February 16, 2007 - TOP 5 STORIES
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Anglers report Upper Red slabs
DNR details plans to stop spread of bovine TB in deer
Comments wanted on Mille Lacs Forest Plan
Drought has fire officials preparing for the worst
Judge delays decision on taking bald eagles off list
Anglers report Upper Red slabs
Anglers keep catching colossal crappies on Upper Red Lake
By Doug Smith, Star Tribune of Minneapolis
WASKISH, Minn. (AP) – To borrow from Mark Twain, reports of the demise of Red Lake’s crappies have been greatly exaggerated. Yes, the lake’s famed slab crappies, which have attracted hordes of anglers here the past half-dozen winters, are slowly disappearing – as predicted by fisheries biologists.
But they aren’t gone yet.
One morning last week, local fishing guide Jonny Petrowske and I dropped minnows down holes in 13 feet of water in one of the heated ice fishing shacks that Petrowske and his family rent to anglers.
Before we could get settled, my bobber dipped beneath the cold water and I reeled up a plump 13-inch crappie, shimmering silver and green.
“So the crappie bite is dead?” quipped Petrowske, 31, whose family has been fishing the lake for four generations.
Then we caught another. And another. And another.
For about three hours we landed 16 of the most beautiful crappies in the world, nearly all in the 13- to 15-inch range – twice as big as standard keeper-size panfish. We also caught and released a half-dozen walleyes, and Petrowske caught and released a 36-inch northern.
But it’s Red Lake’s crappies that have been one of Minnesota’s biggest fishing stories in recent years, and anglers from all over the Midwest have journeyed there to fish for them.
The crappies, of course, are an aberration – the result of a “perfect storm.” Red Lake – actually two huge basins, Upper Red Lake and Lower Red Lake – long were premier walleye waters. Lower Red Lake and more than half of Upper Red Lake are owned by the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, and no non-band angling is allowed. The state owns 48,000 acres of Upper Red Lake, where non-band anglers fish.
But commercial netting by the band and overfishing nearly wiped out the walleyes by the early 1990s.
In that vacuum in 1995 came a prolific and historic “year class” of crappies that filled the void. The crappie population exploded, and for the past six years anglers have flocked there.
“The moon and stars aligned to allow them to spike like they had never done before,” said Henry Drewes, Department of Natural Resources regional fisheries manager in Bemidji.
It was a one-time deal.
Crappie reproduction since then has been marginal, meaning anglers rarely catch any smaller crappies. And in 1999, the band and state stocked walleye fry in the lakes to jump-start the walleye fishery. That effort, combined with a walleye fishing moratorium, worked, and huge numbers of walleyes now fill the lake. The state’s portion was reopened to walleye angling last spring, and fishing generally has been fantastic.
For crappies and crappie anglers, however, the writing is on the wall.
“Virtually all of the crappies anglers are catching is that 1995 year class,” said Gary Barnard, Department of Natural Resources area fisheries manager. “Those fish are 12 years old.”
“We don’t know,” Barnard said. Drewes said scientific literature reports crappies living to age 14 or 15. He doesn’t expect them to disappear suddenly from Red Lake, but just steadily decline from natural and angling mortality.
“We’re kind of on borrowed time,” Barnard said. “Their numbers have to keep tailing off, because we’re not making any new 12-year-old fish.”
And despite the hot action Petrowske and I experienced last week, Drewes and Barnard said DNR creel surveys show that anglers aren’t catching nearly as many crappies as they were a few years ago.
“Five years ago you couldn’t not catch crappies,” Drewes said. “It’s not that way today.”
Petrowske’s great-grandfather homesteaded on Upper Red Lake and commercially fished its famed walleyes. And the family still calls the tiny burg of Waskish home. He and his grandfather, Jim, and father, Kelly, and Kelly’s wife, Patsy, run Waskish Minnow Station, formally a bait shop, now a fish-guiding business. They rent nine ice fishing houses.
