Hello Members, 

At the fall District 5 meeting I was re-elected as the MTA District 5 Director.  Pete Jonas was re-elected as a Co-Director and Dan Greenwald was elected as Co-Director.  I want to thank Dan Parsons for his service as Co-Director for the past two years.  We had about 20 members attend the meeting.  We had a good discussion, meal, and raised some money for the MTA general fund. Pete Jonas and I held a trappers education field day at Sibley State Park in September and certified 6 youth.  The class was smaller than normal, but that seems to be the trend this year talking to some other instructors. Pete Jonas, Andy Akerson, and I had a MTA booth at Prairie Pothole Day by New London in September.  We sold tanned fur, gave out coloring books to youth, and talked to a lot of people about the importance of trapping.  The group sponsoring the event is the Prairie Pothole Chapter of Ducks Unlimited, so a great group to talk about nest raider control with. I did a trapping talk to the Outdoor Activities class at the Atwater Grove City High School in October.  The teacher is going to have her Wildlife Management Class do the MTA on-line Trappers Education Course and test out individually.  Then she would like me to do a Field Day for this class next spring to get them all certified.  It’s great to see proactive teachers out there. The 2026 Summer Convention will be at the Morrison County Fairgrounds in Little Falls.  A first time change is the convention, located in District 4, will be hosted by District 2 and 6.  This is in response to fewer districts being able to host because of convention guideline requirements or cost increases of fairgrounds. Reminder of the Winter Meeting in Brainerd on January 17th and the Legal Defense Banquet that night. We are planning on having our District 5 Winter Meeting on February 14th, 2026 at Johnson Fur in Willmar

I hope everybody is having a safe and successful trapping season!

Matt

District 5 Co-Director Supplemental

On September 20, 2025, District 5 had their fall meeting. Director Matt Akerson explained information to the group about recent issues that involve District 5. During the meeting I was elected as Co-Director for District 5. I am looking forward to working with Director Akerson, Co-Director Pete Jonas and the rest of the MTA board. In the Spring of 2025 I was appointed as the NTA Director for Minnesota. You may have spoken to me at the NTA booth at the 2025 summer MTA Convention. I am quite passionate about working with the great group of people at the MTA and the NTA to get more people involved in both organizations and getting more memberships. I retired in the fall of 2024, have a small hoby farm and enjoy hunting, fishing, trapping, and the outdoors. I helped with the MTA booth at the Game Fair in 2025. I plan on having a booth or table for the NTA at the winter MTA meeting in Baxter, MN. Please stop by and say hello. I have several other ideas that I hope to work on for the MTA and NTA in 2026. As trappers we need to stay alert, engaged, and committed to keeping all of our rights to trap and enjoy the outdoors.

Dan Greenwald