www.austindailyherald.com/news/2009/sep/11/moscow-game- -
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Published on: 9/11/2009
Last Visited: 9/14/2009
"They kind of date back to when we didn't have a real good science for how to regulate hunting to make sure that we had sustained game populations other than by providing areas of refuge," said Jeanine Vorland, area wildlife manager with the DNR.
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Vorland said such refuges can be created by a petition of landowners or by a petition of 50 Freeborn County residents or more.
Vorland said the Moscow refuge was created through a county petition, followed by a meeting and a hearing.
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People could shoot as many deer as they chose during hunting seasons, and the deer population was nearly eliminated from southern Minnesota by the beginning of the 20th century, Vorland said.
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It's pretty well established that they do need some areas where they're protected from hunting so they have places to rest," Vorland said.
The refuges are not wildlife sanctuaries that protect habitat and restrict human contact.
The land is primarily agricultural with both crop and pasture land.
Turtle Creek runs through the property, providing good refuge for ducks, and there are also some wooded lots.
Game refuges don't supply any habitat protection, so Vorland said there's little refuge opportunities for game animals.
This is one of the reasons many game refuges have been vacated in the last 20 years.
However, Vorland said there's quite a bit of habitat remaining in the Moscow State Game Refuge.
"It doesn't provide any habitat protection.
It's just a matter of being able to close it to hunting.
And at the time that most of these were created, that was our primary management tool," Vorland said.
Another major game refuge in Freeborn County is the Albert Lea Game Refuge, which is closed to all water fowl hunting.
That refuge includes Myre-Big Island State Park, Albert Lea Lake and some areas surrounding the park and the lake.
Only the private land of the Albert Lea refuge is open to any hunting.
Vorland said hunters should annually check the DNR's hunting and tracking regulation book to see what hunting is allowed in game refuges.
She also stressed that hunters must have the permission of property owners to hunt on private land.