Friends Group forming for Carlos Avery WMA (2005-01-10)

At 23,000 acres, it’s the seventh largest wildlife management area (WMA) in the state. Just half an hour from Minneapolis and St. Paul, it’s also one of the most heavily used.

But Carlos Avery’s future as a public hunting ground for waterfowl, deer, turkeys and small game increasingly is being threatened. With the Twin Cities continuing to expand outward, development is now knocking up against the edges of the complex, threatening to swallow up surrounding lands that augment and buffer the unit’s habitat and the hunting activities it supports.

To address these issues and others, a Friends of Carlos Avery group is being formed to ensure that the units’s unique values are not compromised and that it remains an important part of the community. The group’s first meeting will be held at 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 20, at the Carlos Avery WMA office, 5463 West Broadway, Forest Lake.

“We’re looking at this as an opportunity to get to know our neighbors better, and for them to get to know us,” said Dan Rhode, the DNR’s manager at Carlos Avery. “We’d like to find ways of working together to preserve the Avery’s unique contributions to the community while recognizing that this area is becoming an increasingly popular place to live.”

For more information contact WMA staff at 651-296-5290.

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