The area is surrounded by mature cottonwood and box elder trees and is one of the best ways fairgoers can find shade and beat the heat. The park is designed to give visitors interactive, hand-on experiences aided by volunteers and N.D. Game and Fish staff.

The fishing area has a casting dock and a fishing pond stocked full of fighting game fish. It’s a simple fishing operation – a bamboo pole, line, bobber, weight and a little fish on a hook are enough to give fairgoers a taste of fishing.

“I don’t know how many people have caught their very first fish in their lifetime right in the middle of a state fair – it’s to hook those anglers,” said Greg Gullickson, outreach biologist for N.D. Game and Fish.

The fishing area is open year-round, though it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles outside of the State Fair. They stock it at ice out with trout then stock periodically through the summer with game fish, primarily bluegill and perch.

The urban fishing area allows Minot residents and visitors to break out their fishing poles without driving outside of city limits.

“You don’t have to hook up a boat and drive 70 miles to go catch a fish – it can be right in your own backyard,” Gullickson said.

Gaining popularity, the Skills Park also has an archery range where Game and Fish staff and volunteers introduce people of all ages to flinging arrows. Participants are shown how to hold a bow, find their dominant eye and get to shoot downrange at 3D or round targets.

There is also a hunter education area where staff and volunteers go over a miniature hunting education course, talk about the different types of weapon safeties and how to get a proper sight picture. After participants are done, they get to ping targets and shoot downrange with live pellet guns.

There are also special displays that give various education opportunities. There is a boat safety booth where professionals talk about the importance of life jackets and being safe on the water, and chronic wasting disease education and how hunters can help.

On the east end of the park is a pollinator plot that showcases different native plants, wildflowers and grasses of North Dakota. Visitors are educated on what they can do to help with wildlife habitat, especially with insects that many game and nongame species need for food.

There is also education on the Meadowlark Initiative which is a program that combines different agencies that work to put more habitats, specifically grasslands, on the landscape and how to improve some of the grasslands for quality and health for both wildlife and producers.

The Report all Poachers trailer displays confiscated items and showcases what hunters did wrong while in the field.

“One of the highlights inside the park is the price – everything is free within the North Dakota Game and Fish area here at the fair. We have lots of picnic tables, we have a bunch of shade trees, we have grass. It’s just a nice area at the fairgrounds,” Gullickson said.

The Conservation and Outdoor Skills Park isn’t possible without the help of volunteers. Gullickson urged people to call the Game and Fish Bismarck office if they’re interested in volunteering.