Family-Outdoors

MADISON – It will take some last minute planning, but there is still time to put together your 2013  Learn to Hunt  turkey events. Keith Warnke, Department of Natural Resources Hunting and Shooting Sports Coordinator, says that focusing on providing Learn to Hunt opportunities for interested novices who would not otherwise have the chance to explore hunting is key to successfully preserving our conservation heritage. “Many adults who did not come from hunting families are interested in hunting, but don’t know how to get started,” said Warnke. “Learn to Hunt events are a great way for them to learn in a controlled environment with an experienced mentor.” “The composition of Learn to Hunt events has continued to evolve, with more females and adults participating in recent years,” Warnke said. “Compared to 2011, last year’s number of females participating in Learn to Hunt events increased by 53 percent.” Learn to Hunt events may be scheduled before, during or after the ...

Snowmobile driving! (Photo credit: psychopyko ) Snowmobile trails across South Dakota welcomed a mid-winter blizzard, and snowmobilers are taking full advantage of the conditions while they can. “Trails are in excellent condition in northeastern South Dakota, where some areas received up to 16 inches of snow,” said State Trails Program Specialist Tony Schmitt of the Department of Game, Fish and Parks. “Trails near Sisseton, Webster, Milbank and Aberdeen received a significant amount of snow and are in excellent condition. Trails near Watertown, Brookings and west to Huron didn’t receive as much snow, but are still in great condition.” Black Hills Trails are seeing some better conditions after a recent warm spell. “We had a few weeks where many trails had minimal coverage due to the warm weather, but cooler temperatures and the recent snowfall have improved trail conditions just in time for President’s Day Weekend,” said Shannon Percy, Black Hills Trails District Park ...

Elementary, middle and high school teachers are encouraged to have their students participate in the annual Endangered Species Day Youth Art Contest, an integral part of the eighth annual national Endangered Species Day, celebrated on May 17, 2013. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and numerous conservation organizations will observe Endangered Species Day to recognize conservation efforts underway across the nation aimed at helping America’s imperiled species. This year also commemorates the 40th Anniversary of the Endangered Species Act. Started in 2006 by the United States Congress, Endangered Species Day is a celebration of the nation’s rarest plant and animal species. The Youth Art Contest provides students from kindergarten to high school with an opportunity to learn about threatened and endangered species and express their knowledge and support through artwork. Young artists who are home schooled and participate in youth groups are also eligible to submit their art. Previous wi...

As we celebrate conservation successes during the Endangered Species Act’s 40th anniversary year, Illinois may not be the place one would expect to find unusual endangered species, one-of-a-kind ecosystems or Cinderella conservation success stories. Yet, all these are here in Illinois where endangered plants and animals are found in unexpected, unique and interesting places. Caves, in Illinois? Unknown to many, Illinois has a small karst region characterized by numerous surface sinkholes and underlying caves. The Salem Plateau karst region is found in two western Illinois counties near St. Louis. Endemic to the cave streams that flow underground through this region is the endangered Illinois cave amphipod, a small freshwater crustacean. Sinkhole density in the Salem Plateau is as high as 230 sinkholes per square mile. Joints and fractures in the subsurface allow surface water to flow rapidly into caves that the amphipod inhabits. There is an intimate relationship between the Il...

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is seeking citizen input on creating limited opportunities for open-water hunting for waterfowl as well as a number of other topics at annual public input meetings.   The first in the series of statewide meetings will be from 7-9 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 26, at the Rolf Olsen Community Center, 806 W. Kathio St., in Onamia. Aside from open-water duck hunting, the DNR is seeking input on the following proposals: Allowing Canada goose hunting in August to alleviate depredation of agricultural fields in west central Minnesota. Opening the second portion of the state’s 124-day crow season later in the year. Opening prairie chicken hunting season earlier in October than the current season. Allowing youth age 17 and younger to hunt during all spring turkey seasons with a limit of one. Youth would not be required to select a permit area. A separate public input process will be conducted to address deer antler point restrict...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia) AKRON, OH – Phil Hillman from the ODNR Division of Wildlife will cover Ohio’s steelhead  program and discuss basic steelhead fishing techniques in a Wednesday, March 6th seminar  from 7 p.m. -9 p.m. The location of the seminar is Wildlife District Three headquarters, 912  Portage Lakes Drive, Akron.  While the seminar is free, pre-registration is required as spaces are limited. Please call Ken  Fry, Division of Wildlife, at (330) 245-3030 to pre-register or if you have questions. 

