Roseau River WMA

The Roseau River WMA wildlife work area

Checking a water control structure in the Roseau River area.

Hunters, trappers and wildlife watchers in Roseau County benefit from the management, habitat and oversight work of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' Roseau River Wildlife Management Area staff.

Area Supervisor Randy Prachar and three full-time staff oversee an area that includes more than 258,000 acres of public and private land. About one-third of these acres are in public ownership. This includes five state Wildlife Management Areas totaling more than 81,000 acres. The centerpiece is a 27-mile long dike system.

Roseau River wildlife staff maintain 11 large water control structures, four large wildlife pools and nine moist soils cells on the Roseau River WMA that provide important breeding, nesting and migration habitat for waterfowl.

Our work

• Providing outreach and educational services via a booth at the Roseau County Fair; opening of the WMA's dike system for wildlife viewing in late summer; providing information at kiosks for WMA users and programs for school children and community groups.
• Annually performing registration services for black bear and deer hunts; providing area-wide fur registration service; and conducting waterfowl bag checks at 20 sites throughout the work area to monitor harvest of these species.
View our master plan.
• Developing, maintaining or improving 5 bridges, 18 campsites, 9 parking areas, 9 gates, 15 miles of hunter walking trail on 3 trail networks, 6 water accesses; maintaining 33 miles of access road; and maintaining 163 miles of boundary on WMAs in northwestern Roseau County to allow for public use of WMAs.
• Manage water levels on WMA wetlands to provide for migratory stopover and production habitat for waterfowl and other waterbirds.
• Annually managing two to four mechanical brush treatment projects on 500-1,500 acres to set back succession in brush lands for sharp-tailed grouse and other brush land-dependent species.
• Annually complete aerial cattail spraying on the pools ranging from 150-650 acres to maintain open water areas for waterfowl production and migration habitat.