Anderson: After nearly 60 years on outdoors beat, Ron Schara remains ‘Minnesota Bound’

Ron Schara was hired by the Minneapolis Tribune in 1967 to pen that newspaper’s outdoors column. He was making $6,000 a year writing for the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department, and the Tribune offered him twice that amount.

“I took it,” Schara said. “Part of my interview was over lunch with the sports editor, Larry Batson, at the Little Wagon, the watering hole for the Tribune’s scribes at the time. Larry had a drink, so I did, too. The bartender was a fisherman, and Larry had him quiz me to see if I knew what I was talking about. I guess I passed the test.”

Schara wrote a Tribune — later Star Tribune — column full time until 1995, when he switched to broadcasting. This year, he and his much honored “Minnesota Bound” TV staff are celebrating 30 years on the air, an industry rarity, especially for outdoors shows.

Below, Schara discusses changes he’s seen to Minnesota fish, wildlife and resource management during his nearly 60 years on the outdoors beat. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

I can remember when Earth Day started in 1970. It was a big deal, then it faded. Nevertheless, the environment is major news today, and for good reason. Years ago we never heard about nitrates and other farm chemicals in our water. These and other concerns seem never-ending, and our politicians and policymakers should be more aware of them and active in the public’s behalf.

Started in 1982, Game Fair (the outdoor festival held annually in Ramsey) has grown to be a huge attraction each August that draws up to 50,000 outdoors enthusiasts. A lot of young people attend, which would seem to contradict the belief that hunting and fishing are attracting fewer kids. Perhaps that’s true. But the allure of the outdoors among Minnesotans remains strong.

For decades, hunters and other conservationists have pushed for saving wetlands. Our failures in that regard are really costing us — in flood control, clean water and wetland wildlife habitat. The Lessard-Sams Council [which recommends millions of Legacy dollars each year to be spent for wetlands protection and fish, game and wildlife habitat] has spent millions of dollars trying to recover these losses. But it’s a tough battle. Too many wetlands have been drained and gone.

Before about 1980, bears were like coyotes are today — unprotected. Kids used to go to dumps and shoot them with .22s. Ironically, it was an anti-hunting group that advocated for making Minnesota black bears game animals, so they could be hunted and in the process be afforded the respect and protection they deserve. As a result, bears are thriving, and more importantly, respected. Managing wildlife through emotion never has worked, and never will.

The bear example could apply to Minnesota wolves, but I’m not sure it ever will. If wolves were managed the same way other game species are managed in Minnesota, respect for them would grow among people who now have animosity toward them. If wolf management was science-based, we’d learn we can hunt wolves and still have them.

Concerns about aquatic invasive species were unheard of when I landed in Minnesota. Eurasian watermilfoil? Spiny waterfleas? None are good. But I worry that Lake Minnetonka, as just one example, is being flooded with chemicals by homeowners and others, and this “cure” might be worse than the problem.

Our politicians don’t recognize the huge economic driver walleyes and other game fish are to Minnesota, and that constant reinvestment is needed to keep this resource in prime condition. Are we stocking enough walleyes to keep up? Enough of the right kind of walleyes, namely fingerlings? I’m not sure we are.

Today’s concern over forward-facing sonar and similar gadgets reminds me of efforts a half-century ago to ban the Green Box, the first “fish finder.” I don’t know where electronic advancements are headed, or how the [Department of Natural Resources] will respond, if it does, to protect fish. Particularly vulnerable are muskies and crappies, which can be easy targets for anglers using the latest electronics.

Minnesota still hasn’t learned this lesson. Anglers in the northeast can keep one northern over 40 inches! Why? Those fish should be released.

Most DNR employees are dedicated to the resources they manage. But they’re more disconnected from the public than ever. Like other reporters, I used to just walk into DNR headquarters, and if I saw the wildlife chief, we’d sit down and chat, and I’d get a feel for the issues of the day. No more. The place is like a fortress. You don’t get past the lobby without an appointment. The loss of public access to the DNR, and the DNR’s access to the public, is a big deal.

Years ago, hunters talked about foxes and skunks and other predators being the reason we had so few pheasants. We should have been more aware of disappearing grasslands and other habitat. As we’ve seen, if there’s upland habitat, predators become a minor issue.

The DNR released its August roadside survey last week, and pheasants are up 50%, which is great. Yet the same survey showed some 90% of our jackrabbits are gone, due to habitat loss. When they were plentiful, they could damage crops, and they were hunted. Now they’re nearly extinct. Why are we still hunting them?

Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever are adding members. But I’m less confident local sportsmen’s, or trapshooting, clubs are keeping up. Today’s younger generations might not see these clubs as places to gather in the same way we did. It’s our loss, and wildlife’s loss, if they don’t.