“We’ve had the best fishing this year than the past three years,” said Kelly Petrowske, 51.
They survived the tough years when the walleye fishery collapsed. Whatever happens with the crappies, they are optimistic that the plentiful walleyes and big northerns in the lake will continue to attract anglers.
“There are endless possibilities here,” Kelly Petrowske said.
Said Drewes of the fading crappie boom: “It was a fantastic segue between a totally depressed sport fishery and one that is cranking on all cylinders right now. It was a blessing ... for the local communities.
“We were lucky.”
DNR details plans to stop spread of bovine TB in deer
DNR News
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) held a public meeting Thursday to outline plans to reduce the risk of bovine tuberculosis (TB) spreading to wild deer and cattle in northwestern Minnesota.
The disease, discovered at a cattle farm near Skime in 2005, has infected seven cattle herds in the area. Bovine TB was confirmed in two wild deer in 2005 and five additional deer tested presumed positive last fall. The public meeting was Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. in the Wannaska Elementary School gymnasium.
“Bovine TB is a progressive, chronic bacterial disease that affects primarily cattle, but also deer. The disease compromises the immune system and can lead to death from related causes,” said Dr. Michelle Powell, DNR wildlife health program coordinator. “Another result of this disease is that cattle producers across the state face major economic hardships from mandatory testing of cattle and restrictions on cattle movement.”
Reducing the number of wild deer infected with bovine TB now, while the problem is in only a few deer in a localized area will protect the long-term health of Minnesota’s deer population and minimize the risk of deer-to-deer or deer-to-cattle transmission of the disease.
The DNR has already taken several steps to reduce the risk of deer-to-deer spread of the disease. At the direction of the Minnesota Legislature, the DNR will enforce a recreational deer feeding ban in a 4,000 square mile area of northwestern Minnesota. The ban also fulfills requirements from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In a recent aerial survey, DNR conservation officers identified about 22 potentially illegal feeding locations within the recreational feeding ban zone. Conservation officers are developing a plan to enforce the feeding ban. Additional steps to minimize the risk of transmitting bovine TB include a cost-sharing program to assist cattle producers in installing deer-proof fencing around stored feed.
To further reduce the risk of deer-to-deer or deer-to-cattle transmission, the DNR has contracted with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Wildlife Services to remove potentially infected deer in critical areas where the disease has been found.
“Right now, there is a very small number of deer in a small area that are infected with this disease,” Powell said. “We need to remove these deer now to prevent further opportunities for transmission of this disease. Waiting until this fall’s hunting season risks further spread of this disease.”
USDA Wildlife Services employs teams of trained sharpshooters across the United States who are experienced and skilled in efficiently removing large numbers of deer for wildlife damage and health and safety reasons. These teams will take deer on public land and will also work with landowners to take deer on private land with the landowner’s permission. Sharpshooters will not enter private property without written permission.
“We understand that this may have a negative short-term affect on deer hunting on some properties. However, the risk to the deer herd and the cattle industry is too great to wait,” Powell said. “Temporarily reducing deer numbers in highly localized areas will minimize the chance that this disease will begin to spread through deer-to-deer or deer-to-livestock contact,”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) downgraded the state’s bovine TB status from “free” to “modified accredited advanced” in 2006. As a result, cattle producers across the state face mandatory testing of cattle and restrictions on cattle movement. The discovery of two additional bovine TB-infected livestock operations, as well as the increased number of infected wild deer, has put the state at greater risk to drop another level in status to “modified accredited” in 2007.
“The cattle industry cannot afford to wait for action to help prevent the spread of this disease,” said Tom Pyfferoen, president of the Minnesota Cattlemen’s Association. “Cattle producers are facing enormous economic hardships due to this disease and the sooner Minnesota regains its bovine TB status, the sooner we can begin rebuilding the cattle industry in this area.”
