June 29, 2009

Coeur D’Alene, Idaho (AP) – A state judge has imposed a lifetime hunting ban on a northern Idaho man convicted for illegally slaughtering five deer. Timothy Herbert, 32, of Athol, was also ordered to pay $12,400 in fines and sentenced to four years supervised probation. Investigators say Herbert and another man were arrested Oct. 19, […]

Santa Fe, N.M. (AP) – New Mexico veterans with service-connected disabilities will be able to get discounted hunting and fishing licenses starting next Wednesday. The Department of Game and Fish says the annual combination fishing and small-game hunting license will cost $10. It normally sells for $33. The 2009 Legislature approved the special license. The

Helena, Mont. (AP) – Montana’s Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission will make final decisions on 2009 wolf quotas at a meeting July 8 at FWP headquarters in Helena. Commissioners will also make final decisions on the 2009 deer and elk quotas outside those set biennially; the 2009 deer hunting access regulations for Marias River State

San Francisco (AP) – State wildlife officials have rejected a petition seeking protections for the mountain-dwelling American pika under the California Endangered Species Act. The California Fish and Game Commission’s decision Wednesday comes after a judge last month ordered the state to reconsider a previous denial. Researchers at the Center for Biological Diversity argued in

Pierre, S.D. (AP) – The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission plans a public hearing on plans for the next mountain lion hunting season and several others when it meets Wednesday in Pierre. GF&P staff has recommended a three-month season beginning Jan. 1, 2010 that would let hunters kill 35 lions or a subquota

Inaianapolis (AP) – Indiana hunters bagged a near-record number of birds during wild turkey season this spring. The state Department of Natural Resources says the spring harvest of 12,993 fowl was the second highest since modern turkey seasons began 40 years ago and exceeded the 2008 harvest by 789 birds. Adult gobblers represented 81 percent

Helena, Mont. (AP) – Montana wildlife officials tested about 2,000 deer, elk and moose collected during the 2008-2009 hunting season and did not detect chronic wasting disease in any of the animals tested. The fatal disease affects the nervous system of members of the deer family. Montana’s detection program tests sick and road-killed deer, elk

Billings, Mont. (AP) – Federal officials are again delaying whether to list sage grouse in 11 Western states as threatened or endangered _ leaving in limbo until at least 2010 a spate of industries that could face sweeping restrictions if the bird is protected. The chicken-sized grouse ranges from Montana to California alongside livestock grazing,