By Tim Spielman Associate Editor St. Paul – Brad Moore, DNR assistant commissioner for operations, last week delivered a sort of “stay the course” message in a memo to those staffers inventorying state forests regarding future and present trail use. He also took the opportunity to state that legislation from this year doesn’t weaken (as some opponents have charged), but…
By Joe Albert Staff Writer Brainerd, Minn. – Crow Wing County had enough of waiting for state regulation of permanent deer stands. So it passed its own ban. As of Aug. 1, construction and use of permanent deer stands is outlawed on its 103,00 acres of county lands. Crow Wing is the second county to address permanent stands; Cass County…
By Joe Albert Staff Writer Ham Lake, Minn. – A judge has put a stop to construction of a housing development that some say will destroy a dry-oak forest near the 23,000-acre Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area. District Court Judge Sharon Hall last Tuesday issued a temporary injunction at the request of the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy that will…
Sept. 3 – Early goose hunting season begins. Categories: Hunting News
By Tim Spielman Associate Editor Ely, Minn. — One-thousand-three-hundred acres and $1.8 million dollars after lightning started a forest fire in northern Minnesota, officials on Tuesday said the fire was about 45 percent contained. And future weather promised more good than bad for firefighters. Dewey Hanson, of the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center, said this week the end to a fire…
By Joe Albert Staff Writer Maple Grove, Minn. — Hoping to curb the trend of wetland and grassland losses nationwide, conservation group leaders met Tuesday with U.S. Rep. Mark Kennedy, R-Minnesota, in an effort to double the amount of money spent each year on habitat. Kennedy said he would author a bill in Congress to revive a program, the Wetlands…
By Joe Albert Staff Writer Frank Schneider Jr. was the Outdoor News 2001 Man of the Year St. Paul — A conservation giant in Minnesota has died. Frank Schneider Jr. passed away on Monday, Aug. 8 at 4:45 p.m. of a brain tumor. He was 86, and diagnosed in late May with inoperable brain cancer. “It’s a great loss for…
By Tim Spielman Associate Editor Ely, Minn. — A fire in the Boundary Waters Area Canoe Wilderness of northeastern Minnesota continued to burn near the Canadian border Tuesday, when a light rain in the morning did little but allow firefighters to change their approach. More rain was possible Tuesday night. “Over the fire, the amount of rain was just over…
By Tim Spielman Associate Editor Washington — A federal program that supplies matching grant dollars for projects that benefit wetlands and associated uplands received a boost recently when Congress approved an increase in funding of about $2 million for next year. The increase in North American Wetlands Conservation Act funding raises to $40 million the appropriation. Other sources typically double…
By Tim Spielman Associate Editor St. Paul – Duck hunters in Minnesota will face tighter restrictions than waterfowlers in other Mississippi Flyway states when the season opens Oct. 1. Minnesota DNR officials this week announced a season with a bag limit lighter than the federal frameworks would allow – four instead of six ducks, including just one hen mallard. The…
By Joe Albert Staff Writer Plymouth, Minn. — A group with a cloud over its head the past two years, the Minnesota Waterfowl Association, has a new lease on life. The 39-year-old conservation group will stay in business after delegates learned Saturday its $150,000 goal had been reached and voted unanimously to keep it running. “Everybody was pleasantly surprised,” said…
By Tim Spielman Associate Editor Bemidji, Minn. — Federal officials this week recommended a liberal season – 60 days and six ducks in the Mississippi Flyway, which includes Minnesota – for all U.S. flyways. But state officials say this time around, they won’t be so quick to accept the offer. “There’s serious consideration in the agency (DNR) that maybe we…
New Brighton, Minn. (AP) — A federally protected bird of prey has made its nest atop a light pole at Irondale High School’s football field. And because it’s against the law to disturb an osprey, school officials are waiting to see whether school activities can go on as scheduled. If not, the completion of an artificial turf project may have…
By Tim Spielman Associate Editor Bemidji, Minn. – Federal officials this week recommended a liberal season – 60 days and six ducks in the Mississippi Flyway, which includes Minnesota – for all U.S. flyways. But state officials say this time around, they won’t be so quick to accept the offer. “There’s serious consideration in the agency (DNR) that maybe we…
By Joe Albert Staff Writer St. Paul – Minnesota dove hunters last fall, in their first season in nearly 60 years, shot about 107,000 birds, though the number of hunters who pursued them was below early estimates. The DNR estimated up to 50,000 people might hunt doves; about 14,000 hunters did, according to data released by the U.S. Fish and…
By Joe Albert Staff Writer Plymouth, Minn. – A group with a cloud over its head the past two years, the Minnesota Waterfowl Association, has a new lease on life. The 39-year-old conservation group will stay in business after delegates learned Saturday its $150,000 goal had been reached and voted unanimously to keep it running. “Everybody was pleasantly surprised,” said…
New Brighton, Minn. (AP) – A federally protected bird of prey has made its nest atop a light pole at Irondale High School’s football field. And because it’s against the law to disturb an osprey, school officials are waiting to see whether school activities can go on as scheduled. If not, the completion of an artificial turf project may have…
By Tim Spielman Associate Editor St. Paul – A lake in a state wildlife management area – accidentally drained following ditch maintenance by the Rice Creek Watershed District – will be plugged with an earthen structure that could perhaps make the lake a viable option for duck hunting this fall. According to a press release from the DNR, which manages…
By Frederic J. Frommer Associated Press Washington (AP) – Federal officials are creating a new plan for protecting the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge after the original proposal prompted a backlash over restrictions on hunting, camping and other uses. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which held 17 hearings and eight workshops up and down the river since announcing…
By Tim Spielman Associate Editor St. Paul – The discovery of bovine tuberculosis in a cattle herd in northwestern Minnesota has prompted the state DNR to announce deer testing will take place in Roseau County this fall to see if area whitetails contracted the respiratory disease. Mike DonCarlos, DNR wildlife program manager, said the exact area and the target number…
By Joe Albert Staff Writer St. Paul – Next year’s bonding bill – assuming it’s passed on time, and if the DNR and Board of Water and Soil Resources get what they’ve proposed – will be a boon to sportsmen. Potential highlights include: $20 million for the acquisition of wildlife management areas; $30.15 million for RIM Reserve and a second…
By Tim Spielman Associate Editor St. Paul – Preliminary harvest reports from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service support what Minnesota duck hunters suspected since their last trip to the duck blind: The 2004 duck season was one that often lacked one important element – ducks. State hunters last year killed about 683,000 ducks, compared to about 884,000 in 2003,…
Minneapolis (AP) – As the metro area continues efforts to control its Canada goose population, one of the most effective goose relocation efforts may be running out of places to send unwanted goslings. The DNR’s urban goose management program collects Canada geese from more than 50 metro cities and county parks. Jim Cooper, a retired University of Minnesota professor who…
By Joe Albert Staff Writer St. Paul – Their numbers may not be on the rise, but woodcock enthusiasts nonetheless can take comfort in the fact that the birds’ population apparently is stable. For the second year in a row, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service trend estimates show two separate woodcock populations – Eastern and Central regions – that are…
By Tim Spielmant Associate Editor Bemidji, Minn. – Goose hunters in western Minnesota, often limited by special protections for Eastern Prairie Population Canada geese, which migrate through the area, may have fewer limitations this fall. DNR waterfowl specialist Steve Cordts recently got a first-hand look at EPP production in Canada, and said things are looking up for the migrants. Cordts,…