After the sharp-shooting effort, the DNR will continue to issue shooting permits to interested landowners in the affected areas on a case-by-case basis. Next fall, the DNR will define a special permit area that will encompass the Bovine TB Management Zone, and use special hunts, permits and extended seasons to allow hunters to help manage the disease in wild deer.
All deer taken will be tested for bovine TB. Meat from deer with no obvious bovine TB infection will be salvaged and released for human consumption. DNR will provide information and food safety guidelines for proper handling and cooking of venison.
Cooking meat to an internal temperature of 165 degrees destroys the bacteria. When field dressing all game, the DNR recommends the use of gloves to prevent exposure to a number of diseases.
Comments wanted on Mille Lacs Forest Plan
DNR News
A draft forest management plan for state lands located in two landscape units in east-central Minnesota (the Mille Lacs Uplands and Glacial Lake Superior Plain subsections) will be available for a 30-day public review from Feb. 9 - March 8, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
This phase of the Mille Lacs Uplands Subsection Forest Resource Management Plan (SFRMP) provides the list of forest stands (a stand is a mapped area consisting of trees similar in species composition, age and size) that will be field evaluated and potentially treated over the seven-year planning period (2005-2011). Stands were selected by an interdisciplinary DNR team to implement the strategic direction developed in a prior step of the planning process (Mille Lacs Uplands SFRMP strategic direction document, released Feb. 2005 for public review). The strategic direction document and the resulting seven-year stand selection results and new access needs document will direct vegetation management on approximately 232,000 acres of state forest land administered by the DNR divisions of Forestry, Fish and Wildlife, and Trails and Waterways. These state forest lands comprise 10 percent of the 3.5 million acres in the two subsections.
“The focus of this step of the plan is to obtain public comments on the specific stands selected for stand examinations; there are no anticipated new access needs,” said DNR Forest Planner Lynn Sue Mizner. “Previous steps of the plan have gone through public review and the DNR has made plan revisions based on that public input.”
Responses to public comments on the strategic direction document and the revisions to that document are included in this step of the plan to inform the public of the plan changes and to answer questions or provide additional information.
The seven-year stand selection results and new access needs document includes a summary of the stand selection results and the complete list of stands that will be field visited and potentially treated over the next seven years to move DNR lands in the subsection toward short-term (next seven years) and long-term (50 or more years) desired forest composition goals. The stand selection step identified 2,067 stands totaling 52,736 acres to be evaluated for treatment. Stand treatments will primarily be done through timber harvest; harvest methods will range from clear-cut methods to selective harvest of individually marked trees in a stand.
Preliminary management prescriptions are included in the plan. Typically, if the stand meets the stand treatment criteria for harvest, the timber will be appraised and offered for sale in the planned fiscal year. “Public input on specific stands is opportune at this stage of the planning process because this information can be considered by field staff prior to and/or during the stand examination,” said Mizner.
Comments will be accepted on the draft seven-year stand selection results and new access needs document through March 8.
Three options for reviewing the seven-year stand selection results and new access needs document: The public can view the document and stand information at: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/forestry/subsection/millelacs/index.html, request a 132-page paper copy, or request a CD-ROM copy of the document. In addition, the specific location and information about individual stands selected for possible treatment can be viewed at: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/forestview/index.html.
Requests for paper or CD-ROM copies, questions, or comments can be submitted by e-mail to lynn.mizner@dnr.state.mn.us; mailed to Lynn Sue Mizner, DNR-Division of Forestry, 1200 Minnesota Ave. South, Aitkin MN 56431; faxed to (218) 927-4121; or by calling (218) 927-7511.
Open houses will be at two locations where the public can review and discuss the draft seven-year stand selection results and new access needs document with DNR staff.
• Feb. 15, 4-7 p.m., DNR Central Office, 5th Floor Forestry Conference Room, 500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul
• Feb. 20, 4-7 p.m., DNR Aitkin Area Office, 1200 Minnesota Ave. South, Aitkin
For information, contact Lynn Sue Mizner, state forest planner, at (218) 927-7511.
