PLOTS changes
Land in hunting program dwindlingBy KIM FUNDINGSLAND, Staff Writer kfundingsland@minotdailynews.com
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One of the biggest days of the fall season for North Dakota sportsmen the pheasant opener is Saturday, and many hunters will be heading out to PLOTS land. But surprises unpleasant ones are in store for some hunters.
The reason? Land enrolled in the state's PLOTS program has been dwindling rapidly as of late, thanks in part to oil development.
"It's been changing almost weekly," said Kevin Kading, private lands section leader for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. "If hunters run across a PLOTS area they thought was there but the signs are not up, that means it probably changed since the PLOTS guides came out. It's best to error on the side of caution and don't hunt if the signs aren't there."
The PLOTS program, which stands for "Private Land Open to Sportsmen," is administered by the Game and Fish Department. Up to 1 million acres of land has been enrolled in the program, but with a combination of oil development and non-renewal of Conservation Reserve Program acres by landowners, the PLOTS map is constantly changing.
Keeping up with all the changes has put pressure on Game & Fish. However, they are endeavoring to make certain that PLOTS signs are put up and taken down in a timely manner. There's also a problem of others tampering with the yellow, triangular signs readily recognized by sportsmen.
"When we take signs down we try to get around the whole tract," said Kading. "If all the signs are not there it may be because we didn't want to disturb cropland to access a sign or maybe somebody just took one for himself. Sometimes a landowner will take a sign down for us."
Kading requests that hunters who encounter PLOTS land on which the signage is not complete, such as signs on two or three corners instead of all four, contact a private lands biologist in their area so they can become aware of the discrepancy. The phone numbers of private lands biologists are listed in the PLOTS guide.
"It is always appreciated when a hunter lets the department know of a situation like that because, with the rapidly changing situations, private lands biologists are struggling to keep up," said Casey Anderson, field operation coordinator with Game & Fish.
Recently the department has been made aware of land signed with PLOTS that is being developed or farmed. Sometimes it is just of case of the signs not having been removed in time. In other cases it is the result of a continuing flurry of activity in the rapidly expanding patch.
"We can't do anything with that. We can't restrict any mineral rights," said Kading. "Landowners have the right to allow exploration on their PLOTS acres but we can void their lease or re-do their contract and take those acres out if they have a pad, well road and things like that."
According to Anderson, some landowners who have begun energy development on PLOTS acres may also have undisturbed acres in the PLOTS program. In those cases Game & Fish will often discontinue payment on the disturbed acres.
"In other situations the landowner may have had to pay the department back," added Anderson.
Contracts for PLOTS acres vary in length according to which program a landowner is involved in. The Working Lands program is usually two or more years in length. PLOTS on CRP acreage generally runs the same length as the CRP agreement.
"Some of that CRP land has one year left. Some have 10 years left on them," said Kading.
PLOTS land is open to North Dakota residents only, from Oct. 11-17. Out-of-state hunters can hunt PLOTS land only after the first week of the pheasant season. To keep up with the changing PLOTS landscape, hunters are encouraged to check the Game & Fish Department Web site for updates to the PLOTS guide, which is updated as often as necessary.
