News January 20, 2000Dear Fellow Field Trialers and Hunters, There has been a great need for permanent public grounds on which to train dogs and hold Field Trials. The opportunity for such grounds is at hand, but we must act quickly. The Nature Conservancy in partnership with the Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources, and the Field Trial community is proposing a Wildlife Management Area in Central Minnesota to be known as The Four Brooks Project. The Four Brooks Project will consist of approximately 17,700 acres of public hunting ground and 3,200 acres as a Recreation Area designated for dog trials and training. The grounds are laid out so as to accommodate all types of dog trials and hunt tests and is large enough to have more than one event going on at a time. You will be proud to bring your national events to these grounds. There are buildings in place at the proposed headquarters to accommodate horses, dogs and people. The Four Brooks Project will be submitted to the legislature by February 1, 2000 by Mr. Ron Nargang of The Nature Conservancy of Minnesota. What is needed from us to make this project a reality is upfront pledges of money to be used as matching funds for land the land acquisition. These pledges are needed now!! Your check will not have to be written until the project is a reality. The other issue is maintenance and upkeep of buildings and grounds after purchase. This is extremely important, as there is often money for land purchase, but operational funds in all sections of the DNR are stretched to the maximum. Therefore any pledges of money, material or manpower for ongoing upkeep and maintenance, is very much needed at this time because it helps the DNR plan their management strategy. A suggestion might be to pledge the amount you are currently paying for grounds each year for the next five years and then plan to hold your events at Four Brooks. This is for all dog clubs and people so please spread the word. PLEASE ACT NOW!! Call or send your club or individual pledges to me. Sincerely, Roger Berg President, MFFTC
E-Mail : mail@mfftc.com |