Outdoor News Daily

North Dakota Game and Fish Department fisheries personnel recently stocked six lakes with 2-to-5 pound trout from Wyoming.

Jerry Weigel, fisheries production and development section leader, said each year Wyoming Game and Fish provides trout as part of a trade for walleye fingerlings. This year, Wyoming provided surplus brood stock.

A total of 800 rainbows with a combined weight of 2,100 pounds were stocked in Camels Hump Lake (Golden Valley County), Dickinson Dike (Stark County), North Woodhaven Pond (Cass County) and Mooreton Pond (Richland County).

In addition, nearly 400 cutthroats weighing 750 pounds were split between Northgate Dam (Burke County) and Kettle Lake (Williams County).
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Results from North Dakota’s spring sage grouse survey indicate the number of strutting males observed remains well below management objectives. Therefore, the sage grouse hunting season will remain closed in 2013.

Aaron Robinson, North Dakota Game and Fish Department upland game bird biologist, said biologists counted a record low 50 males on 11 active strutting grounds earlier in May. Last year, 72 males were counted on 12 active leks in the southwest.

“The most plausible reason why the population declined so dramatically this year was the severe drought the southwest experienced last summer,” Robinson said. “Sage grouse live in very arid dry areas, and in severe drought and heat, chicks are not able to find insects, which account for almost 100 percent of their diet while they are growing. This vital source of protein is necessary for development of young chicks and drought typically reduces the availability of insects.”
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Four Louisiana men were found guilty of poaching Iowa deer from a case that started when someone made a call to the Turn in Poachers hotline.

The investigation began in late November 2011 when the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Department received a TIP call from a concerned citizen about the activities of these men. The information led authorities to possible illegal activity in Iowa. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources received a TIP call about illegal deer activity around the same time that linked the two cases together.

“These men came to Iowa specifically to road hunt trophy bucks during the rut,” said Deb Howe, state conservation officer for the Iowa DNR. “They did not have any licenses or tags to hunt in Iowa during the time they were here.”
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More than 800 acres of valuable coastal lands in the Delaware Bayshore, will be conserved and protected thanks to a federal grant awarded to DNREC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s North American Wetlands Conservation Act award of $1 million will be used, along with matching funds from the state Open Space Program, conservation partners and private contributors, to acquire property along the Bayshore in Kent County. Nearly ten conservation partners have pledged matching funds that helped to make the grant award possible.

“Our appreciation to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, our Congressional Delegation and our partners for their tireless efforts in protecting our precious Bayshore lands and providing access to premier Bayshore habitat,” said Governor Jack Markell. “By conserving this land, we can offer world-class outdoor experiences supporting ecotourism and helping to ensure a diverse natural legacy for future generations.”
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