Alleged global warming "solution" may harm pheasant recovery from harsh winter

Tough winter for pheasants, too - TwinCities.com

Ring-necked pheasants in Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota are facing their worst winter in nearly a decade, and without a break in the severe weather, bird losses will begin to mount, wildlife managers say.
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Wildlife managers say pheasant populations can bounce back quickly with good spring nesting conditions. But a worst-case scenario would be blizzards in March or early April.

With fewer lands enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program across the Upper Midwest, pheasants may not bounce back as fast as they did after the severe winter of 1996-97.

"We kept telling everybody this day would come," Kreil said. "But everybody got spoiled by the mild winters."

Ethanol demands squeeze hunting grounds

Iowa's ethanol industry, which has pushed corn prices to levels not seen in 10 years, is considering new plants and expansion that could boost capacity by another 1.6 billion gallons. One way to increase corn production will be to plow up land currently enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, known popularly as the CRP.