NEW ULM – New Ulm native Brittany Nosbush has had a long career working with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), helping to protect natural land.

In April, she’ll mark nine years of real estate work, specializing in acquisitions for the Lands and Minerals Division (LAM). Her work with LAM brought in contact with many other state conservation groups, like Ducks Unlimited. Recently, Ducks Unlimited chose to honor Nosbush’s efforts toward shared conservation goals by awarding her the 2026 Beyond the Call Award.

“It’s a huge honor to receive this award from my colleagues,” Nosbush said. “For as long as I’ve been working with people at Ducks Unlimited, we approach each acquisition with the same intent to preserve and protect land. Keeping that main goal in mind, even if the road is bumpy, we know we want to get to the same place — for this land to be conserved and preserved for future generations to use.”

Nosbush received the Beyond the Call Award from Ducks Unlimited senior manager Jon Schneider. During the award ceremony, he recounted a time in which Nosbush’s personal expertise helped secure a land parcel for Swan Lake Wildlife Management Area (WMA).

Schneider said the parcel had been purchased by Duck’s Unlimited at auction, but late in the transaction process they found the land had an easement on it from a previous land owner. The easement was specifically for manure piling.

Nosbush said this was an unusual situation, but important to resolve because the public would never visit a WMA with a manure pile on it.

“We needed a solution quickly,” Nosbush said.

Fortunately, she had inside information. Nosbush knew the people who had worked on the farm with the easement.

She was able to make a direct call to the farm owners and explain what Ducks Unlimited was trying to do and they released the easement from the parcel. It turned out the easement was not being used anymore.

Though this particular parcel for Swan Lake was near Nosbush’s home community of New Ulm, she has helped acquire land for state protection and public use.

In Dec. 2025, Nosbush worked with Ducks Unlimited to add 151.24 acres to Two Sheds Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Jackson County. In 2024, Brittany and her Ducks Unlimited partners teamed up to add public acreage to side-by-side WMAs. The first project resulted in the expansion of Shetek Inlet WMA by 537.58 acres across Murray and Lyon counties. Right next door, this project added 580 acres to Long Lake WMA in Beltrami County.

Nosbush’s DNR career officially started in 2014. She began working as office support staff in the wildlife division. She said early on she tried to absorb as much information about the job as possible. Soon she learned the DNR needed assistance with land acquisition. She explained its not just about how to buy land, but how to know what will make good state land.

Nosbush said when the position with LAM came up she fully jumped into the roll, though she did not have a background in real estate, but she quickly learned.

Nosbush said the DNR has a lot of active land acquisition going on across Minnesota. She is only one of five people working on these types of land acquisition.

“I currently have 30 to 40 acquisition I am working on now,” she said. “I am managing them in many different stages. Some are in the survey stages, some are going through the appraisal process. There is a lot to juggle.”

Nosbush said she was surprised, but honored to receive Ducks Unlimited’s Beyond the Call award because her partnership with the organization is important and having strong connections makes it easier.

Ducks Unlimited is one of the larger organizations she works with, but she also partnered with Pheasants Forever and some smaller conservation groups.

“It always works best with a strong partnership,” she said. “Many of these parcels wouldn’t get purchased without the help of dedicated partners like Ducks Unlimited. These great working relationships are what allow me to reach my conservation goals on behalf of the DNR. We can do so much more for nature conservation together.”

Nosbush said the hardest part of her land acquisition work is solving minor problems. She said some acquisition projects go smoothly, but there are others that require lot of paperwork and cutting through red tape. Often her work requires her to wade through a chain of farm ownership contracts and licenses.

“It’s not uncommon for the lands we purchase to have been in a family for several generations,” she said. “Often, that’s the landowner’s wish: to know that the land that built their traditions, is at the center of their memories, and meant so much to their family, is now available to their neighbors to hunt, fish, or just enjoy the closeness of nature.”

Nosbush said a lot of her work is about helping people build a legacy for their land. It is the most rewarding part of the job.

“I’m happy to be a part of preserving a family’s history while safeguarding natural habitats, and, at the same time, ensuring Minnesotans can benefit from more space for recreation and nature immersion,” she said.

Outside of her work protecting public land, Nosbush enjoys visiting public lands with her family.

Last season, Nosbush’s daughter completed her firearm safety training and went duck hunting at Swan Lake WMA, for which she helped secure land.

“I’ll bring my kids to a spot where I’ve acquired land to conserve biodiversity or preserve for years of recreation, and they understand the goal of creating healthy environments or outdoor spaces for everyone,” she said. “It’s neat to watch them connect that some of these outdoor recreation activities they enjoy are made possible by the land conservation work my colleagues and I, and so many of our partners, are doing.”