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Geoff Krokosh had his eye on 460 acres of land next to his New Dayton area farm for 30 years, so when it was put on the market, “I told my wife, ‘We have to have that because it’s so beautiful.’”
The beauty lies in a cattail-heavy creek Geoff believes is a natural outflow of the Ridge Reservoir far to the south. It provides habitat for abundant songbirds, at least a couple of Great Blue Herons and winter cover for ring-necked pheasants and Hungarian partridge.
Trouble was, cattle had free access to the creek. When he bought the land a while ago mainly for grazing cattle, he set out to protect, even enhance the area around the creek. He was in touch with Partners in Habitat, the Alberta Conservation Association and Pheasants Forever to discuss possibilities.
The result was the local Pheasants Forever chapter’s first solo project – enclosing the creek and adjacent grassland with about 5 km of fencing. The $30,000 project started last week and should be completed near the end of the month.
For the 125-member Pheasants Forever chapter, it’s the start of what they hope are many similar projects. In seven years raising funds through annual dinners, it has worked with other groups such as Partners in Habitat and ACA on projects on the Milk River Ridge and near Picture Butte and Keho Lake.
The New Dayton site is ideal, says Mark Virginillo, a founding member of the chapter.
“A cattail marsh is superb winter habitat. Snow won’t completely fill it” and it’s deep enough for pheasants to hunker down in, he says. The grassland around the creek provides for good nesting and food is readily available in the nearby fields.
Mark emphasizes this is a conservation project and believes if pheasants have good habitat, they’ll thrive.
According to the Sustainable Resource Development website, ring-necked pheasants were introduced into the province from Southern China or Japan in 1908. Dense cover along irrigation ditches and nearby grain fields provided good habitat. But, “Chick mortality is high, and populations are supported by release of hatchery-raised birds.”
Mark believes releasing hatchery-raised pheasants wouldn’t be necessary if the area habitat was improved.
“The climate here is close to what it was in their native habitat. And, there’s good cover and feed sources.”
Pheasants Forever’s goal is to improve on that, but Mark says it’s not about hunting and it’s not just about pheasants.
“It’s probably a misnomer to call it Pheasants Forever. Conservation projects benefit all the wildlife in the area.”
Geoff has placed a No Hunting sign on the property, mainly because he didn’t like the way some hunters drove their trucks over the land looking for birds and compacting the land.
He believes generally, “If you’re going to hunt, hunt by walking, and with permission.”
Whether he allows hunting or not may be moot, if his ultimate hope for the land is fulfilled.
“I’d like to see a walking path there so others can enjoy it. I’d be right proud to have people walking through my property.”