Outdoor News Daily

Archive for February 5th, 2010

Goose Festival Starts Feb. 19, 2010

Friday, February 5th, 2010 Posted in Outdoor Events | Comments Off

It's a sight you have to see to believe: thousands of pure white snow and Ross' geese lifting off Gunnison Bend Reservoir amid honks and the beating of wings. You can see this spectacle yourself on Feb. 19, 20 and 21 at the annual Utah Snow Goose Festival. The festival will be held at and near Gunnison Bend Reservoir, just west of Delta. Admission is free. As many as 10,000 snow geese have been at the reservoir during past festivals. Except for the black tips on their wings, snow geese are pure white. "We'll provide spotting scopes so you can get a close look at the geese," says Bob Walters, Watchable Wildlife coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources. "We'll also be available to answer any questions you have." Read more..

Public Meeting On Salmon Forecast

Friday, February 5th, 2010 Posted in Fishing News | Comments Off

Anglers, commercial fishers and others interested in Washington state salmon fisheries can get a preview of this year’s salmon returns and proposed fishing seasons during a public meeting here March 2. With the first chinook salmon of the year already arriving in the Columbia River, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will present initial forecasts of 2010 salmon returns that will be used to help establish salmon-fishing seasons for dozens of other waters around the state. The meeting is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the General Administration Building Auditorium at 11th Ave. and Columbia St. on the Capitol Campus. Read more..

Horseshoe Crab Benchmark Assessment Indicates Increased

Friday, February 5th, 2010 Posted in Fishing News | Comments Off

In its report to the Commission's Horseshoe Crab Management Board, an independent panel of scientists endorsed the use of the 2009 horseshoe crab benchmark stock assessment and its accompanying multispecies Adaptive Resource Management (ARM) framework for management use. The assessment indicates abundance has increased in the Southeast and Delaware Bay Region (New Jersey through coastal Virginia), and decreased in the New York and New England. In the Delaware Bay Region, increasing trends were most evident for juveniles, followed by adult males. An increase in adult females is now beginning to be observed in the Virginia Tech Benthic Trawl Survey. These patterns are indicative of population recovery, given that horseshoe crab females take longer to mature than males. Read more..