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December 5, 2003

Most snowmobile trails not quite ready

Jaycee’s ice fishing extravaganza offers big fun and big prizes

DNR issues warning that aerated lakes can pose dangers

Authorities have potential suspect in theft of at least 10,000 treetops

Retired biologist chronicles history of waterfowl hunting

Most snowmobile trails not quite ready
Despite recent snowfall, a foot of snow is needed to groom the trails

BEMIDJI, Minn. (AP) – Officials are urging patience as Minnesota’s snowmobile season approaches. The 18,000-mile snowmobile trail system opened December 1 and most trails still lack adequate snow for safe riding.

“Despite the recent snowfall, many trails lack the snow base needed for safe and enjoyable riding, hidden hazards lurk in the ditches, and many ponds and swamps are not frozen yet,” said Forrest Boe, regional trails and waterways supervisor with the Department of Natural Resources in Bemidji.

The DNR’s snow coverage map shows as much as 15 inches of snow along the Canada-Minnesota border in the Boundary Waters and parts of northeastern Minnesota. A band of eight inches of snow reaches into central Minnesota, but most of the state has less than six inches, and parts of the northwest and southeast are snowless.

Snowmobile clubs need about a foot of snow to groom the trails, and swamps need cold temperatures to freeze, Boe said.

“Don’t expect good riding conditions until we have at least a foot of snow as a base,” Boe said. “Ride with caution as you normally would and give the clubs some time to ensure that trails are ready for snowmobiling.”

Most of the state’s 18,000-mile snowmobile trail system lies on private property, where snowmobile use is allowed only from Dec. 1 through March 31.

Snowmobile trail maps, trail conditions and safety course information are available at 1-888-MINN-DNR, the DNR Web site www.dnr.state.mn.us or the local trails and waterways office. Trail condition reports are available.

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Jaycee’s ice fishing extravaganza offers big fun and big prizes
This year’s extravaganza is scheduled for January 17, 2004

With area lakes beginning to freeze over the Jaycees, in Brainerd, Minnesota, are finalizing plans for the world’s largest ice fishing contest.

The 14th Annual Brainerd Jaycees $150,000 Ice Fishing Extravaganza is scheduled for Saturday, January 17th on Gull Lake. As in the past, participating anglers will be competing for ice fishing’s largest prize package.

According to volunteer chairperson, Brian Lindberg, “We think this is going to be a big year for the Extravaganza. It’s looking like we’re going to have a typical Minnesota winter so ice conditions shouldn’t be a problem. We could easily see more than 12,000 anglers.”

One look at the prize list answers the question as to why so many anglers would want to participate. Prizes will be awarded to the largest 150 fish of the day with the first place angler driving home in a new Ford Truck. Additional prizes include $10,000 cash for 100th place, several ATV’s, ice augers, locators, fish houses and more.

“We work really hard with our sponsors to make sure we have the best possible prizes,” says Lindberg. “It’s a lot of fun at the end of the day when you get to hand out more than $150,000 in cash and prizes to all of the winners.”

The Extravaganza officially begins at noon on the 17th but anglers are allowed inside the contest area at 8:00 a.m. Approximately 25,000 predrilled- holes, covering nearly 200 acres, will be available for anxious anglers. Structure within the contest site ranges from 6 to 66 feet deep. Walleye, pike, perch and eelpout have made up the bulk of the catch during years past.

While the emphasis will be on catching a fish, most anglers come for the fun. The Jaycees build a small city on Gull Lake including restroom facilities, heated shelters with concessions, first aid and areas where ice-fishing manufacturers can showcase their products. A central staging area and sound system keep anglers and spectators informed of the leaders.

Back by popular demand will be the On Ice Olympics, which began two years ago as a way to involve more youth with the Extravaganza. Founder of On Ice Tour, Chip Leer, and fellow professional anglers will be on hand to lead kids through an ice fishing related obstacle course where they can win fantastic prizes.

“The On Ice Olympics is a lot of fun,” says Lindberg. “Everyone wins something and the champions of each age division share well over $5,000 in prizes. It’s a great way to get kids excited about ice fishing and the adults have a lot of fun cheering them on.”

When the Extravaganza comes to an end at 3:00pm, the real winners will be the charities that will share 100 percent of the event’s proceeds. The Extravaganza has raised more than one million dollars over the past years for dozens of Minnesota non-profit organizations.

Confidence Learning Center, an outdoor education center for persons with developmental disabilities, has been the primary charity for the Jaycees and will again receive 70 percent of the funds this year.

