Global Search

sports

Doug Smith

Even if the fish aren’t biting, the ducks aren’t flying and the pheasants aren’t flushing, Doug Smith says any day spent outdoors is a good day. A Minnesota native, he’s been covering the outdoors for the Star Tribune since 1995. He considers walleyes fried over a campfire to be gourmet cuisine.

See nesting bald eagles on video cam

Posted by: Doug Smith Updated: February 7, 2013 - 11:36 AM

  • share

    email

 
The DNR is featuring a live video feed of a nesting pair of bald eagles on its website in an effort to get young people and families excited about the outdoors.
 
The eagles can be seen at  www.eaglecam.dnr.state.mn.us.
 
 A video camera was installed above the nest late last year with help from an Xcel Energy crew with a boom truck, and Floyd Security. Located in the Twin Cities metro area, the eagle nest already contains three eggs that are expected to hatch sometime in early to mid-February. The DNR is not disclosing the exact location of the nest to prevent it from drawing crowds that might disrupt the eagles.
 
“Unlike a lot of major metropolitan areas, the Twin Cities still has some pretty spectacular natural areas where wildlife such as eagles can flourish,” the DNR’s Keith Parker said in a news release. “We’re hoping that people will get excited watching this eagle family and get out to one of our state, county or city parks to experience nature first-hand.”
 
The eagle camera was paid for by DNR’s Nongame Wildlife program, which is largely funded by donations, especially those made when Minnesotans file their state income and property taxes. Lines on the Minnesota income tax form and property tax form, marked with a drawing of a loon, give taxpayers the option to donate to the program, a feature often referred to as the “chickadee check-off.”
 
For information on the Nongame Wildlife program, see www.startribune.com/a2055.
 
 

Spring turkey license lottery results are in

Posted by: Doug Smith Updated: February 6, 2013 - 1:07 PM

  • share

    email

The Minnesota spring turkey lottery results are in. If you applied for a license, you can go to the DNR website to see if you were selected. Here's the link: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/hunting/turkey/index.html

No, I didn't get drawn this year. But I'll buy an over-the-counter license for later in May, and I'll be hunting Wisconsin, too.

Meanwhile, it's not too late for first-time youth hunters and women hunters to apply for mentored turkey hunts this spring. Application deadline is Feb. 19. For more, see www.mndnr.gov/discover.

 

 

 

 

Moose population drops dramatically; hunting season closed

Posted by: Doug Smith Updated: February 6, 2013 - 11:05 AM

  • share

    email

There’s more bad news for Minnesota moose.
A recently completed DNR aerial survey of moose in northeastern Minnesota indicates the rate of population decline has accelerated dramatically.
The DNR announced Wednesday that the northeast population declined 35 percent from last year. Since 2010, the moose population has declined 52 percent.
In response to the survey results, the DNR will not open a 2013 state moose hunting season or consider opening future seasons unless the population recovers.
“The state’s moose population has been in decline for years but never at the precipitous rate documented this winter,” said Tom Landwehr, DNR commissioner, in a news release. “This is further and definitive evidence the population is not healthy. It reaffirms the conservation community’s need to better understand why this iconic species of the north is disappearing from our state.”
Here’s more from the news release:
Landwehr stressed the state’s limited hunts are not the cause of the population decline.
“Yet taking this action is reasonable and responsible in light of latest data and an uncertain future,” Landwehr said
Based on the aerial survey conducted in January, the new population estimate is 2,760 animals, down from 4,230 in 2012. The population estimate was as high as 8,840 as recently as 2006.
Completed in 2011, the DNR’s moose management and research plan established biological and management thresholds for closing the season.
While those thresholds have not been met, DNR managers did not anticipate such a precipitous decline in the overall moose population when the thresholds were established.
“It’s now prudent to control every source of mortality we can as we seek to understand causes of population decline,’’ said Landwehr, explaining the rationale for closing the season.
To help solve why moose are rapidly dying, the DNR is leading the largest and most high-tech multi-partner moose research effort ever initiated.
Starting in January, wildlife researchers began fitting 100 moose in northeastern Minnesota with GPS tracking and data collection collars. This multi-year research project will investigate the causes of adult moose mortality, calf mortality, calf survival, moose use of existing habitat and habitat quality. To date, 92 collars have been placed on moose in the Grand Marais, Ely and Two Harbors areas.

