Wildlife Management Programs
Today, under the direct will of Wallace Grange, Sandhill is managed as a wildlife demonstration area - a living laboratory used by wildlife biologists and researchers who test new wildlife management techniques designed to increase the abundance and diversity of wildlife native to the area. Sandhill has also been used to test the effects of manipulating hunter and trapper numbers, their hunting or trapping methods, season lengths and bag limits. Wildlife researchers evaluate these methods for application in other parts of the state.
Wildlife habitats, whether wetland, grassland or forest, constantly change over time. These changes affect the wildlife that live in these habitats. Many factors either limit or enhance wildlife populations: food, water, cover, amount of wild space, contaminants and people’s use of the land. If nothing were done to the land at Sandhill Wildlife Area, the existing aspen, pine and oak forests would age and eventually decay, and be replaced by shade-tolerant trees, such as maples. The wetlands would be crowded out by woody shrubs and filled in with the annual accumulation of dead leaves and the grassland prairies would disappear as the surrounding forest encroached. To counteract the inevitable changes of nature in order to provide for a wider variety of wildlife habitats native to Sandhill, DNR staff actively manipulate the land on behalf of wildlife. Most of the wildlife management activities we conduct on our property are actually habitat management activities. However, a few practices actually involve one or more types of wildlife.
Learn more about Sandhill Wildlife Management Programs:
RSS