In addition to the people and parties seeking your support on Nov. 5, there’s a constitutional amendment that this outdoors scribe considers nonpartisan. If it passes, Amendment 1 would extend dedication of 40% of state lottery proceeds to the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund for 25 years. Here’s exactly how it will read on your ballot.
Some of North America’s most effective conservation advocates rarely see their name quoted in the pages of Outdoor News. They’re the men and women who criss-cross the continent, appealing to donors, pitching their mission to sporting clubs, or requesting 90 seconds of a key politician’s time.
They eschew the limelight while quietly plugging away on their laptops in the dark corner of an airport while awaiting a red-eye, or negotiating an endorsement via cell phone while catching an Uber ride. Hailing originally from a small town in southern Minnesota, Scott Hed is one of those people, and he might be the most effective conservation advocate you’ve never heard of.
A quick chat with Scott Hed, a man front and center in battle over Alaska’s Bristol Bay Read More »
Overall, continental duck numbers are down from historic highs (highs that many waterfowlers consider paper ducks) although they showed a 5% increase from 2023. Wigeon and green-winged teal showed the biggest increases from last year.
Outdoor Insights: Mallard trends disturbing at best in Mississippi Flyway Read More »
In mid-July, I wrote in this space about a federal proposal to cull barred owls in the Pacific Northwest in the name of saving spotted owls. Last Wednesday, Aug. 28, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized its plan to kill up to 450,000 barred owls during next three decades in several western states.
Minnesota’s wild rice harvest season officially opened Aug. 15, but late ripening of 2024’s thin crop means actual harvest only began last week.
Blame it on high water during a critical time in the aquatic plant’s natural development, but 2024 might just be one of the worst years ever for wild rice. Ann Geisen, wildlife lake specialist for the Minnesota DNR’s shallow lakes program, monitors wild rice reports from central Minnesota. She described the status of the state’s wild rice crop as poor and said harvesting has been challenging for ricers thus far.
Is 2024 the worst year ever for Minnesota wild rice? Read More »
More than 50 volunteers tackled a border country landscape last Saturday in the name of improving access to state public lands. The project unfolded on the 42.16-acre Pine Island Wildlife Management Area, which exists on an island in the eastern portion of Lake Vermilion in St. Louis County.
Coordinating with the Minnesota DNR’s Tower-area office, Minnesota-based Sportsmen For the Boundary Waters has adopted the WMA for the next two years.
Volunteers improve remote Wildlife Management Area on Minnesota’s Lake Vermilion Read More »
Has the DNR taken a step toward addressing the great 21st Century live-sonar fishing debate?
Per an agency press release in the Aug. 9 edition of Outdoor News, the DNR is requesting public input on several proposed experimental and special fishing regulations for the 2025 fishing season. Among them is a proposal to lower the crappie limit to five daily on seven lakes in Otter Tail County and one in Lac qui Parle County.
Elsewhere in this edition of Outdoor News, you’ll see details on a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pilot program that will pay hunters who choose not to use lead ammo on seven national wildlife refuges.
The USFWS last month confirmed it’s implementing the program this fall “to test voluntary, incentive-based efforts to increase the use of lead-free ammo by hunters on USFWS lands.” The plan doesn’t include any Minnesota refuges, but it does have a property near and dear to my heart just across the Mississippi River.
When the Minnesota Outdoor Heritage Alliance disbanded during the summer of 2023, it left a void for St. Paul advocacy among outdoors organizations and conservation clubs. The umbrella group had represented dozens of organizations on statewide public policy matters since its founding in 1994. Among its victories, MOHA led the charge in passing Amendment 2, the so-called Right to Hunt and Fish ballot initiative in 1998, and it also played a key role in passing the Legacy Amendment sales tax dedication a decade later.
Outdoor Insights: A new coalition for outdoors advocacy forming in Minnesota? Read More »
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