Jeff Olson, Confidence’s Executive Director says, “The Jaycees Extravaganza has had a tremendous impact on our program. Thanks to last year’s event, and the support of the anglers, we were able to provide close to 2,500 user-days where our campers with disabilities were able to enjoy the outdoors. It seems the anglers enjoy knowing their participation helps others enjoy the outdoors.”

Those interested in further information are invited to go online at www.icefishing.org or call the Jaycees at 1-800-950-9461.

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DNR issues warning that aerated lakes can pose dangers

DNR Reports
Approximately 250 Minnesota lakes with public accesses will have aeration systems operating on them this winter. Private hatchery operators also use aeration systems, usually on small lakes without public accesses. Caution is urged when going onto any ice-covered lake, particularly at night. However, special care should be taken when using the ice on aerated lakes, according to Marilyn Danks of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

“Open water areas created by aeration systems can shift or change shapes depending on weather conditions,” Danks said. “Leaks may develop in air lines creating other areas of weak ice or open water.”

Aeration systems help prevent fish winter kill by adding oxygen to lakes. They also create areas of open water and thin ice that are significant hazards to ice anglers, snowmobilers, skiers and other lake users. The majority of aeration systems, which generally operate from lake freeze-up until spring, are located in counties in southern and western Minnesota.

A DNR permit is required to install and operate an aeration system. Permit holders must publish public notices, post warning signs and inspect systems at least once a week. Liability insurance is usually required of private parties operating aeration systems in protected waters.

Two types of signs are used to post aerated lakes: “Thin Ice” and “Warning” signs.

Permittees maintain warning signs at all commonly used lake access points in order to caution people that an aeration system is in operation. Thin ice signs are posted at 100-foot intervals to mark the perimeter of the thin ice and open water area. These signs are diamond shaped with an orange border and white background with the warning “Thin Ice” in bold print. Some municipalities have ordinances that prohibit entering into the area marked thin ice and/or prohibit the night use of motorized vehicles on lakes with aeration systems in operation. These local regulations are often posted at lake accesses.

For more information about aeration, call a regional fisheries office or call the DNR Information Center at (651) 296-6157 or toll free 1-888-MINNDNR (1-888-646-6367).

The following is a list of lakes where aeration systems will likely be in operation this winter. Where there are other lakes in the county with the same name as the aerated lake, the nearest town is indicated in brackets. Names in parentheses are alternate lake names. Those names followed by an asterisk are newly aerated lakes.

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Authorities have potential suspect in theft of at least 10,000 treetops
Spruce tops, valued at $80,000, were taken from site in Koochiching County

RAUCH, Minn. (AP) – Authorities may have a suspect in the theft of at least 10,000 black spruce treetops from 18 acres of state land in northern Minnesota.

While there were no immediate arrests, Brian Buria, a conservation officer for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources office in Bigfork, said Nov. 26 that the potential suspect is a man who lives on the Iron Range.

Authorities say the tree rustlers probably took more than a week to remove several truckloads of spruce tops, valued at up to $80,000, from the site in Koochiching County. They suspected the thieves intended to sell the treetops as 4-foot tabletop Christmas trees bound for New York and Chicago.

Buria said the estimate of 10,000 treetops taken was conservative, and that the actual total may as many as 15,000.

A statewide alert for the thieves was being prepared last Wednesday morning, said Capt. Craig Backer, DNR northeast region enforcement supervisor. He said an investigation continues, and authorities are looking for tips about bulk tree shipments.

At least three people were believed to have been involved. If caught, the thieves could face felony theft and trespassing charges.

The thieves spared a 50-foot-wide buffer of trees so anyone driving on Highway 65 wouldn’t notice. But on Nov. 18, a logger noticed a dark-colored Dodge Dakota pickup pulling out of the woods hauling a covered white trailer about 8 feet wide and 16 to 20 feet long.

“He thought they might be stranded in there, but they said they weren’t having any problems,” said Larry Olson, a DNR forestry supervisor from Hibbing. “He figured they were deer hunters and didn’t bother getting a license plate. But he was a little suspicious and followed their tracks and found all these spruce trees missing.”

The stolen treetops were about 1 inch in diameter and 3 feet to 6 feet tall, clipped or sawed from 16-foot trees and hauled off in bundles.

The trees were part of a state plantation, seeded from the air 10 years ago, said DNR spokeswoman Jean Goad in Grand Rapids. She said the trees eventually would have been auctioned to commercial foresters and probably used as pulp at paper mills.

