PIERRE, S.D. – The Department of Game, Fish and Parks is implementing enhancements to the Walk-In Area program that were adopted last year, and these enhancements are expected to continue the quality and quantity of acreage for public hunting opportunity in South Dakota.

The Walk-In Area program was created to provide more public hunting opportunity, and provide landowners with fees for allowing unlimited public hunting. To qualify, landowners must own at least 80 contiguous acres of quality habitat. The most sought after habitat types are those associated with the Conservation Reserve Program. Sign-up for Walk-In Area land is coordinated through local conservation officers, and pay is determined by the quality of habitat and wildlife numbers during the hunting seasons.

"We have made significant strides in our program since its inception in the late 1980s," said Game, Fish and Parks Walk-In Area Coordinator Bill Smith. "However, we look forward to building on those strides to increase hunting opportunity for the average hunter."

The Walk-In Area program currently leases about 935,000 acres of private land for public hunting access. "The program has received very strong support from both resident and nonresident hunters," Smith said. "Most importantly, we have also enjoyed a very good working relationship with our private landowner cooperators. However, our hunters have also stated the one thing they would like to see is better quality cover on, and distribution of, the Walk-In Areas, while landowners have expressed a desire to have a better payment structure. We feel the enhancements we initiated last year help address these issues."

Under the 2005 Walk-In Area program guidelines, the department will pay landowners up to $1 per acre per year for access, plus a bonus payment of up to $5 per acre per year for permanent, undisturbed cover in the state’s prime pheasant hunting areas. Landowners can also receive an additional one-time bonus payment of up to $1 per acre for each hunting season remaining on their CRP contract if they enroll their CRP land as Walk-In Areas for the duration of the CRP contract.

Land not containing permanent, undisturbed cover can be enrolled for up to $1 per acre, per year anywhere in the state (areas with potential for hunting of many species will get paid closer to $1 per acre, while areas with hunting opportunity for few species may get paid significantly less than $1 per acre), as long as they have sufficient habitat to offer an opportunity to harvest game.

"Our Walk-In Area program comes at considerable cost each year," Smith noted. "Last year, we paid landowners approximately $1.6 million for Walk-In Area leases. However, this public hunting opportunity is such an important part of our vision for the future of hunting in South Dakota that we feel the money was well spent. Our public involvement work indicates the public will be very supportive of this expense as long as the trade-off is good public hunting opportunity."

Large tracts of land in western South Dakota will still be sought for leasing to accommodate big game and grouse hunters.

Smith said that CRP land would continue to be an important emphasis within the Walk-In Area program. "There are 1.4 million acres of CRP in South Dakota that meet many habitat needs for wildlife and provide good hunting opportunity," he said. "In addition, we are looking for any areas that provide us with good hunting opportunity."

Walk-In Area enrollment for the 2005 hunting season runs from now until June 1. Landowners interested in information and possible enrollment in the Walk-In Area Program should contact their local conservation officer well before the June 1 deadline. Program information may also be obtained from GFP offices or the GFP website at www.sdgfp.info/wildlife/privatelands/.

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