for wetland, stream and other impacts by relying on Universal Principles of Mitigation. NMBA advocates for viable, high-quality environmental markets to protect and restore important, scarce, and sensitive natural resources as offsets to unavoidable impacts associated with economic development.

We believe that when properly framed by sound government policy, private investment in restoration and conservation is a powerful tool to meet today’s growing environmental challenges. These include offsets for impacts to endangered species habitat, natural resource damages from oil and chemical spills, diminished water quality, and the need for green infrastructure protection to combat extreme weather events including storms, floods, and drought. Additionally, strengthened compensatory mitigation policies applied to public lands will create net gain of publicly-owned natural resources. With this new policy we expect to double the pace of private investment from the 2014 rate of 85,000 acres per year to 200,000 acres per year within the next five years.