Minnesota’s Lyon County Pheasants Forever chapter takes habitat improvement to new heights

Marshall, Minn. — Pheasants Forever chapter volunteers in Lyon County have stepped up their efforts in the organization’s Hands-On Habitat program, participating in seven successful projects so far this year with a goal of nine total in 2026.

Hands-On Habitat projects are organized and completed by local volunteers. The projects benefit public land and can include fence removal, invasive species management, trash and debris removal, habitat restoration and other tasks to improve the landscape.

Volunteers work with DNR managers to identify projects. Many chapters, including Lyon County, also participate in the DNR’s Adopt-A-Wildlife-Area program. The chapter has adopted every WMA in the county.

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The Lyon County chapter has been involved in Hands on Habitat for several years. Led by committee secretary John Blowers, known to all as Johnny B, volunteers have organized four projects within Lyon County and have assisted the Nobles County, Buffalo Ridge and East Medicine chapters with Hands-On Habitat work.

“I sit at a desk most of the day for a living. This is something that I can get out and do and see where we made a difference,” Blowers said. “It gets me outside in the spring and summer and it’s just gratifying to see everybody working together to make things better.”

So far in 2026, Lyon County volunteers have removed more than six miles of old fencing and about 5,480 pounds of metal. Barbed wire and steel fenceposts that degrade over time and are partially hidden by grass are particularly dangerous to dogs. With the help of an engineer friend, Blowers has invented and built an ATV-mounted device to remove fence posts.

“Just about everybody who hunts with dogs has experienced a bad injury or vet visit from an old fence. If we can stop one dog from getting seriously injured then it’s worth it, and I believe we have. It just lets people enjoy the outdoors more with less safety hazards,” Blowers said.

In addition to debris removal, volunteers also complete projects that improve prairie habitat. For example, at the Siyo Waste Wildlife Management Area, volunteers from the East Medicine and Lyon County chapters prepared a strip of land for pollinator habitat. A few weeks later, Yellow Medicine East high school students toured the site where they learned about healthy prairie and were able to plant pollinator-focused seeds and plugs.

“Hands-On Habitat is a great program because it goes right back to our roots – volunteers taking the initiative and creating tangible improvements out on their local landscapes. These are projects that need to be done but possibly wouldn’t happen unless people stepped up. It goes to the very heart of what we do,” Pheasants Forever Senior Regional Representative Chance Steward said.

Blowers plans to continue the increased Hands-On Habitat efforts into the future.

“We get a lot of support from our members and from surrounding counties and we have a great partnership from the DNR. This is something we can do without a whole lot of fuss. It benefits everyone all around,” Blowers said.

Pheasants Forever was founded in Minnesota in 1982 and along with Quail Forever makes up the nation’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to upland habitat conservation. Since its creation, the organization has dedicated more than $1 billion to 585,000 habitat projects benefiting 31 million acres.