April 13, 2007 - TOP STORIES
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Bait restrictions won’t hurt wholesalers
Fire destroys part of fire chief’s boating business
Trout season in streams to open
DNR wetlands efforts get federal grant
Anglers take the pledge to take someone fishing
Bait restrictions won’t hurt wholesalers
Wisconsin bait restrictions won’t hurt Minnesota wholesalers
ST. PAUL (AP) – While new restrictions on live bait in Wisconsin will stop Minnesota anglers from bringing minnows over the border, Wisconsin officials said the rules won’t hurt most of Minnesota’s wholesale minnow industry.
The new rules are designed to prevent the spread of viral hemorrhagic septicemia, which has killed thousands of fish in the lower Great Lakes. They were enacted Wednesday, April 4 and prohibit the use and possession of live bait from outside Wisconsin.
On April 5, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources officials said the new bait-importation rules will not affect Minnesota minnow wholesalers selling fathead and white sucker minnows in Wisconsin.
Fathead and white sucker minnows are not on a U.S. Department of Agriculture list of fish that carry the VHS virus. They are also the two most popular species exported from Minnesota, said Sue Marcquenski, Wisconsin DNR fish-health specialist.
Some wholesalers in Minnesota’s multimillion-dollar minnow industry truck 30 percent of their minnows to Wisconsin.
Marcquenski said that so long as Minnesota minnow exporters are certified under Wisconsin and federal agriculture rules, they can sell their minnows to Wisconsin’s licensed dealers.
“We rely on Minnesota for our products,” said Dave Robinson, a Genoa City, Wis., wholesaler. “The new rule doesn’t affect that.”
Leeches, worms and insect baits are not affected.
For now, Wisconsin game wardens will focus on educating anglers about the new restrictions, instead of writing tickets.
“I can tell you now that if you’re from Minnesota, we’re not going to be confiscating your bait bucket and writing you a ticket if you have minnows from Minnesota,” said David Hausman, Wisconsin DNR warden supervisor for St. Croix, Dunn, Pierce and Pepin counties.
“With any new rule, it will start out with education,” Hausman said, adding fliers about the dangers of the virus will be posted at boat ramps and bait stores. “We want to bring this disease into everybody’s mind.”
Concern about the virus, which is blamed for large muskie and walleye kills in Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario, isn’t only on the Wisconsin side of the border.
Roy Johannes, Minnesota DNR aquaculture manager, said there’s a fear the virus will spread to inland waters in both states. “We are very concerned about it,” he said.
Johannes said the Minnesota DNR is taking actions to keep its hatchery fish from being exposed to Lake Superior waters. For example, the DNR won’t be collecting walleye eggs from the St. Louis River because of concerns about the virus.
Fire destroys part of fire chief’s boating business
Staff Reports
RICHMOND, Minn. - Firefighters were called at 8:30 a.m. Monday, April 9 to the service center of Richmond Marine and Sports which is owned by Chuck Merten and Tim Peters.
The fire hit close to home for Richmond firefighters because Merten is the city’s fire chief. He has been a firefighter for 25 years and Richmond’s chief the past four.
Merten said employees were transferring fuel with a vacuum pump to a storage tank when a spark from a water pump 9 feet away ignited the fire. Six employees, including Merten, were in the building when the fire started. No one was injured.
Merten and employees tried to put the fire out with fire extinguishers, but it quickly spread to the ceiling. About 50 firefighters from Richmond, Rockville and Cold Spring departments responded to the scene.
There were two customer boats and a new pontoon in the building. Damage is estimated at almost $1 million dollars. The building is a total loss.
However, Richmond Marine and Sports will continue to operate. The service center will temporarily be set up in the sales building, which is up the hill from the building that burned, Merten said.
Trout season in streams to open
DNR Reports
Finding opportunities to fish trout will be easier than ever this year, thanks to two new map books produced by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
The books highlight trout streams, lakes and public fishing opportunities in the northwestern and southeastern areas of the state. The northeast map book is new. The southeast book has been updated from a 2005 edition.