Lake Mille Lacs walleye quota cut in half for 2013

Posted by: Doug Smith Updated: January 28, 2013 - 1:07 PM

  • share

    email

Spurred by concerns over a falling walleye population, state and tribal officials have cut in half the safe harvest level for Lake Mille Lacs for 2013.

That almost certainly means much more restrictive walleye regulations for anglers next spring.

“We want to be very cautious,’’ said Tom Jones, Department of Natural Resources large lake specialist. “We are definitely in a spot we’ve never been before.’’

The total walleye harvest for the lake, the most popular walleye fishery in the state, is being trimmed from 500,000 pounds last year to 250,000 pounds this year. The quota for anglers will be 178,750 pounds, and for Chippewa band members 71,250 pounds— both half their 2012 quotas.

Officials aren’t sure why the walleye population, especially the smaller male fish, is declining. Biologists suspect predation by increased numbers of smallmouth bass, northerns and larger walleyes might be one factor.

Dayton appoints two new members to Heritage Council

Posted by: Doug Smith Updated: January 24, 2013 - 4:45 PM

  • share

    email

Sue Olson of Austin and Elizabeth "Betty" Wilkens of Mora have been appointed to the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council (LSOHC) by Gov. Mark Dayton.
 
Wilkens is a landowner, retired educator and long-time volunteer for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. She teaches bowhunter and firearms safety, facilitates outdoor education programs for women, and serves on the state Fisheries Citizen Oversight Committee. She is a township supervisor and supervisor of Kanabec County Soil and Water Conservation District. Wilkens is also a member of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's citizen stream monitoring program.

"Betty is the consummate conservationist," said DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr. "She and husband Dan have preserved a beautiful piece of property near McGrath that they use for teaching women and children about the outdoors and hunting. She's very active in the conservation community and was honored last year by "Outdoor News" as the "Outdoorswoman of the Year," a testament to her impact."
 
She replaces Ryan Bronson on the council
 
Olson is manager of the Cedar River Watershed District Board of Managers, president of Mower County Pheasants Forever and a DNR volunteer firearms instructor. She is former president of the Oak Grove Gun Club and former vice president of the Cedar Valley Conservation Club. She is a member of the Workers Compensation Advisory Board since 2007, reappointed by Gov. Dayton in 2012. Olson is a senior attorney at Hormel Foods Corp.
 
"Susan is a life-long outdoorswoman who is very involved in the Austin area with conservation projects," Landwehr said. "She knows what it takes to put conservation on the ground in agricultural Minnesota, and as a corporate attorney, brings a business sense to getting things done. She will be the Council's first citizen member from south-central Minnesota."
 
She replaces Wayne Enger on the council.
 
The LSOHC was established by the Legislature with the responsibility of providing annual funding recommendations to the Legislature from the Outdoor Heritage Fund. The Outdoor Heritage Fund, one of four funds created by the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment, receives one-third of the money raised by the tax increase.
 



The Council ensures recommendations that are consistent with the State Constitution and state law and that take into consideration the outcomes of, including, but not limited to, the Minnesota conservation and preservation plan, that directly relate to the restoration, protection, and enhancement of wetlands, prairies, forests, and habitat for fish, game, and wildlife, and that prevent forest fragmentation, encourage forest consolidation, and expand restored native prairie.

from the homepage

ADVERTISEMENT

recent posts

Post By Category

Fishing (2) Bait (1)
Bass (1) Northerns (1)
Panfish (1) Walleye (1)

ADVERTISEMENT

Connect with twitterConnect with facebookConnect with Google+Connect with PinterestConnect with PinterestConnect with RssfeedConnect with email newsletters

Links

ADVERTISEMENT

inside the StarTribune

lifestyle

Best of MN 2013: Guide to state's finest

projects

ST100: 2013 ranking of Minnesota's top companies

sports

New Vikings stadium section: The game plan

home

Map to Twin Cities farmers markets

minnesota topics

Minnesota Topics: People, places and companies

sports

New: Guide to Minnesota's 18-hole public golf courses