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New Southern Minnesota WMA will be ‘beautiful thing’

PART III:

” ‘Managing the lumber yard and construction crew was more than a full-time job,’ Bue said, ‘but whenever I could take a little time off, the boys and I loved to go camping in the small open-front lean-to tent we had.

We’d camp and hunt squirrels in the Garvin Woods, hunt ducks at Thief Lake and the Roseau River, or take a fishing trip to the Pierre, South Dakota area. *Fishing by Pierre and camping on the Dakota Prairie was a different experience, the wildlife was different, Jack Rabbits, Prairie Dogs, Mule Deer and Antelopes.

On one such trip Brian and Douglas were exploring the Dakota prairie when they came across a Rattle Snake. They killed it and brought it back to camp for Dad to see. He skinned it and they had fried rattler that evening for supper. Doug said several years ago that he did not slip well that night.

*The areal waterfowl census was flown in late spring for a breeding pair count and in summer for a waterfowl production count and again in October for a muskrat house count.

Bue said the trip that might have had the greatest effect on the boys was a 10-day, 100-mile backpacking trip into Bob Marshall Wilderness Area of Montana with their lean-to tent.

Son Brian was 10 at the time, Doug not quite 8. A family vacation road trip to Alaska in their pickup truck and slide-in camper in1 1970 seemed to seal the boys’ fates, Bue said.’

We were six weeks on the road and drove most everywhere accessible by car, including the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.’

After graduating from high school, the three oldest boys enrolled at the university by Fairbanks and still live there and became fisheries biologists, and the fourth, a pharmacist. Bue’s daughter Bridget remained in Minnesota.

‘I wanted to make sure I introduced them all to the outdoors – guess I must have done that pretty good,’ Bue said, looking across the room at his son, Doug. ‘He sure did,’ replied a smiling Doug.

Bue said he once entertained the idea of moving to Alaska after retiring, but it just never worked out.’ Instead, he made regular trips there to spend time with his sons and their families and to fish. He also helped each of them build a house there.

Although Bue left the Department of Conser-vation in the 1950s, his passion for the outdoors remains strong. His conversation is sprinkled with references to matters ranging from hybrid cattails and muskrat populations to native prairie plants and of course, tiling.

‘I met Jerry about four years ago,’ Krueger said. ‘He still lived alone in his house then and frequently stopped at the office to discuss the state of wildlife, etc., and share his past experiences.

I learned something new during every visit with him. He and his kids are all great people with real outdoor and conservation passions.’

Bue continued to hunt, fish, and trap well into his 80s and shot his last deer at the age of 86 with bow and arrow.

One wall of his room at Morningside is adorned with photos of family and various outdoor adventures. He continues to help maintain a large garden at the home where he and his wife raised their family, even though the stroke has cost him some mobility on his left side.

‘We always have fresh produce, he happily pointed out.

‘We never sold the house,’ Doug Bue said. ‘It’s where we stay when we come down to visit, and we take dad there regularly.’

The sons, Doug explained, take turns traveling from Alaska for sometimes weeks at a time to visit their dad and take him out for errands, walks, and drives in the country. Bridget, who lives in Savage, does the same. ‘So there’s hardly an afternoon when Dad doesn’t get out,’ Doug said.

Arnie’s Army, Bue said, stayed in touch for years, meeting annually at The Quarterdeck on Gull Lake near Brainerd. When asked to describe those gatherings, he smiled wryly and said,

‘Well, just say we had some pretty good times.’ He’ll have another pretty good time when the Buetiful Acres WMA becomes reality.

Once ownership is transferred to the DNR, a wood routed sign will be installed at the site and a dedication ceremony will be held, probably next spring.”

“BUETIFUL ACRES WMA DESCRIPTION

• Located five miles south of Marshall almost exclusively in Lake Marshall Township, the new 166-9 acre WMA will be open to public hunting, trapping, and other forms of wildlife-oriented recreation.

• The Bue family is donating 78.6 acres of CREP/RIM grassland, of which 62 acres is critical native prairie. More than 99 percent of native tallgrass prairie has disappeared from the landscape.

• Of the total purchase, 26.5 acres of tillable land will be used to provide a winter food plot, and 61.8 acres of grassland will be managed for wildlife habitat and water quality benefits by slowing and filtering runoff from the steep and rough portions of the property before it enters a creek that runs through the property and eventually into Lake Marshall.”

SOURCE: “OUTDOOR NEWS,” Dec. 2, 2016, issue, by writer Tom Conroy.

*Additions to article by Gerald Bue

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