GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. _ There was good news last week with the announcement that the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association will continue its Hides for Habitat program this fall.
The popular program was in jeopardy after recent news that China was imposing a 25 percent tariff on all imported hides and no longer would allow deer hides to be tanned in the country.
The news came too late for tanneries to create new facilities in other countries such as Vietnam.
Coupled with an oversupply of hides on the market, prices have plummeted. That led MDHA to issue a news release Oct. 10 saying the program would go on hiatus for this year.
That changed early the next day, when MDHA reached an 11th-hour agreement with a Wisconsin buyer to purchase salted hides for a flat rate of $3.50 per hide. That's less than half what MDHA got for hides last year, but it's far better than the buyer's initial offer of $3 for salted, 8-foot-square hides in perfect condition and $1 a hide for everything else, said Craig Engwall, executive director of the Grand Rapids, Minn.-based MDHA.
Deer large enough to yield 8-foot-square hides aren't very common, after all.
As I reported in a story that ran Oct. 10, MDHA officials and the buyer both agreed that even a one-year hiatus could put the Hides for Program at risk in the long-term. That would have been unfortunate because the program has collected 865,000 hides and raised nearly $5.25 million for habitat projects across the state in its 32-year history, Engwall said.
"Things aren't great in terms of prices, (but the buyer) realized and we realized that if we really lose this program, even for a year, it could affect it long-term," Engwall said in the story. "He raised his prices to us, so we'll go forward with the program."
As part of the program, MDHA chapters across Minnesota set up collection boxes for hunters to drop off deer hides. Chapter members then collect and salt the hides for sale to a buyer, who in turn sells the hides to markets overseas to be tanned for products such as leather gloves.
Proceeds from sale of the hides goes toward habitat projects across the state. Here in the Red River Valley, North Dakota deer hunters also contribute, dropping off hides at collection boxes in border communities such as East Grand Forks, Minn. Hides that otherwise might go to waste then are put to good use.
The decision to continue Hides for Habitat was especially welcome in Thief River Falls, Minn., which routinely collects more than 4,000 hides annually and is the flagship chapter for the program. Every Wednesday night throughout the campaign, it's not uncommon for 45 to 50 members to work on salting hides, said Dana Klos, a chapter member who serves on MDHA's habitat committee. Falls Radiator in Thief River Falls provides a heated place for salting the hides, Klos said, and the chapter even has a refrigerated truck to ensure hides don't spoil.
"All the pegs are in the right place, and things work well," he said. "We can handle 1,000 hides a week if that's what it takes. Some chapters can't do 200 in a season."
The lower price for hides means the chapter won't have the funds to purchase and distribute food plot seed for chapter members next spring, Klos says, but at least the operation will continue this fall with the hope that prices will improve.
The chapter already has spent more than $3,000 on salt for this year's hide program, Klos says. That's a big expense, even for an active group such as the Thief River Falls chapter.
"Everybody's pitching in to make this continue and work," Klos said. "It's our calling card, the Hides for Habitat program. It's thought of as the premium program we've ever organized, and we don't want to lose that."