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) A restoration of historic prairie and oak savanna habitat is set to begin at Sakatah Lake State Park in Waterville this month, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said. The landscape surrounding the park was originally a mosaic of prairies, savannas, oak woodlands and wetlands, said Molly Tranel Nelson, DNR regional resource specialist. This changed over time due to extensive agriculture, population growth, a lack of natural fire and the disappearance of large grazers such as bison and elk. “Our goal is to return a portion of the park to what it may have looked like 150 years ago,” Tranel Nelson said. A management plan for the natural and cultural resources in the park, developed in 2007, will guide the project. The plan used past data, photos and other records to determine the historic ecology of the park. It also explored the most appropriate areas of the park to be restored. The project meets management goals of the plan b...

Minnesota youth age 11 to 17 need to apply by March 1 to take part in a special adult mentored fly-fishing weekend near Spring Valley, Minn., May 3-5. Twenty youth and their guardians will team up with experienced fly-fishing mentors to learn the basics of fly fishing and fish for trout together. Participants will also try their hand at tying flies, learn methods for safely cleaning and cooking fish, and discover how anglers catch more fish when they understand fish habits and habitat. There will also be time for fish tales and a campfire. The youth and guardian should have an interest in fly fishing, but little or no experience. The event is sponsored by MinnAqua, a statewide educational program through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), designed to connect youth and families to Minnesota’s waters through fishing. The fly-fishing weekend will be held at Good Earth Village. Activities begin after check-in Friday evening and wrap up by 2 p.m. on Sunday. L...

 In November, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a "threatened" listing for the lesser prairie chicken, an upland bird native to western and northwest Oklahoma. If the proposal advances to a final listing, then additional federal regulations and oversight can apply to landowners in the bird's native range that may affect what happens on their property or how it may be used.             A federal ruling is expected by the end of September 2013, and landowners in certain western and northwest Oklahoma counties may be eligible for free participation in an agreement that will protect what they can do on their land if the bird is listed. The newly created agreement is called the Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances Program (CCAA). Landowners with approved management plans in place with the CCAA before a final listing decision is made will have the guarantee of assurances against certain liabilities and feder...

BLOOMINGTON, MINN.  Tom Melius, Regional Director of the Midwest Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service welcomed a host of attendees to the 16th annual Minnesota Waterfowl Symposium on February 2 at the Mall of America Ramada in Bloomington, Minn.  The event was sponsored in part by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in partnership with the Minnesota Waterfowl Association and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. After thanking the organizers, greeting dignitaries and acknowledging Hall of Fame honorees, Melius reminded the attendees of the Service’s Federal Duck Stamp Program and its significant contribution as a vital wetland conservation tool.  The wood duck themed conference prompted Melius to highlight the wood duck’s significance to the region and hunters. “Consistently in the top three for ducks harvested in Minnesota each year,” he said, “wood ducks have inspired many conservation efforts throughout the state.”   I...

Federal and state agents marked the closure of a long-running bear poaching case in Wisconsin this week, as defendants in the case were sentenced. The heart of the case involved illegal guiding and other deceptive practices which were documented over the course of the investigation. After a multi-year investigation, the case known as  Operation Treed  has come to a close, thanks to investigators  from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Photo by Courtney Celley/USFWS. United States Attorney James L. Santelle for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced January 29, 2013 that John J. Kellogg (age: 48) of Gillett, Christopher Halfmann (age: 41) of Green Bay, Michael Renken (age: 53) of Merrill, and Mark Barlament (age: 53) of Mint Hill, North Carolina, were convicted of violations of the Lacey Act, Title 16, United States Code, Sections 3372(a)(2) and (4) and 3373(d)(1)(B). All of the defendants entered guilty pl...

With another season of duck hunting now in the books, many of the state's waterfowl hunters have reported a season of overall fewer ducks and geese, and limited to mixed hunting success.             Pre-season surveys in the northern United States and Canada indicated last spring's duck population was at an all-time high of 48.6 million birds. But the number of ducks and geese in Oklahoma during the first week of January appeared to be lower compared to the same period in 2012, said state Wildlife Department personnel who participated in the annual Mid-Winter Waterfowl Population Survey conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. However, the reason for the lackluster season was not necessarily due to the overall bird population.             "This year, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma seem to be in the worst shape, as far as habitat for waterfowl," said Terry Liddick of...

Proposed Rule would not affect recreation, timber harvest or other activities if species is listed as threatened DENVER--The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announced today, in response to a court-ordered deadline, that it is seeking information from the scientific community and the public on a proposal to protect the North American wolverine as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Service is also seeking comment on two proposed special rules designed to facilitate management and recovery of the species should it receive protection. An estimated 250 to 300 wolverines now occur in the lower 48 states, where the species has rebounded after broad-scale predator trapping and poisoning programs led to its near extinction in the early 1900s. This was in part due to the states protecting the species from unregulated trapping. Extensive climate modeling indicates that the wolverine’s snowpack habitat will be greatly reduced and fragmented in the coming ...