The proceeds of those state timber sales go to a school trust fund, a deal cut in Minnesota’s early days to earmark timber profits to help finance education. She said what’s left of the trees resembles bushes and has little commercial value.

“Ten years of work down the tubes,” Buria said. “I wonder how many other state tree plantations have been hit because these people have gone unchecked for years.”

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Retired biologist chronicles history of waterfowl hunting

By Mike McFeely
The Forum of Fargo
FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (AP) – Harold Duebbert does not stop at loving history. He lives it. He still hunts ducks out of a boat he made 40 years ago. He shoots a 1912 L.C. Smith Model 12 shotgun. The decoys over which he shoots ducks were carved by his own hands. He prefers old-style tan waterfowl hunting jackets and caps to the modern computer-generated camouflage prints.

The bookshelves in Duebbert’s home are lined with vintage volumes that date back a century or more.

When outdoors television personality Tony Dean dedicated a segment of his show to the retired waterfowl biologist a few years back, he fondly called Duebbert a “traditionalist” and a “romanticist.”

Those are descriptions the 74-year-old proudly embraces.

“I like old things,” Duebbert said. “I have a passion for history. I am fascinated by what happened before we were here.”

That zeal was the engine behind Duebbert’s most recent acknowledgment to the way things used to be, a book titled “Wildfowling in Dakota: 1873-1903.”

A collection of articles from The American Field and Forest and Stream, sporting journals of the 1800s, the book paints a fascinating picture of the glory years of waterfowl hunting in Dakota Territory – what was to become North Dakota – and western Minnesota.

A rapacious reader since his childhood in Missouri, one of Duebbert’s favorite writers was William B. Leffingwell. An Iowa hunter who traveled often to Dakota, Leffingwell authored several books in the 1880s and ‘90s. Duebbert obtained copies of two of the books – “Wild Fowl Shooting” and “The Art of Wing Shooting” – from a favorite great uncle.

For more than 30 years, however, Duebbert searched in vain for another of Leffingwell’s titles – “Wanderings in Dakota.” Duebbert asked antique book dealers, searched countless used bookstores and even queried the Library of Congress in search of Leffingwell’s lost writings.

It wasn’t until several years ago, when Duebbert was paging through an 1892 edition of The American Field, that he stumbled across an announcement of a series of articles written by Leffingwell collectively titled “Wanderings in Dakota.”

It turned out “Wanderings” was a series of five articles in 1892 and ‘93 chronicling Leffingwell’s hunting exploits in Dakota Territory.

“It was kind of like hunting. I was flipping through these old magazines, not knowing what was going to be in there,” Duebbert said. “And then finding what I was looking for was just like making a good shot. I felt the same satisfaction.”

Duebbert spent months traveling from Fergus Falls to the Minneapolis Public Library, which included the old publications in its collection. He would often spend 12-hour days paging through copies of Forest and Stream and The American Field. He figured he looked through 3,200 copies of the two magazines, about 30 years’ worth.

He discovered that Leffingwell wasn’t the only writer who ventured to Dakota Territory in pursuit of game. There were dozens of articles extolling the virtues of Dakota hunting.
And he found out the articles interested others beside himself. After showing copies of the articles to friends, they expressed a similar interest.

“They said ‘You should put these in a book,”’ Duebbert said. “Couple that with the fact that some of these publications were 130 years old, getting very brittle and probably wouldn’t be available for public viewing for much longer, and I thought this is a piece of history that should be recorded.”

The articles long since became public domain and Duebbert decided to collect them in book form, with personal comments sprinkled throughout.

Duebbert spent much of a distinguished three-decade career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service living in Jamestown, N.D. It was there Leffingwell, it so happened, hunted the same area in which Duebbert pursued waterfowl for so many years albeit a century earlier.

“My favorite article is ‘The Plateau du Coteau du Missouri’ because it places Leffingwell right smack in the middle of marshes I’ve hunted for 30 years,” Duebbert said. “That just blew me away when I read it.”

Duebbert has recorded all of his hunts in diaries. He hopes to someday turn his personal writings into a book, to actually turn his life into history.

“We live history every day and I think we sometimes fail to realize that. Someday maybe people will look back at my 45 years of hunting in North Dakota with awe, the same way we look back at these old stories with awe,” Duebbert said. “We need to have a keen sense of history, an appreciation of history. Waterfowling history is just an extension of that.”

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