Deer Habitat

It was the winter of 1968-69 and Minnesota's deer herd was in a free fall.  Deep snows.  Severe cold.  Lack of food.  Excessive doe harvest.  A perfect storm in Minnesota's north woods was annihilating the state's deer population.
 Then, a small miracle appeared.  A  small group of determined Grand Rapids deer hunters   organized to save their cherished deer hunting traditions.   And they gave themselves a name, simple and direct:  Save Minnesota Deer.
And they had one simple goal:  improve the state's deer habitat.   I remember interviewing Dave Shaw and other founders and touring snowy woods with DNR's deer guru Milt Stenlund who opened my eyes to the lack of deer browse within reach of a deer.
There was only one problem.   State leaders in St. Paul weren't listening much.
So---to make themselves heard,  the Save Minnesota Deer members decided to raise a little hell.  State lawmakers had been unresponsive to the deer population crisis…..so carcasses of starved deer ---with puffy faces and ribs showing---were hauled to the steps of the State Capitol.      Pictures of dead deer made the news in the Twin Cities.    The DNR Commissioner, Jarle Leirfallom, personally led browse cutting crews into the snow-bound north to show his concern.  And it worked.  Lawmakers voted to fund a deer habitat program with a license surcharge.
But it was too little too late.  In the autumn of 1971, DNR announced there would be NO deer season.  
But the grassroots habitat push didn't end there.  In fact it grew so fast, the Save Minnesota Deer group  transformed itself into a statewide organization in 1980.   This was the birth of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association.  Habitat remained their battle cry with innovative programs like Hides For Habitat.  Members dollars were used for habitat projects.  
Now fast forward…..
Today, Minnesota's deer population flirts around record highs, thanks largely to a number of reasons: 1.  revised deer management tools used by DNR, such as doe permit systems; 2. better habitat thanks to increased logging of popple because of new product innovations; 3. a series of milder winters; 4. and the decades of  watch guard work by members of MDHA.
Now imagine my surprise in recent months to find that MDHA is over its hunting boots in controversy.  The organization has become the target of bitter letters to the editor regarding new buck hunting regulations in the state's southeast.     MDHA members are fighting with other MDHA members.  Some members are quitting the organization and/or calling for a change in leadership and so forth.
What happened?  In my view, this is what happened.  MDHA landed in a political quagmire by taking a stand on…NOT habitat programs….but on new deer season regulations that were guaranteed to be divisive.   By taking one side asked for by MDHA members; other members were alienated.  It was a lose-lose for MDHA. 
For sure, a public debate about deer regulations, seasons, etc., that included MDHA members,  is great.  That's the democratic way.   And MDHA members ought to express their views.  But debates over regulations are not good for organizations whose goal is habitat and protecting the right to hunt deer..   Everybody supports habitat, but nobody wins in a quagmire.
Take note, rarely does Pheasants Forever enter public frays over seasons, road hunting, etc. although their members might.  No, Pheasants Forever sticks to its message and purpose: pheasant habitat.
Ducks Unlimited largely takes the same stance.  It's a duck habitat organization, period.
Minnesota's deer management is now being usurped by political interests that individual MDHA members may in the future want to support  or boot out of office.  But MDHA, the organization, ought to concentrate on what they do best:  fight for the future of deer hunting via habitat and related issues.
And MDHA's Mark Johnson says that's still the goal, ''MDHA's primary focus must be on ensuring a healthy future for hunting in MN by improving habitat, providing hunter opportunity and increasing hunter access to public hunting lands.   We need hunters, but if we don't have quality habitat where they can hunt our hunting legacy is doomed.''