MINNEAPOLIS — State officials are ready to outline a plan to reverse a long decline in Minnesota’s pheasant population.

Gov. Mark Dayton convened hunters, farmers and wildlife experts late last year to tackle the state’s sagging pheasant population. The 2015 pheasant index is 39 percent below the 10-year average and 59 percent below the long-term average.

Dayton and Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Landwehr were expected to announce an action plan this afternoon in Nicollet.

At the root of the pheasant decline is a swift drop in nesting habitat, lost to cropland and development.

More than 50,000 hunters are expected to take part in Minnesota’s 2015 pheasant season starting Oct. 10.