Talcot Lake WMA

Hunters, trappers and wildlife watchers in a 12-county area of southwestern Minnesota benefit from the management, habitat and oversight work of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' Talcot Lake Wildlife Management Area staff.

Area Supervisor Judy Markl along with one full-time wildlife professional and 10 seasonal laborers provide the labor and equipment to develop and maintain 329 state Wildlife Management Areas in Rock, Nobles, Pipestone, Murray, Cottonwood, Jackson, Martrin, Watonwan, Redwood, Brown, Lyon and Lincoln counties. They also manage Cottonwood County's 5,262-acre Talcot Lake WMA.

"Our primary goal is to assist four other DNR wildlife offices maintain and improve habitat on nearly 69,000 acres of public land open to hunting, trapping, birding and other uses," said Markl. "We do this with a large fleet of equipment – tractors, dozers, planters, mowers, seed harvesters and more – and by being nimble so that we can be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of weather, water levels and other natural conditions."

What we do

At work for you

A seasonal worker installs a post for a WMA boundary sign.

• Managing habitat and facilities on the Talcot Lake WMA.
• Providing labor and equipment needed to develop and maintain 329 WMAs in a 12-county area of southwestern Minnesota.
• Harvesting and planting native prairie plants seed for public land restoration projects in the 12-county work area.
• Mowing and raking firebreaks and providing burn crews and burn equipment to four area wildlife supervisors.
• Controlling noxious and invasive weeds on WMAs in the 12-county work area.
• Annually planting 350 acres of corn, sorghum, winter wheat and soybeans, which creates food for migrating waterfowl, winter food for deer and pheasants and hunting opportunities for doves.
• Cleaning up new and existing WMAs, including removing buildings, old machinery, trash and fences.