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North Dakotans at odds over out-of-state hunters
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Small lakes and sloughs dot the landscape in southeastern North Dakota. The water and nearby farm fields are attractive to migrating ducks. (MPR Photo/Dan Gunderson)
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven will meet soon to discuss a dispute over hunting. North Dakota is restricting where and when people from out of state can hunt, and raising hunting license fees. That's angered many Minnesota hunters. But the changes are also upsetting a lot of North Dakota business owners.

Edgeley, N.D. — Most people in Edgeley, North Dakota, love out of state hunters. The town of 650 is about two and a half hours southwest of Fargo. Edgeley is surrounded by prairie potholes filled with water that attracts lots of ducks. Those ducks attract hunters, and hunters spend lots of money.

"I would say when the hunters are in town, my business at least doubles," says Geri Kiecker.

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Image Welcomes out-of-state hunters

Kiecker runs Big John's Bar and Restaurant in Edgeley. She says the money spent by out-of-state hunters helps her business through the lean winter months.

She's gotten to know hunters from across the nation. Many of them come back every year.

"And they'll say to me, 'Can you have them barbecued ribs next time we come? Or can you have some apple pie next time we come?' And we say 'Sure, when are you coming?'" says Kiecker.

Kiecker says by discouraging out-of-state hunters, the state is hurting small towns like Edgeley.

Next door at the Prairie Rose Motel, Gene Hanson is nervous. October is his best month. The 24-room motel is usually jam-packed with camouflage-wearing hunters from out of state.

I've talked to many people who've said, 'Jim, I can't let you hunt this year... I leased it to somebody from Minneapolis. I had to. I needed the money.
- Jim Weight

"We sometimes put in extra beds. We've put a bed in the laundry room. People are just happy to have a room," says Hanson. "When the motel is full we have local hunters invite out-of-state people to stay with them. They don't know these people, but they like them. It's good for the economy of the area."

This year a few non-resident hunters have called Hanson to cancel reservations, and many have called to complain. They're angry because the first week of the fall season is now for resident hunters only, and non-residents are restricted in some hunting zones throughout the season.

Some say limiting hunting priviledges for people from other states is about letting North Dakota hunters be first in line. Others say it's simply a necessary part of wildlife management.

Gene Hanson doesn't buy the argument that there are too many out-of-state hunters in North Dakota. Hanson also runs a company that builds small airplanes. He flies around the Edgeley area almost every day. From the air, hundreds of small lakes and sloughs are visible.

"And even during the month of October, with all the hunters here, you fly out around the big sloughs and little sloughs and there's not that many people out there hunting," says Hanson. "So I don't know what the complaint is about out-of-state hunters ruining the hunt here. It is not."

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Image No hunting sign

Gene Hanson is expressing his frustration by putting up a sign on some farmland he owns. It reads "Non-resident Hunters Only."

The number of non-resident hunters has tripled in the past decade. Nearly half of all waterfowl hunters in North Dakota are now from out of state.

Some North Dakota hunting groups say restricting out-of-state hunters is a critical wildlife management tool. One such group is United Sportsment of North Dakota. The organization strongly supports limits on non-resident hunters. The group's chairman, Jim Weight, says the reason is simple -- too many hunters will kill too much game and ruin hunting for everyone.

But behind the arguments about resource management looms a more difficult issue. Jim Weight admits there's a lot of resentment toward out-of-staters who pay big money to lease farmland, giving them exclusive hunting rights.

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Image Jim Weight wants hunting restrictions

"I've talked to many people who've said, 'Jim, I can't let you hunt this year. ... I've got three kids in high school, I didn't get a crop this year. I had to sell most of my cattle. I leased (my land) to somebody from Minneapolis. I had to. I needed the money,'" Weight says. "So yeah, there's other issues than just the ducks and the pheasants and deer and whatever else. And it's not all based on resource. It's based on probably the scariest of all of 'em out there, and that's humans."

The state of North Dakota has programs in place to open thousands of acres of land to hunting. Many hunting guides say there's no shortage of places to hunt. But Jim Weight says sportsman will continue to fight what they see as an invasion by non-resident hunters.

"I believe the residents of the state of North Dakota believe so much in their heritage, in what they have here in North Dakota, that I don't think it's going to stop where it's at. I just don't," says Weight.

Access to North Dakota land is an issue likely to boil up when the state Legislature meets again in 2005.


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