Family-Outdoors

The FBI recently honored three Oklahoma game wardens for their assistance in a priority law enforcement The FBI honored three Oklahoma game wardens for their assistance  in a priority operation in 2011. From left are Col. Robert Fleenor, chief  of law enforcement with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation;  Lt. Frank Huebert, warden stationed in Major County; Lt. Mark Walker,  warden stationed in Blaine County; Ben Bickerstaff, warden stationed  in Alfalfa County; and James E. Finch, FBI special agent in charg e of the Oklahoma City FBI office. (ODWC Photo) operation that took place in northwestern Oklahoma two years ago.    "It's always nice to know that there are wardens out who know the area and are ready to assist, and this was important that night," said James E. Finch, special agent in charge of the Oklahoma City FBI office.    Finch honored the three wardens during the Aug. 5 meeting of the Oklahoma Wildlife Commis...

What can 30 years of research and monitoring on Maine seabirds teach us? That the marine environment is changing fast. That ocean birds may be failing to adapt. That the scope of few marine threats - from ocean warming and offshore energy development to competition from commercial fisheries - could have been foreseen when Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge< http://www.fws.gov/ northeast/mainecoastal/ >staff began studying the birds in the early '80s. The refuge, made up of more than 50 islands in the Gulf of Maine, uses data from research and monitoring to manage Maine seabird colonies and try to stem the birds' decline. Consider the Arctic tern. Its 36,000-plus mile-per-year migration from its wintering grounds in Antarctica to its Maine breeding grounds is the world's longest; the little bird makes the equivalent of three round trips to the moon in its 30-year lifetime. Small light-sensing units called geolocators have been used to document the d...

Image via Wikipedia This workshop will explore physical, chemical and behavioral adaptations animals have made in order to survive the winter on Feb. 25 in the Natural Resources Education Center at  Fort Harrison  State Park. Featured activities will come from Below Zero, a guide published by the Canadian Wildlife Federation. Participants will receive a copy. The workshop will run from 1-5 p.m. There is a $20 workshop fee. Space is limited to 20 participants. Register before Feb. 17 by  email  or by calling  (317) 562-1338 . Related articles Becoming an Outdoors-Woman Winter Workshops (family-outdoors.blogspot.com) Gooseberry Falls State Park [Minnesota] hosts snowshoe-lacing workshop on Jan. 21-22 (family-outdoors.blogspot.com)