The tough economy has everyone looking to save money. Including anglers.

Minnesota fishing license sales so far this year show some frugal trends: Anglers have bought more one-day fishing licenses -- 4,465 -- than anytime over the past 10 years. Sales are up about 500 from last year and more than 1,000 from 2002.

Another 4,678 anglers have bought new conservation fishing licenses, which cost one-third less than a regular license and enable anglers to keep one-half the normal bag limit. Those licenses are being offered for the first time this year.

A regular individual fishing license costs $17; an individual conservation license costs $11. A regular husband-wife fishing license costs $25; the conservation version costs $17.

Still, sales of the new conservation licenses pale in comparison to sales of regular fishing licenses. The Department of Natural Resources has sold nearly 213,000 individual licenses. Total license sales, including resident and nonresident stood at 495,792 -- about 19,000 more than last year.

But there are some disturbing trends. This year's total license sales are 32,000 below the 10-year average at this date. And nonresident fishing license sales, about 34,000, are down about 1,000 from last year and down 8,000 from 2007.

Boat registrations dip New boat registrations for the first four months of 2009 are down a bit from last year. Through April, 4,906 new registrations were filed, a decline of 279 from a year ago.

Turkeys: another record Minnesota's spring wild turkey season ended Friday, and as of Tuesday, they had killed 11,450 birds -- easily breaking last year's record harvest of 10,994. That didn't surprise Eric Dunton, DNR turkey biologist.

"We offered over 4,000 more permits [than last year] and opened three new permits to hunting," he said, adding, "We still have a growing turkey population in many parts of the state." Of course, this spring's record harvest occurred again without my help.

Lottery dollars allocated Thousands of acres of wildlife habitat in Minnesota will be protected or restored and land for trails and parks will be acquired as part of 63 projects that will be funded this year from nearly $26 million in lottery proceeds.

About 2,000 acres will be acquired and another 5,100 acres will be restored. Research also will look at climate change, ballast water treatment and invasive species. The package was assembled by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR), approved by the Legislature and signed into law recently by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who vetoed two projects totaling $418,000.

About 7 cents on every dollar spent playing the lottery -- 40 percent of the lottery's net proceeds -- goes to the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. That perpetual fund, dedicated to natural resources projects, now has about $465 million in it. The LCCMR can spend up to 5.5 percent of the value in the trust fund yearly.

The biggest chunk of money for this year -- $13.2 million -- goes to 10 projects that deal with land, habitat and recreation. Among them:

• $3.3 million for the acquisition and restoration of 11 major wildlife corridors in outstate Minnesota.

• $3.3 million for the acquisition and restoration of lands in the greater metro area and surrounding counties.

• $1.5 million to acquire perpetual easements on 530 acres of unique granite rock outcrops in the Minnesota River Valley.

• $1.3 million to help acquire 120 acres for the metro regional park system.

• $1 million to acquire 1.25 miles of the Paul Bunyan State Trail near Bemidji and 6 miles of the Browns Creek segment of the Munger State Trail in Washington County.

• $1 million to help soil and water conservation districts help landowners implement conservation programs on 50,000 acres of private grasslands and wetlands.

Other spending includes nearly $6 million for five projects, including monitoring ground water, conducting county biological surveys and soil surveys. Another $2.3 million is pegged for energy projects; $2 million will be spent for water resources research; and $1 million to fight invasive species.

Did you know? • An injured Minnesota turkey hunter was helped by DNR conservation officer Mitch Boyum of Rushford. It seems the hunter shot a gobbler with his bow at close range. The bird fell over, and the hunter, thinking it was dead, walked over to it. "Just as he went to grab the gobbler it took off running, with hunter in chase," Boyum reported. "After a short, futile pursuit the hunter pulled a hamstring and laid there wincing in pain. The bird, lethally hit, ran only a short distance further, and expired."

• Conservation officer Aaron Kahre of Minnetonka recently checked two young men who had recently caught a northern. Neither man had a valid fishing license. He cited them and seized the fish. Kahre then checked another angler and asked if he would like the recently seized fish. The man took the fish. Kahre then ran a check on the fisherman's name and learned there was a warrant for his arrest. He was arrested.