Drought has fire officials preparing for the worst
The coming months could bring tens of thousands of smoldering acres, additional millions of dollars spent on fighting blazes and restrictions on burning permits.
ST. PAUL (AP) – Minnesota’s wildfire experts are looking ahead to 2007 with trepidation, hoping for a break from Mother Nature but preparing for the worst.
Because of the widespread drought over much of central and northern Minnesota, wildfires could start earlier, burn hotter and last longer than usual, said Doug Miedtke, a fire management specialist with the Department of Natural Resources.
“It has the potential to be one of the more severe fire seasons that we’ve seen in a while,” Miedtke said.
And that means the coming months could bring tens of thousands of smoldering acres, additional millions of dollars spent on fighting blazes and restrictions on burning permits. Central and northern Minnesota are especially vulnerable because of the drought that started last May.
The fire season typically starts in late April or early May, when heavier fuels, like downed and dead trees, have had time to dry out. But if the drought continues, fires could break out in early or mid-March, Miedtke said.
And firefighters would have a harder time fighting them because the lakes that normally would supply water for quenching the flames are usually frozen through mid-April.
Fire managers would have to rely on planes and helicopters that drop chemical retardants, but it takes more time and effort to reload aircraft with chemicals than aircraft that scoop lake water.
Even if snowfall and rain return to normal or above-normal levels for the rest of the winter, the DNR says, it won’t necessarily make up for the dearth of moisture already felt across much of Minnesota. Flame-ups have persisted through the winter, with the DNR noting occasional fires in December and January.
Across a large portion of central and north-central Minnesota, snow depths are 4 inches or less, said DNR climatologist Greg Spoden, and many counties in that area have record low snow cover for this time of year.
The warm, dry conditions that started last spring contributed to 2,400 wildfires last year that burned more than 100 square miles. An average year would see 25 to 62 square miles burn. The Cavity Lake fire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area last July scorched about 39 square miles and cost the U.S. Forest Service $11 million to contain.
Whether spring rains will bring relief is unclear. Most of north-central Minnesota is in a severe to extreme drought, according to the National Weather Service, and its forecast though April is indeterminate about how much precipitation could fall.
The driest parts of Minnesota could expect about 5 inches of precipitation in an average April and May, Spoden said. He couldn’t say how much would be needed to catch up, but did say it would have to be more than average.
“Mother Nature could still bail us out,” Spoden said. “That has happened before.”
Judge delays decision on taking bald eagles off list
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A federal judge has extended the deadline for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to decide whether the bald eagle population has recovered enough to take the national bird off the endangered species list.
Under the order last week from U.S. District Judge John Tunheim, the federal agency must make its determination by June 29. The previous deadline was Feb. 16.
Wildlife officials had asked for the extension so they can conduct a more thorough analysis of the delisting, and attorneys for a Minneapolis man who filed a lawsuit in 2005 to force a decision agreed.
Edmund Contoski wants to develop his property in Morrison County of central Minnesota, but has been hampered by the presence of an eagle’s nest. His attorneys, with the Pacific Legal Foundation, criticized the Fish and Wildlife Service for not working more quickly to advance the delisting process, which the agency began in 1999.
The bald eagle was declared an endangered species in the lower 48 states in 1967 under the law that preceded the Endangered Species Act. Legal protections, habitat conservation and a ban on the insecticide DDT have helped to boost the population to more than 7,000 breeding pairs, including 872 nesting pairs counted in Minnesota in 2005.
Even if the bald eagle comes off the endangered species list, it would continue to be protected by other federal laws that prohibit the killing or harming of the bird, but don’t specifically address habitat.
More information on the bald eagle can be found on the web at: http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/baldeagle.html
© 2007 Outdoors Weekly Corporation