“These books make it easy to navigate Minnesota’s incredible public trout fishing resource,” said Ron Payer, DNR chief of the Fisheries Section. “The southeast map book was so popular with anglers that we decided to print a companion book that highlights opportunities in the northeast.”
Map books are available by calling toll free 1-888 - MINNDNR (646-6367) and will soon be available online at http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fish/trout/index.html.
Trout anglers will probably find good fishing conditions on smaller streams that are less affected by spring runoff on Saturday, April 14, when streams open for harvest of trout, said Mark Ebbers, DNR trout and salmon program consultant. Anglers in the southeast have reported good action during the two-week catch and release season that began April 1.
Whitewater River stream conditions are available online on the DNR Web site at www.dnr.state.mn.us. Conditions are updated as they change and reflect only the Whitewater River system.
Before fishing, anglers are encouraged to check the 2007 Fishing Regulations for streams with special regulations. Anglers need a trout stamp validation on their fishing or sports license when fishing designated trout streams, designated trout lakes, Lake Superior, and when in possession of trout or salmon. Children under 16, adults 65 and older, people fishing with a 24-hour license and those exempt from fishing license requirement don’t need a trout stamp.
Last year’s trout stamps sales were 88,800, down from 96,000 to 98,000 sold at the beginning of the decade.
Trout stamps are available through the Electronic License System for $10 at 1,800 vendors statewide. Anglers can also purchase a license and trout stamp over the telephone by calling 1-888-MNLicense (665-4236).
DNR wetlands efforts get federal grant
West-central Minnesota bird habitat will get a $3.3 million boost
Efforts to protect and enhance breeding bird habitat in west-central Minnesota will get a $3.3 million boost, thanks in part to two federal grants awarded recently to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and its partners.
A $1 million grant, provided under the North American Wetland Conservation Act (NAWCA) Standard Grant program will be matched with $2 million from six partners to help protect, restore and enhance nearly 2,400 acres of wetland and adjacent uplands in west-central Minnesota.
The DNR also received a $75,000 NAWCA Small Grant that will be matched with $300,000 from two partners to enhance 625 wetland acres at Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area (WMA).
“These funds will provide a major step forward in enhancing and preserving wetland wildlife habitat in Minnesota,” said Dennis Simon, DNR wildlife management chief. “The DNR and its partners continue to make progress in our long-term commitment to enhance habitat for migratory and breeding birds that depend on wetland and grassland ecosystems.”
Under the Standard Grant, Laq qui Parle WMA will benefit from the acquisition of additional public land in Chippewa County. Additional acquisitions will occur in Big Stone, Laq qui Parle and Redwood counties. Funds will also be used to repair and enhance water control structures in Big Stone, Swift and Yellow Medicine counties.
In all, work funded by this grant will help protect approximately 115 acres of scrub shrub, riparian forest and emergent wetland, and restore or enhance 600 acres of other wetlands. An additional 74 acres of adjacent grasslands will be improved to help boost duck production. Finally, the funding will be used to protect an additional 1,260 acres of grasslands.
The DNR’s partners in the Standard Grant include the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources, Ducks Unlimited, Waukon RIM Inc., Pheasants Forever, Independence Tube Corp, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Stevens County SWCD.
“The west-central part of Minnesota contains important habitat for mallard, northern pintail and lesser scaup populations,” Simon said. “With its numerous wetlands and important nesting habitat, the prairie pothole region of the state is critical to Minnesota’s duck population.”
Ducks Unlimited and the Legislative and Citizens Commission on Minnesota’s Resources partnered with DNR to provide match funds and construction services for the Small Grant. The three new water control and fish barrier projects constructed at Carlos Avery WMA will allow DNR to manage pools 15 and 17, and Mud Lake for brood and migration habitat for mallard, wood duck, redhead and canvasback.
Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever also recently received NAWCA Small Grants. Since 1991, the DNR and its conservation partners have received 51 NAWCA grants totaling more than $21 million. With more than $52 million in matching funds, a total of approximately 170,000 acres of migratory bird habitat have been improved, restored or acquired in Minnesota.
“Our long-range pheasant and duck plans contain ambitious goals to improve and protect vast amounts wetland and grassland habitat in the coming decades,” Simon said. “With our partners, we can continue to move toward those goals through cooperative efforts, exemplified in these NAWCA grants.”
The Minnesota DNR long-range pheasant plan and DNR duck plan are available online on the DNR’s Web site at www.dnr.state.mn.us, click on outdoor activities, then scroll down to hunting.
Anglers take the pledge to take someone fishing
More than 1,400 anglers so far have joined Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Commissioner Mark Holsten in a pledge to introduce at least one acquaintance to fishing each year.
Holsten and the anglers signed an Anglers’ Legacy pledge at the recent Northwest Sportshow in Minneapolis. The pledge is part of a DNR effort to help first-time anglers understand and appreciate fishing as a healthy, fun life-long activity.
“Today, kids and young adults aren’t fishing at the levels of previous generations,” said Holsten. “And yet research shows that most kids and adults would gladly go fishing if only someone would ask them. This year, I will introduce someone new to fishing and I hope other avid anglers will do the same.”
Among anglers who signed the pledge at the Sportshow were noted sportsman Ron Schara, Gary “Mr. Walleye” Roach, outdoor media personalities Tim Lesmeister, Mike Kurre, Billy Hildebrand and northern Minnesota guide Tom Neustrom.
Schara explained why he signed the pledge. “It may sound corny, but fishing has been important to my life,” said Schara. “So what better thing for me to do than to pass on that joy to other people. That’s why I believe and support the Anglers’ Legacy program.”
Schara also said he had never met a child who didn’t have an inherent fascination with fish and the idea of fishing. “It’s inate,” he said, “but sadly kids for one reason or another don’t get the chance to explore that fascination.”
Neustrom shared a similar sentiment. “Fishing is such a great way to have positive experiences with kids. As anglers, it just makes sense to support a program that combines fishing, friendship and the joys of the out of doors.”
Though Minnesota maintains a strong fishing tradition, fewer young people are picking up the sport. In the 1970s, about 40 percent of Minnesota’s population age 16 and over held a fishing license. Today, angling participation for that same age group has dropped to 29 percent.
Ron Payer, DNR fisheries chief, encourages avid anglers to take the pledge to pass on the tradition of fishing. “The pledge approach asks anglers to give back what they have been given,” said Payer. “It’s simple. Still, it has the potential to be life-changing for those who are extended an invitation to go fishing.”
To take the pledge, visit the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation Web site at www.anglerslegacy.org
Kid's fishing event depends on adult participation
A unique opportunity for parents and kids to experience the excitement of fly-fishing in an acclaimed trout stream in southeastern Minnesota is being offered through the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) MinnAqua program, Trout Unlimited and the Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center on May 4-6.
The opportunity, however, will need the participation of willing parents or other adults, according to DNR Southern Region MinnAqua Program Director Kathy Beaulieu at New Ulm.
“We need a ratio of one parent for each one or two kids,” Beaulieu said. Youth should be between the ages of 12 and 15 at the time of the event and the parent does not need to be an experienced fly-fisher in order to participate. Beaulieu said the goal is for parents and their kids to become involved in an outdoor activity they can enjoy together for years to come.
The event will be held at the Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center near Lanesboro and run from 6 p.m. Friday until 2 p.m. Sunday. Cost for the weekend is $100 per youth and $120 per adult and includes activities, food, and lodging.
Registration is required and can be made through Eagle Bluff by calling 507-467-2437 or 1-888-800-9558 or going to groups@eagle-bluff.org. Additional information on the event or on becoming a volunteer fishing guide is available by contacting Beaulieu at 507-359-6049 or kathy.beaulieu@dnr.state.mn.us
© 2007 Outdoors Weekly Corporation